The Sisters of Mary Immaculate (SMI), temporary sisters, arrived in Daffiama, Upper West Region, from their various communities on 4th August 2026 to undertake an ongoing Formation workshop on the topic: Holistic Well-Being: Integrate Mental and Emotional Health.
The workshop, which aimed at their continuing development, was facilitated by Sr. Hagar Zuuri, one of the SMI Sisters who has completed six years of studies in Rome in catechetics and counselling, and is now the Coordinator for the young Sisters.
The Superior General, Sr. Christina Pogbeyir, welcomed the young Sisters to the workshop, and duly launched the 2026 young Sisters workshop.
Sr. Hagar introduced the topic and explained that Holistic Well-Being has to do with one caring for your whole self, mind, emotions, spirit and body so that our lives as Consecrated people will be healthy, joyful and sustainable.
She added that it is not enough to be spiritually strong to the neglect of mental and emotional health.According to her, Integrated / Integral is the globality or totality of every person; Emotional Health is how one feels and relates; and Burnout is a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional tiredness plus feeling detached from work or people you care about.
Touching on anxieties, she explained that it is when your body and mind perceive a threat or danger, saying that “We can also experience normal anxiety when we have to write exams, deliver a talk, attend an interview and when in sickness.”
She explained the difference between anxiety and depression as anxiety pushes one into the future while depression pulls one into the past with heaviness, mentioning lack of sleep, low self-esteem, and overthinking as some of the causes of anxiety.
She introduced the various dimensions of human formation as helpful for every person and in our ministry. They are as follows: Human Training, which builds essential human virtues such as sincerity and kindness; Spiritual Training, which helps one to cultivate a deeper personal relationship with God and people through prayer; Intellectual Training, which develops a profound understanding of philosophy, theology and the human condition, enabling us to teach and counsel and Doctrinal Training this gives solid knowledge of the church teaching and dogmas.The rest are: Moral Training, which forms a well-developed conscience and solid character; LITURGICAL TRAINING; this prepares us to lead communal worship and celebrate sacraments; and Pastoral Training, which is the goal that integrates all other areas to prepare us to care for souls through effective leadership and service.
She advised all Sisters to try and continue to attain maturity in all the training to be well equipped for the mission.
Sr. advised the young Sisters to see fidelity to consecrated life as a gift from God which requires human formation because without psychological stability, vows become a burden instead of a gift.
As young Sisters, Sr. Hagar said maturity in their journey does not end with initial formation but requires commitment to continue with the years ahead to deepen self-knowledge and explained the differences between emotions and feelings as follows.
Sr. said in Religious Life our vows and emotional health are deeply connected; one supports the other.
Sr. Hagar stressed that Religious Life is not a place for the production of raw material into good products but a place where the efforts of the Sisters themselves will be needed to embrace their vocation through God’s calling.
The Superior General, together with Sister Justina Dery, a Councillor who was at the workshop, also shared their knowledge and experiences with young Sisters.
By Sr. Sylvia Babategre, SMI(Catholic Sister Communicators Network, Ghana)
