TEMPORARY PROFESSED WEEKEND SESSION.

VENUE: ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY, WA.

DATE: 16-17^TH NOVEMBER, 2023.

This encounter is the second in a series of the Temporary Professed Weekend sessions held in the year, 2023. The encounter forms part of efforts aimed at meeting the ongoing formation needs and requirements of the Temporary Professed Brothers in the Province. Above all, the session provides a suitable platform and affords the young brothers the opportunity to bond and share their joys and challenges, helping to inspire and encourage one another in the process. For the first time in a while, the session recorded a hundred percent (100%) turnout; all twelve (12) Temporary Professed Brothers participated in the session: this is an unprecedented feat. It has often been very difficult getting all the young brothers to attend the program due to our different apostolic engagements.

The young brothers arrived on Thursday, November, 16 in the evening. We had supper together before meeting briefly in the St. Louis conference hall to be introduced to the program after which we retired to bed.

The following day, we kick-started the program with an inspiring and reflective prayer service led by Brs. Callistus Y. and Frederick K. This was immediately followed by a welcome address delivered by the Coordinator of TPBs, Br. Alpitio Kog, on behalf of the Provincial Superior, Br. Seregeous Dery.

The platform was then set for young brothers to share their experiences, encompassing both joys and challenges. It emerged from the sharing that each brother’s experiences was not entirely different from the other Brothers and that created a sense of similarity in what pertains to the FIC culture. 

Our first resource person, Fr. John of God Kpierala, had already arrived to give his inputs on the topic, “Living Consecrated Life as a Temporary Professed Brother in the light of Spiritual Direction and Accompaniment.” Fr. John of God exhorted the young brothers to safeguard our vocation by taking our spiritual direction and accompaniment seriously. According to him, spiritual direction and accompaniment help to prevent deviations in the life. Further highlighting the importance of spiritual direction, he intimated that, the exercise helps us to desist from making a subjective interpretation of our experiences. This enables us to discern the true spirit from other spirits. The Holy Spirit is the principal director, assisted by human agents. Albeit the spiritual benefits of spiritual direction, some people don’t take it seriously or abandon it all together because of the following reasons: a narrow and poor understanding of the concept, a false sense of self-sufficiency, refusal to examine themselves, neglect of prayer and spiritual life etc. He concluded by admonishing the young brothers to be aware of the presence of God in our lives, hence the need to deepen our prayer life and conform our inner lives more closely to Christ through spiritual direction and accompaniment.