Consecrated life is a gift from God

Feb 13, 2015

By Bernard Anthony
“World Day for Consecrated Life, celebrated for the first time in 1997 by Pope John Paul II is, first and foremost, a day for us to give thanks to God for the gift of this particular vocation. Secondly the day is meant for all of us to appreciate the living witness of those who have chosen to follow Christ through the practice of the Evangelical Counsels. Finally, the day is meant for the religious to renew their commitment to the Lord.”

Fr Norris Sirivasen, SJ said this in his homily at the Mass celebrating the World Day for Consecrated Life at the Church of St Francis of Assisi on Feb 2.

“In the meeting of the elderly Simeon and Anna with Mary and Joseph, the Old and New Testaments converge in giving thanks to God for the gift of the Light. The Light shone in the darkness and prevented darkness from prevailing. Christ is the Light of revelation, to the Jews and the Gentiles,” he added.

Touching on the celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life, Fr Norris said that this celebration was deliberately tied to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord by Pope John Paul II. The Presentation stands for the gift of one’s whole life to God. The religious, through the Evangelical Counsels, are invited to live anew the characteristics of Jesus who was chaste, poor and obedient to God the Father.

The Jesuit priest went on to say that in the Feast of the Presentation, we celebrate the mystery of consecration: the consecration of the Child Jesus, the consecration of Mary, the consecration of those who place themselves in following Jesus Christ.The whole Church, meaning all of us, and in a special way the members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, have welcomed the initiative of the Church to recognize and appreciate Consecrated Life as a gift.

Pope Francis has declared the Year of Consecrated Life to be celebrated throughout the world, beginning from Nov 30, 2014 and ending on Feb 2, 2016.

Fr Norris hoped and prayed that this Year of Consecrated Life be a favourable time, not only for the religious but for the whole Church as well, bringing interior renewal and a deepening of the essential values and needs of our consecration.

He emphasized the need for us to be more deeply committed to following Christ and to deepen our relationship with God. The religious do this through greater commitment to the evangelical counsels.

Fr Norris said that the Evangelical Counsels, accepted as an authentic rule of life, strengthen faith, hope and charity, which unite us to God. This profound closeness to the Lord, which must be the priority and characteristic point of our existence as religious, will surely have a positive influence on our apostolate among the People of God.

In ending, Fr Norris stressed that as religious, we can through our charisms by being credible witnesses of faith and grace.