I AM PRECIOUS!

How do I take myself? What image do I have of myself? Which theme sounds better in me? Do I take myself as a precious being? Do I believe in ‘Yes I Can’ or I always see myself in terms of limitations and as the unfortunate one?

As a social and spiritual being, I share a link with my Creator. Nevertheless, how many times do I recognize that? I am a being who is unique compared to other creatures. Am I convinced that I am created in the image and likeness of God? This calls for realization i.e. self-awareness. Before I put into practice the social nature in me, it is very important to know myself first. In addition to knowing oneself, the sense of feeling worthy is also necessary as one gets to accept who and how he/she is.

Truthfully, there are moments of doubt whereby one is in dilemma of who he/she is. However, these recurrent doubtful moments should not be the limitation of one’s urge to be him/herself. One preacher once said that, there are two important days in life and it is in these two days that one really be. The first important day is the day of birth. It is in this day when one comes into the universe and meets the beautiful creation of God. The second great day in life is the day one really knows the reason why he/she was born. I would like to focus on this second vital day.

In life, we all strive to live but it is unfortunate that many try to survive instead of living. In living, one has to know the reason behind his existence. The realization of this greatly hidden treasure is the beginning of knowing oneself. Imagine a moment of unawareness of oneself; I do not mean the philosophical ultimate of nothingness but the reality of oneself. A being who is unaware of oneself I can depict him/her as the most dangerous being both to himself/herself and to other beings. I know it sounds controversial but why do I write so? Take this human being, who does not know the reason why he/she is alive, and place him/her in any life circumstance. This being, I presume will not be able to comprehend why he/she is even there in the first place. If he/she might not know all that, do you expect him/her to be a liberal and a responsible being? Will he/she able to take care of the other(s) when he/she does not know the reason behind his own beingness? I believe the probability is almost zero, if it is not zero. In every life situation, this person may not be responsible to meet his/her moral and spiritual obligations. However, the million-dollar question is, have you and I realised the reason why we (I) were (was) born?

It is from the realization of the ultimate reason of my being when I can really believe in myself and see myself as a worthy being. I can be able to see myself as God’s precious being. I can see the actualization of God’s Word as in Isaiah 43:4, “because you are precious in my eyes and honoured, and I love you ….”  This is the moment of seeing God’s greatness in one’s life as a merciful and caring Father; the Immanent God who lowers Himself to be like us for the sake of our salvation (Phil 2:6-11). God who takes care of us like in Mt 6:25-30, but I believe that one has to realize himself/herself first in order to know that he/she has a share in these greatest treasures. On top of that, one has to be humble in his/her beingness, Just like Jesus accepted to take a form of a slave. I have to be able to celebrate my beingness and always see myself as an unworthy being a priority to have God’s providence but at the same time, a being whom God loves and see as precious.

Community Member enjoying the music with a dance.

Embracing our founders’ words, “the evangelisation of Africa must be accomplished by the Africans themselves, once they have become Christian and apostles”, it has always been a good initiative to welcome more people called to His vineyard. Every year, candidates join different stages in formation as time takes part mostly in the regulating progress. Welcoming the new community members is always joyful as it assures the continuity of the presence of labourers for tomorrow to take care of His vineyard.

Happily, we welcomed our thirteen new community members with open heart and fundamental convivial attitude. With spicy barbecued varieties of meat alongside other types of foods, the evening was enthusiastic to exceed every ones’ expectations. The MCs of the day guided the event perfectly as the DJs spiced it with great music. Guided by the necessary guidelines, the welcoming and introduction of all members for further recognition was present. Alongside the new members; the primer of the names, countries and dioceses of origin was a good start for the perceptible union between community members as we all get to know each other.

The New Members

THE YEAR OF CHANGE

It is always a perfect start to be aware of what one wants in the near future and the many more days to come. Being together as a fraternity and all focused on having a better tomorrow and also being optimistic about it, we had to lay out strategies which will guide us through the whole of the academic life 2018-2019. The community project is an essential feature which really defines the essence of our intentions throughout the year.

Under the guidance of Fr. Didasio, one of the formators, the realization of what we really want to implement this year might just be reality and not just an illusion anymore. Using a well-defined scheme to chaperon us through, we all satisfied the intended outcome of the fruitful three days exercise. Focusing of the pillars of formation: Community life, Spiritual life, Academic life, Apostolic life and Material life; strategic planning on the way of living in this year, we believe will be well-guided. As life is enthusiased by proper path to be followed, the systematic categorization of the objectives of each pillar, the attitudes required to achieve the objectives and the necessary means to accomplish the set-objectives.

The community life objectives such as: to be a united community with a transcendent family spirit, to be a fraternal community of acceptance of diversity, to be a community of freedom exercising peace and justice and to be a loving and trustworthy community will surely guide us through. But what are the attitudes and the means to actualize these elegant intents? Just in a list form:self-acceptance, respect, openness, team-work, commitment, dedication, forgiveness, accommodation, flexibility, listening, effective and non-violent communication and time management are greatly accepted to be alongside actions such as: sportive activities, celebrations, sharing, outings, effective orientation and conferences, seminars and workshops to seal up the intentions wholly.

For the spiritual life; to become men of prayer, to know the Will of God through a careful discernment, to be holy as the Father in Heaven is Holy and to strengthen our relationship with God and to grow in faith were much supported to be better aims for this academic year. In actualization of our spiritual life objectives; to be creative in prayer, to be committed to prayer, to have a meditative and listening spirit and self-awareness, fit well to be the precise attitudes needed. With serious actions such as recollections, retreats, spiritual reading, watching spiritual films, spiritual directions, meditation, personal prayer, devotions and Eucharistic celebrations we believe we will be able to meet our great objectives.

In addition, the pillar of academic life was also worthy to be carefully strategized for. Being in a first stage of formation which mainly is comprised by studies, to gain academic excellence, to be academic intellectual, to acquire knowledge and skills for life and to discover our potentialities, attain holistic transformation, seemed to have impressed our minds to situate them as our aims of this academic year. Hard work, academic discipline, courage, intellectual curiosity, optimism and self-awareness are the right attitudes as we put into use the libraries, internet, and intellectual lectures. Putting into consideration the aspect of attending classes and time-tabling, we are all sure that we will positively change the tradition.

Apostolic life is another great pillar as we are being prepared to be future missionaries. In our objectives, we aim at touching, saving souls, to be nothing but Apostles, to become more human, and to be present to the people and give love of Christ. To have an apostolic zeal, to be outreaching, to be merciful, compassionate, to be charitable, generous and available in the spirit of service; are the intended attitudes. For efficient achievement of these objectives, we all agreed to use the necessary means like Samaritan funds, efficient means of transport, leading services, teaching catechesis and visitations in order to meet our objectives. We believe that, with these, we will be mature pastoral agents.

Last but not least, there came the ‘new to us’ pillar, material life. As the noun suggests, it particularly deals with the material things. Matters concerning material things are generally very sensitive. As we are aware of all that, we are also invited to be vigilant about it as it is part of what we are formed to be; men of simple lifestyle. Systematically, we decided to have well-structured objectives, accompanied by the attitudes required and lastly the actions to be taken in order to meet the objectives. To attain dignified life, cultivate a spirit of consideration, to be responsible, accountable and to acquire maintenance skills are the key objectives aimed at for this academic year. The question of how to achieve them is based on the attitudes such as: to be honest, accountable, considerate, generous, to have the spirit of sacrifice, self-control and to be committed and understanding; and the means to be used, such as: cooking, gardening, taking care of the animals, careful book-keeping, cost-sharing and maintenance seem to fulfil the intended purpose.

To sum up the whole process, we came up with a theme which symbolise our goal in this academic year. This theme, ‘GUIDE US LORD TO DISCOVER OUR POTENTIALS’, is meant to be of great meaning to all of us in this academic year, as we strive to answer God’s call.

WHAT A PICNIC!!!

As someone once said concerning finding joy in life, “by all right means possible, looking for joy in almost every event in life, should be part of one’s daily goal.” In agreement with that statement; joy being something which is presumably short term, but with the constant presence of joy in one’s mind and soul, the probability of achieving what many people call it a UNIVERSAL GOAL, happiness, is very high.

Carrying on with ‘tradition’, the yearly picnic was far much from being just great. With the accompaniment of many events within the Event itself, made it colorful. As community life stands to be one of the major pillars of formation, the picnic was one of the many outstanding outings which bring us closer to one another. Being a weekend and an official community picnic day, which had been planned for and waited-for by many if not all, all the preparations and requirements were made on time.

Arriving in such an amazing location with a great view of Lake Victoria, the chilly breeze cooled down every bit of the whole semester tension. With united spirit we laid down all the possible things to be effectively used alongside the helpless animals that were to make a fantastic meal for the members present. After the ‘pouring of libation part,’ the ‘work of fire’ began as we effectively did the required part as we were to be on time at the same time.

Just to make things clear; we did not head there just for the purpose of appreciating our stomachs but also to strengthen the bond we share as brothers. Doctrina Beach, the venue, was superb and a perfect venue for the activity at that particular time. With everyone taking part in the work to be done, we successfully performed what we all desired. Above all, the important pillar, community life was carefully actualized with all the activities present like: cooking, sharing the meal together, and taking part in different games and many more.

It is always good to cherish such moments in life which only comes once and they will never come again. We try to nourish whenever we are planted and enjoy life while in it as we also try to be conscious of the tomorrow we are optimistic about.