Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing St. Benedict's Priory Windhoek, Namibia
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Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing St. Benedict’s Priory Windhoek, Namibia WPN 68 May to August 2016 By Sr. Matilde Shikongo OSB, Sr. Sabina Zolonimu OSB, Sr. Mary Placid Joseph and Sr.Maurice Mary Kamari OSB FINAL PROFESSION: Sr. Sabina Zolonimu OSB FIRST PROFESSION: (top) and Sr. Matilde Novice Marianna Joseph now Sr. Mary Placid Shikongo OSB (left) OSB (top) and Novice Reginalda Kamari now Sr. Maurice Mary OSB (left) Love is, above all else, the gift of oneself. This is a quote one finds in the internet and yet this is the heart of the matter of a religious consecration. The primary principle found in our Priory’s newly- revised Formation Manual states: Vocation is a gift from God and a personal, free and radical response from the person called. Novice Marianna Joseph and Novice Reginalda Kamari have been waiting for the day of their consecration to come. Likewise, Sr. Matilde Shikongo OSB and Sr. Sabina Zolonimu OSB have been looking forward to the day when their formative journey will be sealed in the total gift of themselves to God. The First Profession of Vows took place on June 11, 2016 and a week after, on June 18, 2016, the community witnessed the Final Profession of Vows. Both Eucharistic Celebrations were held at the Priory House Chapel in Nubuamis. In preparation for their day of consecration, the Novices and Junior Sisters had their retreats with Sr. Oranna Franke OSB and Fr. Franziskus Swartbooi OSFS respectively. Sr. Oranna focused on the theme of how to become “People of God” who are ready to serve, be broken, taken and given. The conferences of Fr. Swartbooi centered on religious life and the vows. As he led them to see the past with gratitude, he challenged them to look to the future with courage especially in times of inconsistencies and human weakness. Page The Rite of Mandatum, rooted in the ancient rite performed by Jesus himself when he washed the feet of his disciples, was held on the eve before the First Profession. Novice Marianna and Novice Reginalda were taken into the heart of the community, where the gesture of the Prioress washing and kissing their feet followed by all the Final Professed Sisters became a symbolic and prophetic act of acceptance to the Congregation and an example of service and love. In her exhortation, Mother Mary Thomas Prado OSB said: “If we look at everything as GIFT, our attitude will change into GRATITUDE. We shall Novices giving their response after the Mandatum see everything with the eyes of humility and behold every event, every experience, everything we receive as something to be cherished, honored and be grateful for. If we do not see that vocation, like life itself, is one big gift from God, we will go through our religious life as demanding, discontented, bitter, disappointed sisters and centered only on ourselves.” The Eucharistic Celebration with the Rite of Temporary Profession was presided by Fr. Werner Afunde, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Windhoek. Concelebrating with him were Fr. Joseph Hatutale OMI, Fr. Franziskus Swartbooi OSFS, Fr. Evaristus Hinanane, Fr. Johannes Kanana. In his homily, Fr. Afunde explained the meaning of the traditional names of Nov. Marianna, “Sapalo”, meaning “Saturday”, and Reginalda, “Tuuva-Omwene”, meaning “God hear us”. He challenged them to totally surrender themselves to God who called and chose them to serve in his kingdom. Before & After: Novices Marianna & Reginalda during Novitiate (left) & during the Kiss of Peace at First Profession During the Rite of Profession, Nov. Marianna was given the religious name Sr. Mary Placid OSB, and Nov. Reginalda the name Sr. Maurice Mary. Both will celebrate the same feastday – January 15, the feast of Sts. Maur and Placid, their patron saints. The Eucharistic Celebration with the Rite of Final Profession of Vows was presided by the Most Reverend Archbishop Liborius Nashenda OMI, Archbishop of Windhoek. Concelebrating with him were: Fr. Franziskus Swartboooi OSFS, Fr. Lukose Perumannikala MSFS, and Fr. Jose Thomas MSFS. Archbishop Nashenda exhorted Sr. Matilde and Sr. Sabina to continue to be faithful, loving and ready to be sent wherever they are called to participate in God’s mission. Both the liturgical celebrations and the reception that followed at Mary’s Hall were simple and orderly. Sisters from our communities, family, friends and members of religious congregations came to pray and rejoice with the newly-professed Sisters. A short program was held during the reception. The food was lovingly prepared by the Priory House community and Sisters from the out-stations who came to help. As we thank God for the gift of vocations to our Priory and Congregation, we keep in mind the words of Fr. Edward Foley OFMCap, speaker in our workshop on the Eucharist and Liturgy: “The act of religious profession must be recognized as an action of Christ. At its root it is neither a celebration of personal achievement nor a pseudo-graduation ceremony from the rigors of initial formation. Rather, religious profession – as a sacrament and therefore Christological event – finds its first meaning in the action of Christ, and only then in the act of those to be professed.” Page 2 WORKSHOP ON THE EUCHARIST AND LITURGY IN NUBUAMIS AND NAMUNTUNTU By Seminarian Jeronimo Kateya, Sr. Maria Sikindo OSB and Novice Ndapewa Ngesheya Our Priory’s on-going formation workshop for this year 2016 was on the Eucharist and Liturgy. In an effort to update the Sisters on the liturgy and deepen their Eucharistic spirituality, Mother Mary Thomas Prado OSB invited her former professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, USA, Fr. Edward Foley OFMCap to be the guest speaker. Because of the lack of a qualified liturgist in the country and in view of sharing the Priory’s resources with the local Church, the workshop was opened to priests, religious from other Congregations, seminarians, deacons, lay leaders and our oblates. The workshops were held in two groups, in two venues due to the overflow of participants. The first one was held on May 19 to 21, 2016 at Mary’s Hall in our Priory House in Nubuamis. The second cluster was held in our mission station in Namuntuntu, Kavango Region on May 26 to 28, 2016. Fr. Ed is a theologian, professor of Liturgy, Music, Spirituality and Theology, an award winning author, and an international speaker. Around 110 participants attended the workshop at the Priory House in Nubuamis, and 36 participants (34 Sisters, a Deacon and a lay leader) in Namuntuntu. On the 23rd, Fr. Ed gave conferences on Music and Liturgy, Preaching and Presiding to the seminarians at St. Charles Lwanga Seminary. Likewise, the Poor Clare Sisters of the neighboring monastery also requested an afternoon of conferences on Franciscan spirituality. Our formators and formandees in the Priory House had their own sessions on Eucharistic Mystagogy, Theology of the Eucharist, Sacraments, parts of the Holy Mass and Liturgy. Our two novices and two Junior Sisters preparing for their profession of vows had their special time to learn about sacramental experience and reflection with a special emphasis on the religious profession as rooted in Baptism. Fr. Ed is a true authority on Liturgy; hence, his expertise benefited the participants a lot. In his view, Liturgy and Eucharist could be approached from different angles, for example, from human experience, Systematic Theology, Eucharistic Theology, Sunday Mass, Sacred Scripture, etc. Any angle can be the starting point to understand the meaning and relevance of Liturgy and Eucharist. His starting point of presentation was, however, the Eucharistic Theology which is the Table Ministry. At the very centre of the Table Ministry is reconciliation that takes place within the Liturgy of Group picture of Namuntuntu participants the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. For Fr. Ed, Table Ministry is all about reconciliation with mission and it is a lifestyle within the context of the Last Supper. Last Supper is neither about “receiving” nor “taking the Body of Christ,” but is an invitation to become Jesus. Eucharist Ministry gives us a sense of personal ministry, holiness and recon- ciliation. All nations are invited to the Table Ministry which is a reconciliation story. This invitation in- cludes strangers and prostitutes. According to him, even the story of Jesus’ walking on water points to the sacrament of Baptism and this is reconciliation and not a miracle story. Page 3 Fr. Ed also made a distinction between Easter and Resurrection to help us understand the theme better. For him, Christ’s resurrection happened only once while Easter is a repeatable reality where one could encounter the Lord. The Resurrection was the sole epistemological concern of St. Paul after his conversion, as he only wanted to know and proclaim the risen Christ after his Damascus-route experience. For Paul, to receive Christ is to become Christ, the true historical, transubstantiated and ecclesial body of Christ. And to become Christ is to live Christ. Based on the understanding of Vatican Council II, Christ is truly present in the Eucharist in five ways that is, in the Priest/Minister, Assembly, Word, Elements (Bread and Wine) and Sacraments. The being of the latter came from the Church founded by Christ. Fr. Ed affirmed that Liturgy is not about “things.” Liturgy is about “relationship.” This relationship is between the “perceiver” and “Perceived”. The Perceived is the “Real Presence” and this Real Pres- ence is not a “Natural Reality” but a “Religious Reality”. This implies that the “bread” remains but not the “Bread Reality”. The Real Presence can be explained better in relation to experience, relationship, and anthropology than metaphysics, phenomenology than idea, and encounter than abstract dogmas.