ENCOUNTER OF THE TEMPORARY PROFESSED BROTHERS (TBBs) GHANA PROVINCE.

20TH – 21ST MAY, 2016.

The TPBs of the Ghana Province had their weekend encounter from 20th – 21st May, 2016 at St. Louis Community of the Brothers FIC. In attendance were Brs. John Bosco Miilu, Francis Sarfo, Aaron Nee-eru, Joseph Kyoore, Nimorius Ganee, Alexander Kumson, Linus Delle and Irenius Nimbare. 

The encounter proper started on Saturday 21st May, 2016 at 8:20am with a prayer service organized and led by the Coordinator of the TPBs Br. Felicio Gyeyir in the St. Louis Chapel. He prayed that in all their encounters, the TPBs may remember and keep the words of Fr. Racquet that: “we meet others on our won level. If we live on the surface, we will reach others only superficially. If we dwell in the depths, we will reach in others those depths where Christ in us attains Christ in them”. 

After the prayer service, the encounter was officially opened at 8:30am with words of welcome by the Coordinator. 

The first item of the day was sharing of experiences. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear that our TPBs are happy amidst the challenges of their community living. However, when asked to share the sad, discouraging and frustrating experiences, some shared various levels of frustrations and discouragements, others said they were yet to face challenges. This moment of sharing brought relief to the TPBs burdened with unpleasant experiences.

The group went for a coffee break at 10:45am and reconvened at 11:30 for a talk on the topic: “The demands of integrating studies with apostolate” delivered by Br. Fabian Bezel. He said studies and apostolate have symbiotic relations. He enumerated the following as benefits of being a religious who integrates studies with apostolate. There is employment security, regular promotion, salary upgrading and financial security to the Congregation. The challenges of this integration also include, time pressure, stress, maladjustment, bereavement (lost of a person or a thing that was valued) and financial insecurity to the individual. The speaker concluded by saying that it is safer to combine apostolate with studies.

The afternoon section commenced at 3:30pm with an input from Br. Felicio Gyeyir on the topic “Maturity in Religious Life”. He focused on the mature brother as a full time builder of the kingdom of God. As such, the mature religious must have a sense of belonging to the larger Church community and society with a common aim. He further said a person can be said to be a mature religious if he displays certain propinquity to his community members and consciously seek that oneness of heart of the first Christian community in their own communities. It was a fruitful encounter.

Submitted by Bro. Irenius Nimbare (FIC)