From August 18 to 19, 2026, the Sisters of the African Province participated in a formation session led by Father Tshimbobo on the theme: “The Evangelical Counsels and the Meaning of Religious Life.” This gathering provided a special opportunity for formation, reflection, and spiritual renewal, with the goal of enabling each sister to rediscover the depth of her consecration and to strengthen fraternity within the Province through a deeper understanding and authentic living out of the evangelical counsels.
Religious life is rooted in the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, lived out within the dynamic of fraternal life in community. These commitments are not merely rules to be followed; they constitute a path of conformity to Christ and a free response to his call.
The evangelical counsel of poverty calls for detachment from material possessions and greater inner freedom. It teaches us to view possessions as gifts to be shared and to prioritize solidarity, simplicity, and service. Consecrated poverty thus becomes an invitation to place the common good above personal interests.
Obedience leads us to seek God’s will together through listening, dialogue, discernment, and prayer. It requires an attitude of openness and trust toward the community’s guidance and its legitimate leaders. When lived in the spirit of the Gospel, it fosters unity, shared responsibility, and communion.
Consecrated chastity, for its part, is a path of free and unified love. It requires emotional maturity and self-control, enabling one to love God and others without possessiveness. It opens the heart to a greater willingness to engage in mission and to serve the community.
These three principles find their concrete expression in fraternal life within the community. Following the example of the first Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles, the religious community is called to become a place of sharing, solidarity, forgiveness, and communion. Despite our differences in background, culture, and sensibilities, Christ remains our center and the foundation of our unity.
The training also provided an opportunity to consider the challenges associated with living out the evangelical counsels within the *African cultural context*. The values of solidarity, family, and community are a source of richness, but they also call for ongoing discernment so that the demands of the Gospel remain at the heart of our choices and relationships.
Beyond the knowledge gained, this gathering sparked a call to personal and communal conversion. It reminds us that fraternity is built day by day through listening, welcoming, respect, forgiveness, sharing, and the ability to carry out the mission together. Living out the evangelical counsels, therefore, means learning to love more deeply, to give of ourselves freely, and to make the community a true space where Christ is recognized as the center of every relationship.
Ultimately, this gathering stands out as an important moment for the Province of Africa. It helped to rekindle a sense of the consecrated vocation and to encourage each Sister to live out her commitments with greater depth, consistency, and joy within our communities. When the evangelical counsels become a lived and shared experience, they bear fruit in personal life, in communities, and in the mission. They then become a credible witness to the love of Christ and a concrete path toward a more authentic sisterhood.
Ms. Chanceline Kayongo, ccv
