‘Hopeful Five’ Make First Profession as New Novices Begin Their Journey

On 23 June 2025, fourteen young women were formally received into the Novitiate of the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis. During the reception ceremony, Sr Anna Nyuydini, the first African Provincial Superior of what was once the Cameroon Province, offered a reflection on the meaning of this formative stage.

“The novitiate is a crucial period in the formation process,” she explained. “It is a time of discernment, formation, prayer, reflection, and preparation for the vowed life. It offers space to experience community life, develop a personal relationship with God, and learn more about the way of life, charism, and spirituality of the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis.”

Sr Anna also invited the novices to consider a few guiding questions:

• What possessions or attachments might be holding me back from fully following Jesus­­­­?
• How can I cultivate a heart that seeks God’s will more than my own desires?
• What does it mean to be perfect in the context of Christian discipleship?

This year’s novices selected the crucifix as their symbol, a reminder of their call to follow the crucified Christ, to emulate His example of self-giving, to listen attentively to His voice, and to remain open to His transformative grace.

The following day, 24 June, the Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, five novices made their First Profession. Marking the occasion within the Jubilee Year of Hope, Provincial Superior Sr Olivia Waika referred to them as the “Hopeful Five.”

The Eucharistic celebration was led by His Lordship Bishop George Nkuo of the Diocese of Kumbo. In his homily, he encouraged the newly professed to embrace three attitudes recommended by Pope Francis at the start of the Year of Consecrated Life in 2014: to be joyful, to be brave, and to be women of communion.

Drawing on the Gospel account of John the Baptist’s birth (Luke 1:57–66), Bishop Nkuo reminded all present—especially the newly professed—that each of us is always a work in progress. “None of us is a finished product,” he said. “So we must ask ourselves: What will I become—today, tomorrow, next week, next year?”

At the end of the celebration, Sr Olivia responded to the bishop’s question—“What will these five sisters be?”—by affirming, “They will be Hopeful Sisters, bringing Christ’s love to humanity in humility.” Hence, the name Hopeful Five.

The newly professed expressed their gratitude to the bishop, clergy, sisters, and all those who gathered to pray with them. Trusting in God’s grace, they pledged to live faithfully according to the demands of their religious consecration.