Br. Mosses is about to go on vacation. He has been the rector of the young men who are on their “propaedeutical year.” It is a year for us to look at new aspirants and a time for them to look at the Congregation of the Resurrection. This has been Br. Mosses’ first year in this role. I think he has done a wonderful job as a formator. He recently celebrated his 4th anniversary of perpetual vows.
When the young men first come to join us, we refer to them as “aspirants.” After we see that things are going well, they are recognized as “postulants.” This step happened at Christmas time when Fr. Eric Wagner, C.R. visited us from the U.S.A. Province.
Once Br. Mosses goes on vacation, the postulants will be supervised by Fr. Jim Donohue. There are still important things to accomplish. If they feel called by God, each postulant must make an application for novitiate which will begin on August 15, 2026. For his part, Br. Mosses must write to our Superior General, Fr. Evandro, a recommendation for each postulant. Each of the postulants must also come before a Board of Examiners—an independent group of three members of the Congregation of the Resurrection—to provide their input about the readiness of each postulant to enter novitiate. All of these reports are sent to the Superior General for a final determination of each postulant.
All of this is serious business, but we also need to celebrate our time together, even as it comes to an end in this part of initial formation. To this end, we had an outing that was really a wonderful day of time together.
There is a strange thing about Tanzania; it seems that everyone knows everything about everyone. Last week between classes, I met Fr. William Ngowi. As we were talking, someone took this photo (without our knowledge). Within a few minutes, this photo was posted on the internet. Then, I was inundated with comments. They ranged from “Two old men talking” to “Two men of wisdom sharing.” In any case, I would have pulled in my stomach if I knew I was being photographed!!!!
Our school year seems to be going on forever. You might remember that school was suspended because of the election upheavals in October. The repercussion oft this is that our school year at Jordan University College (JUCO) continues until the beginning of August. This only gives a few days to prepare for the profession of perpetual vows (3 potential candidates) and the renewal of vows (14 potential candidates).
Currently, this semester I am teaching two courses at JUCO. I have 82 third-year theology seminarians in Sacraments Specific, where we deal with each of the seven sacraments in detail. This is my area of expertise and I enjoy teaching this course. I also have these same third-year students plus 92 fourth-year theology students in another course, called Pastoral Ministry. I have never taught such a large class of students before: 174 students.
They are organized in groups of 6-7 for the Pastoral Ministry course. We are using Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for this course.
I have used this text for many years to assist people in leadership skills. If you are familiar with the 7 Habits, you know that the first three Habits—Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, and Put First Things First—deal with a person’s own internal workings and choices, while the second three Habits—Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand Before You Are Understood, and Synergize (Collaborate)—deal with a person’s interpersonal relationships. I have found this text to be immeasurably helpful in my own life. At this point in the course, we are working on Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. This Habit involves writing a personal mission statement. Already, students are seeing ways to apply these Habits to their personal lives and their interaction with others.
Why I did I choose to use this approach? The Vatican has set out four areas of formation: academic, pastoral, spiritual, and human. The latter is often neglected. But how important is this in pastoral ministry? We need ministers who can listen, empathize, collaborate, and serve. These Habits help future ministers to reflect upon how they will serve in ministry, not as “chiefs” but as “servants” who stive to listen to and collaborate with those for whom and with whom they serve.
Finally, we have a new “paka”…cat. We have an older cat who sleeps most of the day. Suddenly, this new young cat appeared. No one knows from where he came. He was very young and small, but we took to him. We usually do not allow the other cat into the dining room, but we have made an exception with this little guy.
He follows us around. He must fend for himself at night. This means that we have two dogs that prowl around the property at night. Both cats have found ways to “survive.” This little one spends his night in the tree near the chapel. But as soon as we begin prayer at 5:45 a.m., there he is at the entry of the chapel. Then, he walks with us into the dining room for breakfast. If I have my door open, he comes to visit me each day. Usually, I have to ask him to leave because, like all cats, he wants to monopolize my time!
More to come on www.resurrectionists.ca
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