Face to face in the footpath of our missionary sisters in Cameroon, together with the young final professed sisters, Sr. Marceline who was preparing for her final profession took part in the formation programme, from 31 October to 16 November 2023, initiated by Superior General Sr. Josephina D’Souza and General Councillor Sr. Marie Claire Mukeshimana and prepared with the sisters in Cameroon.
Sr. Marceline shares about her experience:
In the first place, I wish to thank our Superior General for this wonderful opportunity given to me to deepen my final preparation for my final yes to Jesus Christ. During this formation programme, I learned that, if the first missionary sisters had not left their country and gone out to Cameroon, our mission would have just ended in Rome. Sr. Josephina drew inspiration from the gospel of St. Luke 5:4. Jesus uses the full nets as a metaphor for a new life purpose of spreading His message about the Kingdom of God, meaning that, it is very important for me to learn more and to deepen my spirituality. This implies that, our first missionaries understood what it means to be called. That is to say,
➢ They left their families
➢ They left their beautiful countries
➢ They left their happiness and all the advantages,
just to mention a few, to go out, bring the good news, teach and educate the people.
I equally learned to say yes to the Pallottine Sisters because of the following reasons.
- My vocation.
- My desire to follow Jesus Christ and to serve him in Spirit and in Truth.
- My longing to continue with the teaching of our first missionary sisters in Cameroon and in the world.
From the presentation of the German missionary sisters, I asked myself the question if I were among these sisters, would I be able to work like them? It took me back to the words of Pope Francis that say, a congregation that does not know the history of his or her foundation is not real. He went further by saying that it is necessary to know the history of our Congregation, and here we are face to face with the history of our Congregation.
What touches me most is the difficulties encountered by our missionary sisters in Cameroon, not as professed sisters but as novices. Another important aspect to me is the Extraordinary General Chapter that took place in Rome that was called up to change the Constitutions. Furthermore, it is important to me is that Cameroon is the first land and fruit of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters in the world. This missionary work started in 1890 in Marienberg, Cameroon.
The question of our founder St. Vincent Pallotti to God comes back to me, to ask myself every day. God, who am I? I answer to God, I am created in your image. In a nutshell, Jesus Christ is the center, and He is my joy, just like our founder St. Vincent Pallotti felt. To have Jesus as the center of my life implies that prayer is the source of my life no matter the difficulties that might come up because he is my pride and my heart’s desire. I also understood that I am not living and working for myself but for God. Therefore, another important aspect of our Congregation is that the Spirit of sacrifice brings joy to others just like our first missionary sisters did.
In our entire life, there are challenges. What else to expect of community life? Fidelity in community life is one great challenge, as well as simplicity and humility from the teachings of Jesus Christ. He was the first to wash the feet of his disciples. For me it is very important to understand that I have to accept my fellow sisters in my community with all their weaknesses. I equally learned that we should keep aside tribalism in our communities. All these challenges are possible to handle in the community life if and only if we respect one another.
Therefore, my mission as a Pallottine Sister has meaning if I understand our spirituality by giving a good witness whenever I’m sent. A good example is the gospel of Mark 6: 7-13. Jesus sends out his disciples two by two. If Jesus is not the rock of our community life therefore, our life is meaningless.
Another important lesson to me during the formation programme is: leadership as a service. It makes me understand that leadership helps to construct a good community. That is to say, consecrated life does not exist without a leadership. There is no religious life without mission. I equally learned that authority is for the growth of our congregation, the promotion and development of community life, the wellbeing of all, creating an atmosphere of good communication and responsibility. The most important aspect of authority is to listen. In addition, the superior helps to balance the services of her sisters in the community.
I end my sharing with the words of Pope John Paul II that say, “All the fruitfulness of religious life depends on the quality of fraternity”.
With due respect, I would like to propose to our Superior General together with her councillors, if possible, once after three years, they can carry out another international preparation programme in any chosen country for the young sisters who will be preparing to say their final yes to Jesus Christ, to deepen their understanding about our congregation. God bless you and your councillors for this wonderful initiative.
Sr. Marie Marceline Ngwesse, SAC
Photos: Sr. Fabiana Leitgeber, SAC
