Synodality and my MSOLA ministry
Sr. Francine Maas, first at the left, in a meeting of the parish council in Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Winooski For me, synodality means living and working together with other Christians to live our faith not only in words but in action. It means that the leadership is horizontal/circular and not vertical, thus the parishioners/community members have something or more to say about the running of their parish/community. Synodality in our parish In the 2 ½ years that I have lived in Winooski, VT. I have not heard or read a word about synodality in our parish or diocese. I go to Mass three times a week at the parish, including Sundays, so if it was mentioned, I would have heard about it. However, there is some progress. In 2023, our new pastor launched a request for people to be members of a parish council, which…
Synodality as Mission in mission
Our recently professed Sisters wanted to share with us how they understand the novitiate was an experience of lived synodality. For us, synodality means a journey traveled together through attitudes of listening and discerning the will of God. Walking together is the call that the bishops invite us to live. In this same sense, the theme of our general chapter of 2023 invites us to walk together without fear, to expand our tents in collaboration with others. Our journey together has been marked by several things. First, we all felt one day the Lord’s call to follow him in a radical way following the example of the first disciples. We have been on this journey on a personal level and as a group. We also did this discernment with our accompanists who helped us to better understand the Lord’s call. Then, during our journey through the novitiate, we learned…
Episcopal Ordination of Mgr Victor Ndione, Mauritania
The Nouakchott Community, shares with us some echoes of the episcopal ordination of Mgr Victor Ndione. Testimony by Mr Serushago Wellars (layman) Father Victor Ndione, Vicar General of the Diocese of Nouakchott, was appointed on February 10 by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, bishop of the same Diocese. He succeeds Mgr Martin Happe who retired due to his advanced age. On the first day of receiving the news, the entire Catholic Christian community, that of Nouakchott in particular, gave thanks to the Lord for the choice and the precious gift of the new shepherd. In general, Christians in the ecclesiastical region of West Africa as well as the Muslim Community and other religious denominations showed their joy with messages of congratulations and encouragement to the new Bishop. All the Christians of the diocese, priests, religious and laity were mobilized for this gigantic preparation through the various commissions: logistics,…
Lenten Retreat
Our Sister Justine gave a lesson on the qualities of good leaders In our Diocese of Moundou, all Christians go on a retreat in the bush every year during Lent. It is a time of contemplation and reconciliation awaiting the joy of Easter. At Notre Dame de la Trinité High School with all the students, we went to devote this time to prayer. The theme of this year is “People of God of the diocese of Moundou, let us work together for our Liberation”. This theme aim to see together what makes the population slaves and what oppresses them. These are among others: conflicts between farmers and breeders, lack of cooperation, lack of charity for one’s neighbor and betrayal. Together teachers and students, we have seen that for this liberation to be effective, we need solidarity, love for each other, transparency, mutual aid and always be guided by the…
Reflection of the 2023 Synod
Sr. Maria Cimperman is a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She participated in the first assembly of the synod on Synodality in October 2023 in Rome. Sr Maria offers our readers some particular perspectives from the Synod Assembly 2023 in light of the following questions. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share these reflections with you, particularly as I am aware that Conversation in the Spirit was a methodology used during your 2023 General Chapter. I imagine your General Chapter was your synodal experience. What made “conversation in the Spirit” (CIS) such a powerful tool during the Synod experience? First, CIS was a great equalizer. In the process, during round one and two each person has the same amount of time (and is kept to it) to speak and to be heard. The time was the same for a cardinal and a student, for women as…
A child’s prayer
From Sister Clémentine Mukampabuka in Oran, Algeria In my catechism class, there are around twenty children, aged 6 to 12. For the most part, these are children born in Algeria to parents in an irregular migration situation. For catechism, the most advanced join the youngest to form a single class. During a session, I offer them the opportunity to pray out loud. One of the prayers caught my attention: Lord, I ask you to release my dad from prison and give him a lot of money to come home to us!” A concrete prayer: I recognized this child. He is only 7 years old. He was born in Algeria to a Nigerian and a Cameroonian. I ask myself Where is home for him?” I visited his father in prison. I can list many things that I recognize; whatever, the Lord knows him. He answers our prayers, especially those…
News from Morocco
Sr. Rehema Toiwoki Kimesera (left) and Sr. Maria Carmen Ocón Moreno next to her with their classmates in Rabat, Morocco. At the centre Mrs Amina A letter from our sisters Rehema Toiwoki Kimesera and Maria Carmen Ocón Moreno in Morocco Dear sisters, We finally found a bit of time to share with you some news since our arrival in Rabat. Rehema arrived on 21st January coming from Tanzania. It was a stressful trip as she had to wait until the last minute at Dar-es-Salaam’s airport before they allowed her to board, wondering why she was to go to Morocco. Her arrival in Rabat was good, only that due to a misunderstanding of the hour of her arrival she was stranded for three hours before the sister picked her up. Maria Carmen arrived on 22nd coming from Spain. She took a ship from Tarifa to Tanger and the train…
Silver Jubilee at the Delwende Center
From our sister Vickness Muleya in the community in St Julien Ouagadougou Cathedral One day, I went to the African Press to ask for information. At reception, I asked to see the priest, responsible for the African Press. Arriving at the office, when he saw me, he said: This is how good God is! It was you I was looking for, but now you found me!” This is how a beautiful Thanksgiving experience began for the silver jubilee of Father Mathurin Ouangrawa at the Delwende Center! Father Mathurin Ouangrawa, director of the African Press, chose the Delwende Center to celebrate his Silver Jubilee of Priesthood. His motivation being: “to bring joy to the residents of the Delwende Center by sharing my joy with them.” He also insisted that, “it was also to bring many other people to discover the Center and to put their hands in the reality…
World Youth Days in Senegal
From sisters Elyse and Olive of the community in Nouakchott, Mauritania From January 26 to 28, 2024, World Youth Days in Senegal were held around the theme Those who hope in the Lord walk without tiring.” Isaiah 40.31. Thousands of young Catholics from the various dioceses of Senegal and other countries in the sub-region participated in this event. Our diocese of Nouakchott was officially invited to participate in this very important event. Thirty people from our diocese responded to this invitation. Our sisters Elyse and Olive left with the parishioners. They share with us their joys experienced during this meeting: What a joy to participate in this meeting of young people in Senegal! Meeting others is one of the values of our congregation. Openness, interculturality, dialogue are values that we experienced, first with the group of people coming from Nouakchott and then with the young people coming from…
There is desert and desert!
From our sister Clementine Mukampabuka There is the desert I visited for the first time in 2004 in Ghardaïa and El Golea and where I sang the hymn of creation; where I met Blessed Charles de Foucauld; where I met Jesus of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Galilee through the presence of our sisters and brothers on mission there! There is another desert, the one where I meet my brothers and sisters detained in the different places of incarceration here in Algeria. They are truly in a desert which deprives them of certain freedoms including that of going where they want, of seeing who they want. In this desert, the angels who feed them are the authorities of the penitentiary establishments and we who share the Word of God with them. We print it and leave it with them as an appointment for the week. These moments of prayer in prison…