World Day for Consecrated Life Celebrated Feb. 2

By Sr. Cecilia Dwyer
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 1/30/03)

On Feb. 2, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Arlington Diocese will join with the Church throughout the world in celebrating the World Day for Consecrated Life. Reflecting on the Gospel helps us understand why this date was chosen. Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to the temple to be consecrated. Here Simeon and Anna witnessed to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. This day has been celebrated by the Church in Rome for many years, and in 1997, Pope John Paul II called for consecrated life to be promoted throughout the universal Church and declared Feb. 2 to be observed as World Day for Consecrated Life. In his message on the first world celebration, the pope said "the day offers the opportunity to thank God for the gift of consecrated life, to promote knowledge of the life and to invite consecrated people to celebrate what the Lord has accomplished in them and to acquire more awareness of their mission in the Church and in the world."

The consecrated life is one state of life among the rich diversity of peoples in the Church, each of whom has a special place in the plan of God. Most people are called to the married state, committing their lives to one other person. Some are called as ordained ministers to serve others especially in the sacramental life. Among these ministers are bishops, priests and deacons. There are those who are called to the lay state, living virtuous lives as single women and men in the Church. Among those called to the consecrated life are religious sisters, brothers and priests, members of secular institutes, hermits and consecrated virgins.

In every age since the beginning of Christianity there have been women and men who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the following of Christ in this special way. They profess vows based on the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. These vows differ according to the tradition: apostolic, monastic or contemplative, but they all involve the radical giving of self which lies at the heart of the Paschal mystery. The richness of the consecrated life and its blessing for the Church is the fact that it allows individuals to give their hearts totally to seeking God while living a life of prayer, community and ministry.

Because there are several kinds of orders and congregations in the Church, there are different expressions of the consecrated life. Apostolic orders emphasize ministry and service, monastic orders seek God in community with prayer and ministry flowing from their communal life, contemplative orders are more internally focused and have prayer as their primary ministry. There are also members of secular institutes, who do not live in community but seek to make sacred the secular world in which they live and work. Prayer and contemplation, flowing from the Gospel, are at the heart of the vocation to these traditions and it is out of this prayer and contemplation that religious women and men carry out their particular charism received from their founder or foundress. Men and women religious have dedicated their lives to justice, working to eradicate the root causes of conflicts to help build a lasting peace. Some strive to promote human persons and the common good by aiding the marginalized and the poor. These men and women belong entirely to God and to their brothers and sisters. The different religious orders may be seen as spokes of a wheel, with all working together to further the kingdom of God by their various ministries and lifestyles. All of these traditions are well represented in the Diocese of Arlington among women’s and men’s communities as religious can be found throughout the diocese in convents, rectories, monasteries, cloisters and living alone. They give hope and inspiration through their prayer and good works and minister in parishes, schools, universities, retreat centers, charitable organizations, hospitals, day care centers and in a variety of other ways.

Although many men and women are called to live the consecrated life, each one’s call is a unique gift of the Spirit and it is based in the person’s baptismal consecration. Every person who makes this commitment goes through a process of discernment to find his or her path to God. The person is graced by the inner feeling that God is offering an invitation to follow Jesus in a radical way. The words of the prophet Jeremiah capture this invitation vividly, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord … plans to give you hope and a future … you will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer 29: 11,13). Responding to the call requires time and prayer and searching for the right community. Each person experiences this call as mystery and the process of discernment as a time of deep conversation with God.

In his apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata ("The Consecrated Life") published March 25, 1996, Pope John Paul II told religious, "You know well that you have set out on a journey of continual conversion, of exclusive dedication to the love of God and of your brothers and sisters, in order to bear even more splendid witness to the grace which transfigures Christian life. The world and the Church seek authentic witnesses to Christ. And the consecrated life is a gift which God offers in order that everyone can recognize the ‘one thing necessary’(cf.Lk10:42). To bear witness to Christ by one’s life, works and words is the particular mission of the consecrated person in the Church and in the world."

For information about the religious men and women serving in the Diocese of Arlington, contact Father Brian Bashista, vocation promoter, at 702/841-2514 or 200 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, Va. 22203. Sister Cecilia Dwyer, OSB, president of the Sisters Council of the Diocese of Arlington, may be reached at 703-361-0106.

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