Not only a missionary stomach but also a missionary brain (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

My letter of appointment to Mexico arrived in December 2014. I was Parish Priest of Kasamba and Dean of the Samfya Deanery in the Diocese of Mansa in Zambia. This appointment surprised me and put me in a state of uncertainty and doubting. And what about learning Spanish? A short period of discernment reproached me that language problems were not an excuse for a missionary brain. I accepted the appointment. Continue reading “Not only a missionary stomach but also a missionary brain (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Rethinking Specialised Studies (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

I thank the Society of Missionaries of Africa for having given a new breath of fresh air to specialised studies by sending confreres for further education especially up to the level of a Ph.D. This shows that it is reading the signs of the times. I, therefore, welcomed my appointment to do a Doctorate in Moral Theology. Knowing that, in our Society, very few confreres do further studies and taking into account my age, I consider this appointment as a grace not for my own personal satisfaction but to better serve the Society. Continue reading “Rethinking Specialised Studies (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

My Experience in Specialized Studies (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

After my ordination, I served at Mapeera Nabulagala Parish in Kampala for four years and eight months. During the first three years, I was the curate, and then I took over as Parish Priest. Seven months after taking that office, the Provincial informed me that I had been selected for specialized studies, and it wouldn’t be long before I started. The announcement was both a surprise and a shock. On the one hand, it was a surprise because the specialized studies proposed was in Business Administration, yet I used to think that if one day I were asked to Continue reading “My Experience in Specialized Studies (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Specialized Formation, a need for the mission, not a luxury (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

I am Brother Vitus Danaa Abobo, M.Afr. one of the lucky confreres who got all the support I needed to specialize in Social Communication, a B.A. program during my fourth phase of Initial Formation in Nairobi.

After one year of theological studies I was asked to Continue reading “Specialized Formation, a need for the mission, not a luxury (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Specialised Formation: between privilege, right and duty (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

It is not unusual to meet confreres who think that specialized formation is not necessary to be a good missionary. I agree entirely if what they mean is that the mission does not depend on a head full of theories. We do not need a diploma to live the values of the Gospel, Encounter/Dialogue, Justice and Peace which constitute our identity as Missionaries of Africa. This is why an important aspect of studies at all Continue reading “Specialised Formation: between privilege, right and duty (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Specialised studies today (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

What is called ‘Specialised studies’ in the vocabulary of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa is nothing but some supplementary studies needed to answer better the needs and goals of our Mission in Africa of today. From the very beginning, our Founder felt this need and the nature of what is needed varies from one period to another and from one place to the other. Let me leave the historical aspect of the topic to the historians Continue reading “Specialised studies today (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Specialised formation: preparation for missionary service (PE nr. 1089 – 2013/03)

In recent times our General Chapters have insisted on the necessity to appoint more confreres for specialised formation. This insistence is due to the rapidly changing nature of our world and to the fact that our globalised world has become more complex. Therefore, the aim of specialised formation is to help us respond to the missionary needs of our times. In the past, confreres have been appointed for specialised tasks without having been prepared for them and it has to be recognised, they did an excellent job. However, while it is true that Continue reading “Specialised formation: preparation for missionary service (PE nr. 1089 – 2013/03)”

Editor’s Word (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)

“Specialised studies” can easily become a subject, which raises hackles when one speaks of it out of context and with prejudicial comments. Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, in his article, reminds us of the time when teachers, full of good will, were asked to give courses for which they had not got a great deal of knowledge…the results were, generally speaking, not great; they themselves got frustrated and the students certainly had gaps in their knowledge. Continue reading “Editor’s Word (PE nr. 1089 – 2018/03)”

Dégonfler des baudruches (JM Laurent)

Here comes a book (in French), as original as his author is, Jean-Michel Laurent, Missionary of Africa. He was the Secretary for Formation for the last six years or so, and is now formator in the Spiritual Year of Bobo-Dioulasso.

Parmi les paraboles dont usait Jésus, certaines sont interprétables de différentes manières; dans l’Ancien Testament, on pourrait croire que Dieu se repent d’avoir créé les humains – comme s’il était assez idiot pour ne pas prévoir les conséquences de ses actes !… -; l’histoire ancienne aussi est sujette à interprétation ; et la géopolitique actuelle laisse songeurs sur l’avenir que les décideurs nous destinent. Si, d’un côté, les médias dénoncent des crimes, des massacres et des errements, il leur arrive aussi de tyranniser par la pensée, à l’instar des gouvernements, des institutions ou des personnes qu’ils fustigent. Et honni soit celui qui pense autrement qu’eux! Mais, alors que nous pensons voir clair dans le jeu des autres, nous sommes bien souvent les dupes de nous-mêmes. Si Dieu nous laisse libres face à sa parole, qui suis-je pour vouloir imposer mon interprétation aux autres? La tentation est grande et certains n’hésitent pas à vouer à l’enfer ceux qui seraient d’un autre avis. Mais le danger est d’abord en nous et, dans toute l’immensité de l’univers, il n’y a qu’une toute petite chose qu’il nous incombe de changer: notre propre cœur.

Jean-Michel Laurent, M.Afr.

Jean-Michel Laurent, prêtre, missionnaire d’Afrique (Pères Blancs), né en 1951, est originaire de Chièvres (Hainaut, Belgique) et a œuvré dans des paroisses rurales du Sud-Ouest de la Tanzanie pendant plus de dix ans. Il a ensuite collaboré à la formation des jeunes de sa congrégation avant d’être nommé, au niveau international, comme secrétaire à la Formation initiale des Missionnaires d’Afrique. Il est maintenant au noviciat de Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina- Faso).

ISBN 978-2-87356-772-9
Prix TTC : 9,50 €

Collection « Béthanie »
Fidélité
Commander ici : www.editionsjesuites.com

Sister Marie-Françoise MENGUY (Yves de Tréguier), R.I.P.

The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa
invite you to share their hope and pray for:

Sister Marie-Françoise MENGUY (Yves de Tréguier)

from the diocese of St Brieuc
and the community of Verrières-le-Buisson.
She entered into Life in Verrières-le-Buisson
on March 20, 2018 at the age of 107,
of which 80 years of missionary religious life
in Algeria and France.