Clergy of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio Retreats at the Beginning of Lent Season to Pray and Reflect on their Ministries

The six-day retreat, which was held at St. Mary Mother God Catholic Parish, Yambio under the theme “God’s Fidelity to his people and our fidelity to God was guided by Rev. Fr. Augustine Edan Ekeno, a Jesuit Priest from Kenya who is currently serving in the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek in South Sudan.

According to Rt. Rev. Eduardo Hiiboro, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, who was a participant of the retreat, Rev. Fr. Augustine used the Holy Scriptures to identify and made clear how God’s love and faithfulness are manifested in our humanity and therefore we all ought to love and be faithful to him.

“Our fidelity should be expressed through our actions, our ways of doing things, our work, and our care for one another and that will bring us to the resurrection as Christ himself did. This is what came out strong for me during our retreat,” Bishop Hiiboro commented.

The diocese has never had this kind of retreat before where all the clergy meet together to pray and reflect, however, the leadership of the diocese, therefore, felt that for human growth and development, a retreat is very essential.

“It is fundamental because the individuals get an opportunity to put aside their daily tasks and come to contact with themselves; they have an opportunity to reflect and listen to their hearts, feelings and to the things that go on within them; they get a chance to reflect about their tasks, their missions, their responsibilities and the decisions about everything that they do and this at the end enables them to make better decisions about everything they do. Apart from that, the retreat is an opportunity to rest and take stock of one’s life in order to serve better,” the bishop explained.

He further expressed that as spiritual leaders in the communities, the kind of work they do; of listening and giving advice, encouraging people, preaching, and carrying out a lot of other activities, can be draining at the end of the day leading to serious cases of burn out; as such, the spiritual leaders may find themselves depleted of spiritual resources and thus become vague, or materialistic or sometimes even aggressive. As such, spiritual leaders need not just a holiday but a spiritual retreat in order to replenish their spiritual resources.

“We are following our master and our savior Jesus Christ and we follow also his model of working. He always had a moment to go to the mountains to pray. He had also at the beginning of his ministry 40 days in the desert to pray and to plan on how to liberate humanity. So for us as a diocese we also felt the necessity to do the same so that we can be able to effectively serve in the vineyard of the Lord,” the Bishop explained.

Fr. George Hume the Rector of St. John Paul II Philosophicum Seminary, in Yambio felt that the retreat was for them as priests was a time of going back to reflect on the journey; looking at their past, present and future.

“The themes selected each day were so touching and each member for sure had somewhere to fix himself and feelings. I just loved the methodology of every session. The preacher didn't bore us with nonsense shouting or monotony of songs. His timing was so impressive,” Fr. Hume expressed.

Fr. Hume who recommended that the retreat should henceforth be held every year in the diocese at the same time as lent felt that it helps a lot for preparations of Easter when a lot is required from the priest by his parishioners.

“You know as a priest, every day I talk and talk. Where do you think I get those words from? A priest needs a moment with the Lord. To ask him for strength and wisdom. And also to get energized by someone else,” he said.

For Rev. Fr. Abel Tindi, the Rector of St. Joseph Senior Seminary Yambio, the retreat was his first experience as a priest and he liked it because all the clergy from the diocese put aside their daily routines and met together. He described it as a moment of encounter with God as the experiences shared by his brother priests were so motivating and showed that really it is Christ who calls each one of them to His (Christ’s) service. One thing he liked most about the reflections was the idea of “broken men serving broken people.”

For Rev. Fr. Ibiko Maurice, the Director of the Catholic University of South Sudan-Yambio Campus and acting Parish Priest at St. Mary Mother of God, the retreat was an opportunity where each one of them who attended allowed God to speak to him.

“During the retreat, the preacher invited us to see the hand of God in our priestly vocation and ministry. Reflecting on God’s presence, guidance, protection in the past evoked a sense of fortitude, confidence, and trust in God who has called us,” Fr. Maurice explained adding that the retreat was a moment of returning to the youthful age of his relationship with his God. It was a moment of recommitment and resolve to move on!

All in all the priests felt that an annual retreat is not enough and resolved to have more retreats and recollections at deanery levels of the diocese. Another recommendation was that whenever they have such retreats, the preacher should come from another diocese or outside the place for instance from another deanery is it is held at the deanery level.

The retreat was organized by the episcopal vicar for the clergy and religious, Rev, Fr. Oboi.