On January 26, 2025, the Sisters in Njiro community, Tanzania, gathered together to reflect on the life of our spiritual mother, Saint Julie Billart. Since the community is hosting the Sisters on Mission Orientation Program commonly known as Teacher Training College, we were divided into three groups. We started at 9: 00 A.M by invoking the power of the Holy Spirit to guide our recollection. Everyone was deeply inspired by Saint Julie‘s strong faith and trust in God, which enabled her to withstand the challenging circumstances of her time and gave her the courage to remain steadfast in following Jesus. All the groups had powerful and enriching reflections. Through our sharing, it became clear Saint Julie’s spirituality is still applicable to our own lives and impels us to be instruments of hope in our torn world. She is definitely a role model for our time.
After listening to everyone’s reflection we had time for silent adoration to integrate all that was shared and to ask God to grant us the strength and courage to do his will as Saint Julie did. We also had the opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation. Our prayer time was concluded with the Eucharistic celebration by Fr. Emmanuel Mchopa from the Society of Jesus. The Sunday’s Gospel was based on Jesus’ mission (Luke 4: 14-21). In Father’s homily, he urged us to emulate Jesus’ example, who was filled with the spirit to bring the good news to the poor. He highlighted this in relation to St. Julie’s confidence in witnessing to God’s goodness. The mass ended with Saint Julie’s Psalm: “Let us sing a song to our Father.”
On the same day, we had the celebratory jubilee meal, which included spaghetti with beef, green vegetables, bread, and soup. A few Sisters participated in preparing the meals and it was fun working together. Through the sharing of the meal, we felt very much united with our Sisters. Shortly after the meal, we sang the jubilee song: “Praise and glorify the Lord, Sisters.” It was a joy-filled moment praising God for the marvelous deeds he has done in our lives and the lives of each Sister in our congregation for the past 175 years. We felt connected with all our sisters across the globe. It was a memorable day and everyone enjoyed being in communion with each other.
by Dreamhost