FROM FATHER CARLOS...
Dear friends,
On February 2nd we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. On that day, the Church Universal also celebrated a World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. And, what is the Consecrated life? The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as “the state of life which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels” (914.) The evangelical counsels are chastity, poverty and obedience. Consecrated men and women, therefore, are those brothers and sisters that live a life of chastity, poverty and obedience for the sake of the Kingdom.
All of us, baptized members of the Church, are invited by the Lord to live out these evangelical counsels in our own lives. As the Catechism says: “Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple” (CCC 915.) Some of our brothers and sisters, however, freely vow to live these evangelical counsels for as long as they live.
Radical, isn’t it? To say yes to living in chastity, poverty and obedient to a superior for the rest of one’s life! The choice for the Consecrated life, however, is done in answer to the Lord’s own invitation and call. It is Christ who chooses certain men and women to enter into this particular state in life and, thus, he provides them with the help necessary to live out their vows faithfully and happily. It is truly “one way of experiencing a ‘more intimate’ consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God” (CCC 916.)
I believe most of us know, have heard of or perhaps met someone that lives a Consecrated life. Maybe you had sisters as teachers in your school growing up, or perhaps you have a relative that is a monk, a sister or brother in a monastery. I know at our parishes sometimes we have the gift to welcome Fr. Korie, a Domincan priest, for some of our Eucharistic celebrations. What is shocking to our contemporary world, however, is that these men and women who chose a life of poverty, chastity and obedience are happy and joyful human beings! For some in the world, the thought of entering such kind of life might sound like “nonsense” yet for these religious men and women this life is their joy and road to heaven!
It is important, therefore, that we know of them and that we pray for them. It is also good to keep in mind that some of our young men and women are being called by the Lord to follow him more closely as consecrated men and women. It is, once again, a radical way of life yet, as Pope Benedict XVI once said, “the world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness!”
I pray that the Lord continues to bless our parishes with many more courageous men and women being willing to answer the call of the Lord to follow him in the Consecrated Life. Their lives and testimony are needed as much as we need the light in order to see the goodness, truthfulness and beauty of the world!