By Godfrey Samwel, nSJ
Greetings from Gonzaga Gonza Jesuit Novitiate, and greetings of the Easter Season.
We thank our God for the many graces and blessings He has bestowed upon us as we continue to rejoice and are being glad because of the great joy of the Risen Lord.
The following are some of the updates from the Jesuit Novitiate at Arusha:
Holy Week and Easter Celebrations
By God’s grace we had a fruitful Holy Week, which began with our own three-day Easter Triduum, under the direction of Fr. Gilbert Lasway, SJ. It was also an occasion for washing our souls with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We thank the Lord for this opportunity offered to us.
We also participated in the Easter Triduum at our Parish Church, St. Josephine Bakhita. We participated in the Good Friday’s way of the cross by animating one of the Stations of the Cross. Furthermore, the novices also led the adoration after Mass of the Lord’s Supper. As a community we had mixed feelings, feelings of sorrow as well as feelings of joy. Sorrow for Christ’s death for our sins and joy at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We were also deeply affected by the failing health of our beloved Pope Francis, and his demise on Easter Monday. We joined the entire Society of Jesus and the mother Church in expressing through prayers our deepest homage of gratitude to the Almighty God for the gift of his life and the legacy that he has left behind for to the Society of Jesus, to the whole Church and to the entire world.
As a community we have joined in prayer, for the repose of the soul of our Socius, Br. James Edema who is mourning the loss of his elder brother on April 22 and has gone to the Lord after a long and painful suffering. May the good Lord be merciful towards his brother and be a source of consolation and strength to his entire family members who are painfully experiencing his loss. We entrust his soul through our prayers for the repose of his soul and pray for God’s eternal peace and happiness for him.
Resumption of Classes:
After our Easter celebrations we have resumed our normal timetable and as Primi, we are now wait for the handing over of the apostolates our Secundis have been carrying on for the last one year.
We hope to be able to carry on these apostolates in real faith, bearing witnesses to the Lord through our works and preachings.
Umoja Day
We were blessed to join other novices within the Arusha Archdiocese at Angelico Lipani Primary school in Sombetini, run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord. There we had the chance of mourning with the Church, the death of Pope Francis. We also participated in a seminar on the Jubilee year, which was facilitated by the Fr. Bahati, the Vicar General for the Moshi Archdiocese. He presided over the entire celebrations.
Later in the afternoon we merrily celebrated the occasion of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The gifts offered at The Holy Eucharist were handed over to an orphanage ran by the helpers of Mary.
