Placing Oneself in the Hands of Christ and His Church

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 6/1/06)

This homily was given by Bishop Paul S. Loverde on May 18 for the Sisters’ Jubilee Mass at Marymount University in Arlington.

Permit me to begin with words of congratulations and gratitude to our jubilarians. Dear jubilarians, you have walked with the Lord in a unique way these 75, 60 and 50 years. Yes, every disciple is called to walk in the footsteps of the Master. Yet, through the call given to each of you jubilarians, and indeed to every consecrated religious, each of you has been invited to live in deep intimacy with the Lord Jesus as a member of your particular religious institute.
Yes, the Lord indeed called you to be with Him in ever-deepening intimacy as His spouse. The prophet Hosea reminds us in today’s first reading: “I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity….”
Moreover, you can affirm—and we with you—that He has espoused you to Him in a very particular manner, inviting you to ever-deepening intimacy with Him. “Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
Seventy-five, 60 and 50 years ago, you said “yes” to the call, a “yes” you have repeated countless times, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in sunshine and in shadow. For this “yes”, we thank you and also thank our God Who called you.
You have been a living sign of God’s Kingdom present within society. In speaking on Feb. 2, 2006, to those living the consecrated life, Pope Benedict XVI made these observations. “Indeed, just as Jesus’ life in his obedience and dedication to the Father is a living parable of the “God-with-us”, so the concrete dedication of consecrated persons to God and to their brethren becomes an eloquent sign for today’s world of the presence of God” (L’Osservatore Romano, N.6, 8 February 2006, p. 6). Through you, God’s love-story with His people continues. Human joy, transformed by your sharing in Christ’s life, keeps coming back with each repeated “yes”. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”
Dear sisters all, especially our jubilarians, the Church of Arlington gives thanks for your vowed presence in our midst, coupled with your fervent prayer and dedicated apostolate. Please know that, in turn, our prayer accompanies each of you as we seek with you and for you from the Spouse of your hearts the grace to be one with His Holy Will and to be open to the way in which He will continue to lead you. Pope Benedict XVI so accurately described who you are when he said: “Your way of living and working vividly expresses full belonging to the one Lord; placing yourselves without reserve in the hands of Christ and of the Church is a strong and clear proclamation of God’s presence in a language understandable to our contemporaries” (Ibid.).
Yes, dear jubilarians and sisters all, I offer warm congratulations and this heartfelt prayer as I echo Pope Benedict XVI. “May the Lord renew in you and in all consecrated people each day the joyful response to his freely given and faithful love….[L]ike lighted candles, always and everywhere shine with the love of Christ, Light of the world. May Mary Most Holy, the consecrated Woman, help you to live to the full your special vocation and mission in the Church for the world’s salvation. Amen!” (Ibid.).

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