Saint Anthony Mary Claret!
R/ Born to evangelize!
This is our war cry like that of all other Claretian lay people in the Cameroon region.
That said, the community of Lay Claretians of the Saint Antoine Marie Claret parish of Nkol-emombo Yaoundé is one of the groups located in the pastoral zone of the Centre, in the capital of Cameroon which is Yaoundé. Our community benefits from the special attention of the pastor of our parish, in the person of the Reverend Father Guy Roger Enama cmf, who had assigned his vicar, the Reverend Father Eric Nyuwen cmf, for our spiritual accompaniment.
The group was reestablished during 2019 by the Reverend Father Octave Soh Fonkou cmf after a decline in the members present between 2016 and 2017. Since the reorganization of our community in 2019, the movement has been directed until now by Mr. Max Olivier Mbida lc, and has around twenty registered members, the majority of whom are in discernment regarding their definitive consecration.
Last Sunday, March 30, our group had its traditional monthly meeting. Our meetings are held once a month because most of the members belong to other groups or associations in our parish such as: readers’ group, Legion of Mary, catechists, and many others. Monthly meetings sometimes take place in members’ homes on the last Sunday of the current month, after noon mass, at the request of a candidate and in the absence of requests, we meet in the parish.
The essence of the meeting continues to focus on common prayer, and the words of welcome from the guest of the day, who voluntarily shares his family situation with his brothers and sisters and can ask for prayers for him and his family in times of need. Then, the report of the last meeting is read. After this report, the spiritual director, the leader of the group or rather another former member presents a teaching extracted from the “Sourcebook” of the Lay Claretian or from the autobiography of the founding father Saint Anthony Mary Claret.
After this formative presentation for community members, we receive news of the life of the movement both in our pastoral area and in other areas of our region and even from foreign regions when available. We thus end with the recitation of the final prayer or final blessing of the spiritual director.
It should be noted that our group is currently facing the problem of financial resources because most of our members live in precarious living conditions. In addition, members who have an average standard of living belong to other religious groups or associations in our parish. Although so far we do not need any financial contribution due to everyone’s standard of living, currently the emphasis is placed on the study of small self-financing projects for the community. Furthermore, we support members in their discernment phase towards their definitive commitment to the Movement.
Max Olivier Mbida, lay claretian
