Scritto da Peter Kivuva | Categoria: A Proposito di Noi  |  Pubblicato il 11/01/2024

It is my pleasure to salute you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The community of Bangui salutes you as well! In this article, I will present you the different activities and events that transpired sometimes this year that Apostles of Jesus Crucified (Bangui) witnessed. These includes: the visit of the Apostolic Nuncio, the visit of the general superior (Rev. Fr. John Claude Nzembele) and finally the visit of Fr. Michele Momoli. On behalf of Fr. Gerald Yapo the community superior, I want to extend our sincere gratitude for the three fathers who sacrificed their time to pass around and share with us. We are indeed grateful.

The Apostolic Nuncio
The apostolic Nuncio, on arrival first visited the Divine Mercy chapel which is currently used for the parish masses. Afterwards, he proceeded to the dispensary (Padrepio medical Centre) and interacted with the patients present that day as well as the workers there. Next he had good time with Padrepio prayer group and he concluded his visit by visiting the AJC community where he formally greeted the bothers accompanied by a brief introduction of each member with the assistance of Fr. Gerald Yapo, alongside sharing few drinks.
Nuncio had a photo moment with the dispensary workers after the visit
Nuncio getting out of the Divine mercy chapel
The nuncio visiting Padrepio prayer group
The apostolic nuncio with Sr. Iveti in the paediatric section

The general superior
Rev. Fr. John Claude Nzembele passed in Bangui community and had his stay of around three weeks during which Fr. Gerald Yapo was in holidays. During his stay, the general Father held classes with the novices and the postulants as well as morning Eucharistic celebrations. He shared with them about the AJC spirituality, Marian spirituality which finds its origin in the Annunciation, elaborating Mary’s acceptance of the Divine Word. On this he stressed the importance of readiness to heed to the voice of the Lord by those in formation. There being a lot to cover but owing to his busy schedule, his planned program was not fully realized in Bangui and on his return to Italy, he continued it via Zoom, teaching on community life and human formation. One of the participants recorded down his homily on one occasion and below is a copy of the translated version:
Sunday 16/07/2023 Mt 13: 1-23 (The parable of the sower)
                  “Indeed, in today's Gospel, God invites us to give importance to his word. Everything was brought to pass by the word of God. We need this Word in our life, that is to say, to put it first in order to achieve a true conversion and to enter into the logic of God, following the example of Saint Martha Robin who nourished herself only by the word of God and the Eucharist. This leads us to ask a number of knowledge questions: How much importance do we give to the word of God?  Are we reading it? Are we meditating on it?  The answer to these questions is found in the life of a certain saint who is models for us to imitate, such as Saint Francis of Assisi where he called wolf his brother and he listened to him. Also, by the example of Saint Martin de Perrés who called the mice, took them from the bush and brought them food to eat because they were disturbing a lot in the house. These are examples among many others to imitate.

                  Then if we consider the word of God in our life, we will have a good result and we will do wonderful things for the glory of God and the salvation of all mankind, it will bring a change of mentality in our life. Often, we give more importance to bogus, useless events as we neglect the word of God. We must make resolutions in the light of the homilies we listen to during Mass, because coming to Mass is not just singing and dancing, but remembering what is essential in this world in order to apply it.
                  In the end, we must not go home empty-headed when we come to Mass, we must edify ourselves and change our lives in the light of the Word of God, because the more man sins, the more creation becomes hostile to him. Creation will be reconciled to man if he converts himself. There is no question of diluting the word of God because it manifests itself in simple and ordinary things. Let us ask the Lord to give us his Holy Spirit to help us keep his word and put it into practice, and to idealize it in our lives.                 
                  If we meditate on this word every day, we will have a good result and our mentality will change in the light of this word. Then, it brings something new into our life and will allow us to enter into the logic of God. Often, we consider bogus events much more useful while we neglect God's word.  God urges us today to idealize his word by reading, listening and putting it into practice is to make resolutions in the light of the word of God. Coming to Mass is not just singing and dancing, but we must remember the essentials of what is said in the word of God in order to achieve a true conversion, otherwise we go home empty-headed.
                  Finally, let us pray to the Lord to grant us the grace to keep his word in our lives, but the more man is in sin, the more creation becomes hostile to man.  Because creation will be reconciled to man, there is no question of diluting the word of God, God asks us simple things but not the big thing, let us ask his Holy Spirit to help us keep his word in our  life Amen”

Fr. Michele Maria MOMOLI

The last person was Fr. Michele Maria Momoli, who spent one month of an equally rich and fruitful experience which involved: the method of doing lectio divina, the constitution of AJC and the encounter of our founder with Padrepio which could be understood as the birth of the institute. I would like to recognize the courage of Fr. Michele for, regardless of the fact that he was challenged by the French language; he demonstrated a selfless zeal to pass his message.

This goes hand in hand with special appreciation to Fr. Gerald Yapo who accompanied Fr. Michele in translating the Italian language to French for utility purposes. May God bless you abundantly dear fathers!

To conclude, I hereby confirm our heartfelt gratitude for the precious time we shared together. We do not take it for granted for it goes a long way towards modeling our future. An idea whose time has reached is unstoppable! Time has come for Bangui to prove to the world that God has a mission to be accomplished. The community is growing: currently with 2 postulants (taking classes in propaedeutic) 5 novices (taking some classes in inter-novitiate programs), 2 juniorates (Philosophy & Theology in major seminary), 2 perpetually professed brothers and 2 fathers. We continue to pray and ask the readers of this article, spiritual and material support. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and prosperous God filled New Year 2024!