Conversations at the Assumptionist Center - Feb 1, 2015 (Sunday)

As the Church begins to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life, the Assumptionist Center in Brighton has begun hosting three Sunday “Conversations… this semester around the distinct forms and traditions of consecrated life in the Catholic Church.

At our first session, which focused on the cloistered contemplative tradition, the community, residents and guests welcomed two Poor Clare nuns who shared what is means to them to be contemplatives in today’s world.

(On the occasion of his ordination to the priesthood this past December in Sokode, Togo, we conducted an interview with him.)

- Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

- My name is Serge Patrick Mabou Simo and I am Cameroonian, from the diocese of Bafoussam in the district of West-Cameroon. I am the youngest in my family, the "Benjamin." After completing my novitiate and my philosophy in the Congo (DRC) and my theology in Nairobi, I came here to Sokode where I was ordained a deacon in June, 2013 and worked mostly with young people both at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish and at St. Augustine Youth Center both of which are run by the Assumptionists in the city.

Assumption College’s Rome campus has been named one of the 10 "best study abroad programs in America” by the independent college rankings journal Best College Reviews.

Calling it one of “the most desirable study abroad opportunities” in the United States, Best College Reviews noted that Assumption’s Rome campus was “unique” to the College and “provides students a personal experience.”

“It is an honor to have Assumption’s Rome campus nationally recognized as one of the best study abroad programs in the United States in only its second year of operation,” said Assumption College President Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D. “Our students experience Rome and all of Italy as part of a learning community—living, studying and traveling together, enjoying a transformative adventure as they grow both personally and intellectually. They can stand where the classical liberal arts tradition was born and influenced the development of Western Civilization.”

Ignorance of the faith -- indifference to it -- outright unbelief. The Church in a state of ruin. A century of violence and political turmoil.

In the eyes of Father Emmanuel d'Alzon, this was the situation in France in the decades after the French Revolution. Yet in 1835 -- three years after the struggle and tragedy of the June Rebellion depicted in "Les Miserables" -- Father d'Alzon had an insight. "They say the world is evil," he wrote to a colleague. "No doubt, passion turns it away from what is good. But I believe most of all that the world is ignorant."

Convinced that the world's intellectual crisis was at the heart of its social and political crises, Father d'Alzon had the inspiration to found a religious congregation that would advance the Kingdom of God through "education in all its forms."

– Would you share a bit about your background: family, childhood, early education etc.?

Bro. Sagar – I was born into a Roman Catholic family in the southern part of India in 1988. My father is a farmer while my mother is a house wife and assists my father daily as he works in the fields. My one brother studied Political Science and Economics, owns his own business and is married with two children. My sister, degreed in Biology, Chemistry and Zoology, is also married with two children. My early elementary schooling and basic catechism classes were under the guidance of the Sisters of St. Anne. Later I attended secondary school, followed by higher education at Kanuka Matha in Govindapuram. I studied Economics, Political Science and Business at Vidyanikethan Junior College from 2004-2006.

Pope Francis, Vatican City, World Day of Consecrated Life, February 02, 2015

Here is a translation of the text of the Pope’s homily given in St. Peter's Basilica at a Mass for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, marking the World Day of Consecrated Life.

We have before our mind’s eye the icon of Mother Mary, who walks with the Child Jesus in her arms. She takes him to the Temple, introduces him to the people, carries him to encounter his people.

The Mother’s arms are as the “stairs” on which the Son of God comes down to us, the stairs ofGod’s condescension. We heard this in the First Reading of the Letter to the Hebrews: Christ “had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (2:17). It is the twofold way of Jesus: He came down, made himself like us, to ascend to the Father together with us, making us like Him.

My name is DAMIBA Honoré Ramondgwendé.

I am from Burkina Faso and grew up in the parish of the cathedral, Our Lady of Grace, in Koupela, about 140 km east of Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina-Faso). I got to know the Assumptionists when I paid a visit to Br. Bernard BAMOGO and his community. That's all it took for me to change my mind from entering the diocesan seminary to joining the Assumptionists. I was totally taken up with the way they lived their life together, their charism and spirituality. I enjoy the life in community marked by simplicity, real brotherhood, genuine warmth, mutual respect and support, transparency, and an international character.

Hello! My name is AKPO Dovi Augustin.

Born on June 7, 1987 in Ahassomé (in the Prefecture of Moyen-Mono, Togo), I am the tenth and last child of my family. I would say that my vocation dates back to the age of ten or eleven when I was attending Mass and was deeply impressed by the pastor of Christ the King parish, Fr. Cephas. There was a special reverence with which he celebrated the Eucharist. It was as if he belonged to another world. I wasn't even baptized yet since my father was a non-practicing Catholic and my mother a follower of the ancestral religion. I started preparing to enter the Church and in 2003 was baptized and received First Communion. Afterward I joined many Church groups, all of which nourished my desire to become a priest. These groups got me involved in helping others ----  the handicapped, the sick, prisoners, the homebound. There grew in me a desire to serve God and his people.

Centennial Mass (left to right): Fr. Benoît Gschwind, provincial of Europe, Fr. Leo van der Klauuw, Fr. Benoît Grière, superior general

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015, the feast of the Epiphany, a large group of Assumptionists from Holland, Belgium, Paris, Rome, and Bucharest gathered in Boxtel and were joined by Oblate Sisters of the Assumption, lay Assumptionists, friends, and local dignitaries to mark the centenary of the Assumptionist presence in this country.

Instead of relaxing at home during their winter break from school, nearly 50 Assumption College students have opted to participate this month in community service trips to Ecuador, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Baltimore, M.D.; and Camden, N.J. The students are volunteering their time to help families impacted by economic strife and to rebuild neighborhoods.