On February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, the Church celebrated the World Day for Consecrated Life.
A Church without consecrated life is an impoverished Church. Not because consecrated persons are more good or more holy, but because consecrated life manifests the richness and abundance of charisms and lifestyles that exist in the body of Christ. And these people, with their peculiar way of living, not only by their vow or promise of chastity, but by the whole of their life, marks the goal to which every Christian is called, that goal in which God will be all in all things, that is, the factor of all reality and, therefore, it will no longer be necessary to take a wife or husband, because we will all be filled by the love of God and by the love without limits and without lies of our brothers and sisters.
This year’s motto is: «Consecrated life, walking in hope». It is a good motto. One of the things that people, and also consecrated persons, need most is hope. Without hope life becomes sad, loses strength, and has no soul. Today some people measure the vitality of consecrated life by numbers: how many novices does the Congregation have? Serious error, because the numbers do not mean much and always give one or another result according to what other numbers they are compared with. God is the one who sustains hope. According to our relationship with Him, our hope will be as intense as He is. Therefore, what is important in consecrated life is fidelity. So is mission. And, of course, in the case of religious life, community. But all this is sustained by our faith in God.
Walking, which is gerund. In other words, it’s an ongoing journey. Walking in faith, in fraternity, in mission, in service to our brothers and sisters. Walking also means updating the charism, bringing it into harmony with the present needs of the Church and society. The works pass, the charism remains. The charism is creative, always looking for new ways. A charism that is not updated dies. Repetition can be the greatest infidelity. Walking in hope. The journeyers need hope, to have guarantees that their way is the good one because it leads to the desired goal.
Hope because we know that, in spite of our limitations and our littleness, the Lord does not abandon us. Consecrated life is like a seed that seems very small, but good farmers know that one day it will grow into a leafy tree. If we only look at the seed, we become discouraged. If we imagine the leafy tree, we walk in joy and keep moving forward, even if the road is sometimes hard.
WALKING IN HOPE
We do not go alone.
Christ unites us. With him. With each other.
And with so many who live, weep, love, yearn,
grow, struggle and hope.
More and more barefoot and insecure.
Ever closer to the cross and farther away
from pedestals.
More and more free from fashions and inertia.
Increasingly able to laugh at our pretensions
and take them seriously.
Some, still hesitant,
taking the first steps,
others demanded by the rhythm
of intense workdays,
and some, already well worn out,
glimpsing the goal -which is an embrace.
Together. Walking in hope.
Men and women of God,
consecrated to a mission,
to a longing,
to the project of the One Who invited us
to share His way.
Amen.
Source: Nihil Obstat DOMINICANS