Celebrating World Day For Consecrated Life
Saturday, 7. February 2009, 19:31:16
Letter to Religious
from the Conference of Major Superiors of Women and Men in the US
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In his homily on the feast of the Presentation on February 2, 1997, the late Pope John Paul II spoke of the great challenges and opportunities open to all people who recognize the eminent invitation of God to be witnesses to the incarnate life and love born into the world so that all may have life and have it to the full. Referring to the Gospel passage proclaimed on this sacred feast, he spoke of the simple yet profound significance embodied in the events which unfolded when, forty days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph went to offer him to the Lord as prescribed by the Mosaic law.
Recalling the occurrences inside the temple witnessed in the words uttered by Simeon and Anna on that day, the pontiff spoke of the gratitude owed to the Creator of every human life, of life as a great and sacred gift of God, and of the challenge of that sacredness which invites response by becoming the Light of the Gentiles. The words uttered that day in prophesy express the longing that pervades human history. They articulate in the Pope’s words, that waiting for God, that universal desire, unconscious perhaps, but ineffaceable, that God would come to meet us. These two witnesses embodied the image of humanity striving to grasp that ray of light which renews all things, the seed of life that transforms all old age into everlasting youth.
It was in this context that John Paul II announced that the Church was celebrating for the first time the World Day for Consecrated Life. The celebration was now to move from being a local, communal celebration to a worldwide celebration that shows God’s People the joy of unreserved commitment to the Lord. The mission of the consecrated life, therefore, in the present and in the future of the Church, concerns not only those who have received this special charism, but the entire Christian community. In effect, the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for its mission, since it manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling and the striving of the whole Church towards union with Christ.
The feast is indeed an eloquent icon of total offering of one’s life for all those who are called to witness in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels, the characteristic features of God’s Love and Word made flesh – the chaste, poor and obedient one.
Religious women and men have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but they also have a great history still to be accomplished! As members of the Church we look to the future, where the Spirit of God is sending them in order to do even greater things.
The 2009 World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on February 8, 2009.
As we gather to celebrate this special day of prayer we would do well to remind ourselves of a reflection offered by St. Teresa: What would become of the world if there were no religious? This is a question which inspires our gratitude to God, who by this singular gift of the Spirit continues to enliven and sustain the Church on its demanding journey through this world.
We pray that God who began this wonderful work in you and in all the members of your community will continue to bless you – for all you have done in the past, are doing now in the present, and will invite to unfold into the future. For God is with us as our source of faith and abiding hope.
And may Christ be with you on this wonderful journey of love and light.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Very Rev. Thomas Picton, CSsR - - Sr. J. Lora Dambroski, OSF
CMSM President - – LCWR
Most Rev. J. Terry Steib, SVD
USCCB Delegate to the Commission on
Religious Life and Ministry
from the Conference of Major Superiors of Women and Men in the US
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In his homily on the feast of the Presentation on February 2, 1997, the late Pope John Paul II spoke of the great challenges and opportunities open to all people who recognize the eminent invitation of God to be witnesses to the incarnate life and love born into the world so that all may have life and have it to the full. Referring to the Gospel passage proclaimed on this sacred feast, he spoke of the simple yet profound significance embodied in the events which unfolded when, forty days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph went to offer him to the Lord as prescribed by the Mosaic law.
Recalling the occurrences inside the temple witnessed in the words uttered by Simeon and Anna on that day, the pontiff spoke of the gratitude owed to the Creator of every human life, of life as a great and sacred gift of God, and of the challenge of that sacredness which invites response by becoming the Light of the Gentiles. The words uttered that day in prophesy express the longing that pervades human history. They articulate in the Pope’s words, that waiting for God, that universal desire, unconscious perhaps, but ineffaceable, that God would come to meet us. These two witnesses embodied the image of humanity striving to grasp that ray of light which renews all things, the seed of life that transforms all old age into everlasting youth.
It was in this context that John Paul II announced that the Church was celebrating for the first time the World Day for Consecrated Life. The celebration was now to move from being a local, communal celebration to a worldwide celebration that shows God’s People the joy of unreserved commitment to the Lord. The mission of the consecrated life, therefore, in the present and in the future of the Church, concerns not only those who have received this special charism, but the entire Christian community. In effect, the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for its mission, since it manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling and the striving of the whole Church towards union with Christ.
The feast is indeed an eloquent icon of total offering of one’s life for all those who are called to witness in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels, the characteristic features of God’s Love and Word made flesh – the chaste, poor and obedient one.
Religious women and men have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but they also have a great history still to be accomplished! As members of the Church we look to the future, where the Spirit of God is sending them in order to do even greater things.
The 2009 World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on February 8, 2009.
As we gather to celebrate this special day of prayer we would do well to remind ourselves of a reflection offered by St. Teresa: What would become of the world if there were no religious? This is a question which inspires our gratitude to God, who by this singular gift of the Spirit continues to enliven and sustain the Church on its demanding journey through this world.
We pray that God who began this wonderful work in you and in all the members of your community will continue to bless you – for all you have done in the past, are doing now in the present, and will invite to unfold into the future. For God is with us as our source of faith and abiding hope.
And may Christ be with you on this wonderful journey of love and light.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Very Rev. Thomas Picton, CSsR - - Sr. J. Lora Dambroski, OSF
CMSM President - – LCWR
Most Rev. J. Terry Steib, SVD
USCCB Delegate to the Commission on
Religious Life and Ministry
WIDGETIZE
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