The Sisters of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (HHCJ), Ghana Province, have been invited to embrace a deeper metanoia, allowing the Eucharist to transform not only their prayer and ministry, but also the way they live, relate to one another and respond to God’s call in consecrated life.
The invitation was given by Rev. Fr. Edmund Agorhom, SJ, during the celebration of Holy Mass marking the conclusion of the annual retreat of the second batch of the HHCJ on 30 August 2026, at Our Lady of the Annunciation Novitiate, Nsoatre-Sunyani.
Reflecting on the readings of the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr. Edmund began with a striking statement: “The last temptation is a great treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.”
He then led the Sisters to reflect on the experience of St. Peter, whose journey with Jesus was marked by both great faith and significant weakness.
Peter had once stepped out of the boat to walk towards Jesus, only to begin sinking when he became overwhelmed by the waves. Later, he would strongly resist Jesus’ announcement of His suffering and death, even going so far as to rebuke Him.
For the Sisters, Peter’s story offered a mirror of the human experience of vocation.
Fr. Edmund reminded them that, like Peter, they too can sometimes approach God with their own expectations and ideas of how things should unfold.
They may pray: “Lord, if you do this for me…”
In moments of desperation, they may find themselves negotiating with God, making promises they are uncertain they can keep. Yet vocation requires more than trying to make God fit into one’s expectations.
Jesus invites His disciples to metanoia—a new way of thinking, seeing and understanding.
This call to conversion is particularly significant in consecrated life, where the Sisters have chosen a way of life that is itself countercultural.
While society often measures completeness through marriage, children, possessions, achievement and social recognition, the Sisters have chosen to give themselves entirely to Christ.
But Fr. Edmund challenged them not to live this countercultural vocation only when it is convenient.
Their consecration calls them to continual conversion—even when community life is difficult, when ministry is demanding, when they are misunderstood, when their efforts do not produce the results they hoped for, and when they are confronted with their own weaknesses.
Peter’s story becomes especially encouraging because his failures did not cancel his vocation.
The same Peter who demonstrated “little faith,” rebuked Jesus and eventually denied Him was the one Jesus called “the rock”.
For the Sisters, this was a reminder that their weaknesses and imperfections do not have the final word in their vocation.
God does not call them because they have constructed a perfect version of themselves.
He calls them as they are.
Fr. Edmund connected this truth with the experience of the prophet Jeremiah, whose encounter with God’s Word became so powerful that he described himself as being “seduced” by it. The Word became both an affliction and a consolation within him.
The Sisters were encouraged to recognize that their own vocation may also contain such tension. There may be days when they feel spiritually strong and joyful in their mission, and other days when they feel tired, discouraged or uncertain.
The Word of God, however, continues to work within them.
Drawing on Karl Rahner’s image of life as an unfinished symphony, Fr. Edmund reminded the Sisters that the symphony of their lives will not be complete in this world. They may experience moments of great consolation and moments of descent, but only God knows how all the different notes of their lives will finally come together.
Therefore, the Sisters need not spend their lives trying to create a perfect image of themselves before God.
They can come to Him as they are.
The Samaritan woman came as she was. Peter came with all his contradictions. Jeremiah came with his struggles. And the Sisters, too, are invited to bring their real selves before Christ—their joys, fears, weaknesses, wounds, questions, successes and failures.
The Eucharist became another important point of reflection.
Every day, the Sisters receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But Rev. Fr. Edmund challenged them with a question:
“Is it changing us?”
The Sisters may faithfully pray the Rosary, wear the scapular, use holy water and reverence sacred objects. These practices are important, but the deeper question is whether their encounter with Christ is transforming the way they live with one another.
If they receive Christ in the Eucharist, then Christ must also become visible in their relationships with their Sisters in community, those entrusted to their care, the people they serve and everyone they encounter in their mission.
The One whom they receive in the Eucharist is the same Christ whom they are called to recognize and honour in one another.
Fr. Edmund reminded the Sisters, drawing from St. Paul, that they are not merely people who bear the image of God. They are “moving tabernacles” carriers of Christ’s presence.
This reality gives new meaning to community life.
Every Sister encountered in the convent, in the clinic, in the classroom, in pastoral ministry or in the ordinary activities of daily life carries the dignity of one who has encountered Christ.
The question, therefore, is not simply whether the Sisters are faithful to their religious practices, but whether Christ is becoming visible through the way they speak, forgive, serve, listen, understand, accompany and love one another.
As the retreat concluded, Rev. Fr. Edmund reminded the Sisters that their mistakes, weaknesses and sins do not cancel God’s call.
“It is the Lord who calls. It is the Lord who sanctifies. It is the Lord who blesses.”
The Eucharistic celebration therefore became more than the conclusion of a retreat. It became a renewed invitation to conversion to let go of the perfect self-image, surrender control, embrace their humanity and allow Christ to continue shaping their vocation.
For the Sisters, the message was simple yet profound:
Come to Christ as you are. Allow Him to transform you. And having received Him, become His presence to one another and to the world.
By Sr. Vera Tina Woelinam Tay, HHCJ
(Catholic Sister Communicators Network, Ghana (CASCON-GH)
