Being close to teenagers in Deli
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Teenagers, Sr. Nathalie Wendata Sedogo shares the work we do with young girls interested in our congregations. In our Missionary Vocation Animation, we are always in contact with teenagers. We organize meetings to share information and in Deli we have a group of young girls who meet regularly to discern their spiritual journey. We are delighted to have established once a month, a visit to the family of each young member of the vocation group. Indeed, every 4th Sunday of the month, all the members of the vocation group spend time with the family of each young person just after mass. Each person brings a dish so that we can have a community meal. We started with our MSOLA community. All the sisters were mobilized for the reception and animation. The young people asked us questions and focused on the…
I commit myself
Sr. Suzy Hadermann, CHS St Joseph – Evere, Belgium When I saw the theme proposed for this issue of Sharing Trentaprile, this sentence came to me spontaneously. You surely recognize it… It is a sentence from our vow formula, in n° 26 of our Constitutions: “I commit myself to collaborate totally in God’s work to proclaim his Kingdom in Africa” I find, summarized there, the commitment of our whole life for the Mission… our whole life, whatever our age, our state of health, our way of life, the place where we are sent… Collaborating totally… this means that no part of our day is outside this reality: our whole life is consecrated for the Mission. In everything we live, we are at work with God, we collaborate in his work, to proclaim his Kingdom in Africa. Collaborating totally means that God uses everything we experience, even the…
Jubilee of the World of Volunteering
The entire period of the Jubilee 2025 is characterised by a rich calendar of religious, cultural and social events. The Holy Year programme includes several ‘jubilees’ dedicated to different categories of people, identified according to their profession or their role within the family, the Church and society. The two days of 8 and 9 March are dedicated to the world of volunteering, as a reminder of the role played by non-profit organisations, NGOs, social workers and volunteers from all associations working for the benefit of the community. Today we also want to remember and thank all the volunteers with whom we continue to work on various projects. We do so with an article by our sister Elisabeth Biela, who has left her role in the Karlsruhe community as leader of the refugee ministry in collaboration with many other Christian and lay associations. Here are her thoughts on the occasion of…
Lavigerie Family of Kadutu
Posted by the Kadutu Community, DRC The Lavigerie family of Kadutu met on August 4, 2024 at the home of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa in Kadutu. Let’s start with a little history to understand who this group is. Since the celebration of the centenary of the death of Cardinal Lavigerie, a group of lay people have been touched by the vision of our founder, his actions, his charism, the ‘all to all’, his anti-slavery struggle to restore dignity to Africans, his love for Africa, his charity (Caritas, the Pelican) and his call to be apostles. All this was passed on to his missionaries to evangelise Africa. This group, called ‘Laïcs Missionnaires Lavigeriens’, was led by our sister Marie-Claude Berrod. The members met in the sisters’ community and were recognised by the diocese. They made their promise to the Church at a Mass celebrated…
Sisters of temporary vows on the path of transformation
From our Sr Sylviane Rouamba and Sr Domina Dusenge Dear readers, We send you greetings of peace and joy! As temporary vowed sisters of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, we are writing to inform you of our 2024 session and retreat in Uganda – the land of martyrs. The meeting took place from 28 November to 13 December 2024. It was divided into two parts: a week of deepening the theme of the 2023 General Chapter and a week of retreat. The first part was led by our sisters: Sister Angela Kapitinganga, Superior General of our congregation, Sister Jeanne d’Arc Ouattara, her assistant (who joined us on line), Sister Furaha Kamanyura Jeannette, leader of the ECA entity, Sister Élisabeth Villemure, Sister Revocate Kabahuma and Father David Sullivan, Missionary of Africa. The session took place in an atmosphere of openness, listening, sharing and trust.…
With Christ, in Africa, forever
Sr. Iwona Cholewinska, in La Marsa, Tunisia, shares her joy at her final vows For my final commitment I chose the date of September 8, to be able to always associate it with the birth of Mary and the birth of our Congregation. In distributing the invitations for my vows, I had this conviction that the people who will be present will be guests of the One who invited me to follow Him as MSOLA in Africa, because it is He, in fact, the author of this day. From the first preparations, the desire that inhabited me was that it be a celebration as simple as possible and it was fulfilled! Many of the people present underlined in their sharing this simplicity that was manifested in the liturgy, in the symbols and in the gestures. The celebration took place in the church where I was baptized, I…
Sr. Marietha’s final profession
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Yezakuzwe Marie, Mukamana Ernestine, Oligah Ainomugisha, MSOLA postulants, report from Arusha, Tanzania On the morning of 20th July, Sisters, family and parishioners arrived at St. John Mary Mzeeyi Maruku parish for the Mass. In a brief history of Sr. Marietha’s life, we learned that it was through the sacrament of the Eucharist that she had come to love Jesus Christ. In Tanzania, the religious habit is very significant and appreciated. The bishop explained why our dress is different from that of other congregations. We have chosen a habit that allows us to move around easily and to be close to the people. Later during a conversation, the choir director told us that he liked the way we mixed with the people. During his speech, Mr. Joakim Rupia, Marietha’s father, showed his gratitude to God for…
Missionary Vocation Animation in Gitega, Burundi
Sr. Victoire Niyonzima from our Gitega community, shares the work of the Missionary Vocation Animation in Burundi We have been blessed with young aspirants who came to follow two vocational discernment seminars. We divided them into two groups: the first for those who came first and had not yet reached their final year of studies plus those who still have one year remaining to finish their secondary education. The second group was made up of those who, during this academic year, have finished their studies and have taken the State Examination plus those who have finished their studies a while back. The first group of 13, were there from 24th to 27th July 2024. The second group of 22 was with us from 6th to 10th August 2024. For all these seminars we are grateful to God who enabled us to organize and carry out this project. Being…
Our Community Experience in Gumo
Postulants NIYOMWUNGERE Evelyne, TEBABO Philogène and AFUA Mediator Dear sisters, we are happy to share with you our community experience and our learning of the English language for two months. First of all, we are very grateful for the welcome of our sisters who allowed us to spend our time in Gumo in a good atmosphere. We were touched by their availability, their attention and their encouragement in our learning of the language. When we arrived, the sisters showed us the house and the community program. This put us at ease and we felt at home by sharing the community tasks. What struck us during the lessons was the fact that our teacher did not understand French. We did not understand each other’s English either. The teacher did his best so that we could understand him. We do not forget the help of our sisters who encouraged us…