The Sisters of St. Louis, Ghana Region met from the 19th to 24th August 19 to 26, 2024 at the St. Gregory the Great Provincial Seminary, Parkoso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana to have their annual renewal course.
The Regional Leader, Sr. Brigid Nancy Andoh, SSL, welcomed all the Sisters to this year’s renewal course, which started with a recollection from the eve of August 19 and ended on August 20 directed by the Acting Rector of the Seminary, Rev. Fr. Michael Boakye Yeboah.
It was on the theme: A Call to Love – The Path towards Holiness. (Lev. 19:2) “Be holy for I Yahweh Your God am Holy”.
Fr. Yeboah in his talk explained three forms of loving towards holiness, mentioning the first as the Ignatian way also known as the intuitive natural love.
According to him, this type of love flows from the depth of the heart and lacks logic.
The second, the Carmelite way, also known as the mystical love, he said was a deep unexplained desire for God and the Benedictine way which trains one how to walk with God until one is independent to do so.
Fr. Yeboah encouraged the Sisters to imitate Christ by loving the Christ way, him who defined his love for humanity in sacrifice.
In another talk on the theme: Consecrated Life and Affective Maturity also facilitated by Fr. Yeboah, he told the Sisters that as a religious group, safe guarding was very important to them.
Sr. Benedicta Boakye-Yiadom also took Sisters through Understanding Abuse and Trauma and highlighted the types of abuse such as physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, spiritual abuse, and the effects.
She also touched on trauma, its causes, types and effects on individuals.
As part of the programme, the Sisters discussed the implementation of their five-year strategic plan, facilitated by Mr. Vincent Agyei and the review of our regional policies which was also facilitated by Sr. Georgina Edwine, SSL.
A Holy Mass climaxed the programme on August 24, the feast of St Bartholomew officiated by Fr. Boakye Yeboah.
In his homily, Fr. Yeboah quoted St Pope John Paul “the church at every moment in time is called to renew herself at all fronts of her life … but in a special way, the religious is called to renew himself or herself in the Lord in moments of doubt.”
He explained that there were two types of doubt, the negative and the methodical doubt, one that starts with refusal and ends with affirmation.
Giving an example, he said when Nathaniel heard of Jesus, he doubted his true identity, but when he encountered Jesus, he believed.
Fr. Yeboah therefore challenged Sisters not to entertain negative doubts but emulate Nathaniel by continues renewal until we finally declare total faith in Christ.
By Sr. Joan Dzifa Bosro, SSL (Sister Communicator)
