February 2nd - World Day of the Consecrated Life

In 1997 St John Paul II declared the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2) as the World Day of the Consecrated Life. Just what is "consecrated life?"

That's a consecrated woman

More consecrated women

there are also consecrated men

for example Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Consecrated Life has various expressions. Firstly we think about religious men and women, members of religious institutes, congregations, orders. These communities with their different charisms serve God and People of God. In addition to these religious institutes, there are secular institutes. Their members do not live in a religious community. Rather, they live separately, in his/her own family or even in a fraternal association.

it is not dressing up but their various habits express the variety of gifts (charisms) the Holy Spirit gives to the Church

if you don't make a fuss about yourself you will find plenty of happiness in a religious institute

The religious find strength in their communities

The members of institutes of consecrated life seek to live the Gospel and witness to it for their entire lives and by the actual gift of their lives. They have professed (vowed) to follow the evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty and obedience).  They experience and talk about God as their sole Love (that’s why they have taken vow of chastity). God is their sole treasure (that’s why they have taken the vow of poverty). God is their sole meaning of life (that’s why they have taken the vow of obedience). These men and women are called to be a sign of God’s presence, who offers new life, in the midst of the world. By witnessing with their lives, they seek to embody, in the midst of the world, the spirit of a life devoted to preparing for the Kingdom of God.

I vow chastity, poverty, obedience and perseverance for life. So help me God.

temporary vows leading up the final profession for life

In 1996 Saint John Paul II called bishops to Rome to reflect on the beauty and challenges of the Consecrated Life like Pope Francis did last year when he invited bishops to Rome to reflect on the beauty and challenges of families. As the conclusion of the series of meetings in 1996 Saint John Paul II wrote a letter to the Catholic Church Vita Consecrata (Consecrated Life). In his letter he voiced questions people ask when they see monasteries, convents, nuns, religious brothers or religious priests: “Many people today are puzzled and ask: What is the point of the consecrated life? Why embrace this kind of life, when there are so many urgent needs in the areas of charity and of evangelization itself, to which one can respond even without assuming the particular commitments of the consecrated life? Is the consecrated life not a kind of "waste" of human energies which might be used more efficiently for a greater good, for the benefit of humanity and the Church?” To answer these big question the Holy Father recalled some words of a great saint: Teresa of Avila, by the way this year we celebrate 500 years since her birth. St Teresa who was a Carmelite nun once wrote: “"What would become of the world if there were no Religious?"

Thank you Dear Sister for your witness over so many years. We now that you follow Jesus

The Pope went on saying: “Beyond all superficial assessments of its usefulness, the consecrated life is important precisely in its being unbounded generosity and love, and this all the more so in a world which risks being suffocated in the whirlpool of the ephemeral. "Without this concrete sign there would be a danger that the charity which animates the entire Church would grow cold, that the salvific paradox of the Gospel would be blunted, and that the ?salt' of faith would lose its savour in a world undergoing secularization". The Church and society itself need people capable of devoting themselves totally to God and to others for the love of God.
The Church can in no way renounce the consecrated life, for it eloquently expresses her inmost nature as "Bride".”

There comes a bride of Christ. To be love by Christ an to love him one doesn't need to be perfect

                Today as we celebrate the World Day of the Consecrated Life I would like to recall the words of my favorite nun: St Therese of the Child Jesus who after deep prayer and reflection wrote: “I have found my place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love.” Although the vows which we religious men and women have taken mean a renunciation of worldly things but those vows enable us to unite our hearts with the burning heart of the Church who receives love from Jesus and loves him back. If you feel that it is something that touches your heart it may mean that our Blessed Lord has given you a vocation to be a religious sister, a religious brother or a religious priest. Be brave it is a happy life.

Behind the bars? if Christ is there why not?

Happy Day of the Consecrated Life. Pleas pray for us. We pray for you every day.