February 2 – World Day of Consecrated Life
Called to become women and men of
encounter, wonder and gratitude
An opportunity for all of us to meditate on the three pillars proposed by Pope Francis in 2016, at the end of the year dedicated to consecrated life.
Meeting: Vocation begins with a Grace from the Lord. “Vocation does not start from a project we have thought out at the table, but from a grace of the Lord that reaches us through a life-changing encounter.”
Astonishment: in the heart a healthy restlessness for the Lord. “Our founders were moved by the Spirit and were not afraid to get their hands dirty with daily life, with the problems of the people, courageously walking on the geographical and existential peripheries”.
Gratitude: for the encounter with Jesus and the gift of a vocation. “How beautiful it is when we meet the happy faces of consecrated persons, perhaps already well advanced in years like Simeon or Anna, happy and full of gratitude for their vocation.”
IN LINE WITH THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH,
OUR CONGREGATION TOO HAS LONG DIRECTED
US TO LIVE THE MISSION
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LAITY
“The great challenges to Christian charity posed by the immense tragedies that have touched peoples and nations, even recently, have prompted the gathering of forces in response to situations of pain, misery and injustice. There are an increasing number of inter-congregational apostolic projects, which almost always embody the desire to live in communion with the poor, with those who suffer. And there is no lack of those that actively involve members of Religious Congregations and lay people.
Many steps have been taken on the path of communion with the laity. There has been greater collaboration with them in the traditional works of the Institutes, there has been greater space for communion in work, in situations where each one gives his contribution according to the specific nature of his own vocation and charism. On the other hand, the number of Congregations that have lay people associated with their spirituality is also increasing”. (Taken from the message of the “Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life”, on the occasion of the 6th World Day of Consecrated Life on 02 February 2002).”