God calls whom he wants, when he wants and how he wants
Between December 2013 and January 2014, the Marist District of West Africa witnessed with great joy the final profession of 6 young Brothers: Augustine Teye Naatey (Ghana) on the 21st of December, Anthony Doe Siryeh (Liberia) and Brendane Tombir (Cameroon) on the 28th of December.
On the 4th of January 2014, Brothers Nadji Frederic, Ngardoum Succèss and Ngaro Alfred, from Chad, made their final profession in the Institute of the Marist Brothers. The mass which began at 9am was presided over by Bishop Djitangar Edmond, Bishop of the diocese of Sarh, 20 priests and two deacons. The lay faithful turned out in their numbers and were about 2000 in number, in fact many people had nowhere to sit despite the fact that the ceremony was conducted outdoors. Two choirs beautifully animated the mass, one in the local dialect and the other in French. As usual the various rites which accompany the final profession were performed during the mass. A brief history of the Marist Brothers was also read to the whole congregation.
In his homily, the Bishop first of all thanked the Brothers for their witness as well as the parents of the Brothers who had offered them voluntarily to the Church. He reminded the Brothers and all present that God calls whom he wants, when he wants and how he wants. He who is called just has to accept and put himself at the services of God. He concluded his homily by challenging Brothers Fred, Succès and Alfred to be models of patience and courage to the youths; to teach them to have a place for Jesus in their lives and to always cling to Jesus in times of joys and sorrows.
After the homily the Brothers then made their final professions each in turns and received the Cross from the District Superior, Br Francis Lukong. Then came the bidding prayers and the offertory procession which lasted for more than 30 minutes. Strange enough, all the offertory collected as well as the gifts received were given to the Brothers community. Each Brother was given a pigeon during the offertory procession by the families which they immediately released to nature as a sign of peace.
Just before the end of the mass, the newly professed Brothers consecrated themselves to the Virgin Mary as is the tradition in the institute. A vote of thanks was given by Br Martin Sarobe just before the final blessings. He thanked everyone present for their active participation during the mass; God, the families of the Brothers, Religious and civil authorities and finally the laity for turning out in their numbers.
After the mass, there was a reception at the parish for few invited guests while the remaining guests were attended to at the level of the family of the various Brothers. In conclusion the ceremony was very successful and we give thanks to God for the gifts of Brothers Frederic, Succès and Alfred to the institute of the Marist Brothers.