I shall use my column this week to share the text of my homily for the 10th World Day of Consecrated Life. My purpose is to highlight the importance of the Consecrated Life for the Archdiocese.

“I welcome everyone to Rosary Monastery for the 10 th World Day Celebration of the Consecrated Life in the Church.

This Evening Prayer Service on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple that has been organised by the Episcopal Delegate for Religious offers us a special opportunity to celebrate the meaning of the consecrated life, to honour the members of the consecrated life in this archdiocese and to thank every institute and every individual religious for both witness and ministry.

It allows us the opportunity to reflect on a few aspects of the consecrated life that have special relevance for 2006 in the Church Universal and in the archdiocese. This celebration follows a lengthy dialogue session I had on January 31 with the Religious Superiors and some of their Council members.

The consecrated life, no matter what its particular form e.g. contemplative or apostolic, has one basic commonality: it is a radical gift of self for love of the Lord Jesus and for love of every member of the human family.

When the contemplative members of this monastery pray and live their lives of monastic service they do it for the Lord and for the entire human family. When religious in apostolic institutes live community life and exercise ministry, they do it for the Lord and for the entire human family.

Therefore, the consecrated life, theologically speaking, by its very nature can never turn in on itself. It is always directed outward as an instrument of evangelisation. It is a sign to the Church of the transcendental elements of Christianity. It is a reminder to the Church of the eschatological elements of Christianity.

A new circumstance

Canon 298 of the Code of Canon Law recognises Associations of Christ's Faithful that strive by common effort to live a more perfect form of Catholic Christian life. Canon 298 explicitly states that these associations are distinct from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.

Yet they are made up of people who have consecrated themselves in a different way to the Lord and to the service of the Church.

In his Apostolic Exhortation on The Consecrated Life , Pope John Paul II spoke of new forms of consecrated life and new forms of evangelical life that are emerging in the life of the Church. In 1998, the Pontifical Council for the Laity hosted a World Congress of Ecclesial Movements to study the so-called New Movements.

In his homily on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Pope Benedict XVI was very precise in the words he chose for his homily to recognise the new developments.

He said, “The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is an appropriate occasion to praise the Lord for the inestimable gift that consecrated life represents to the Church in its different forms .”

As we celebrate the historical forms of the consecrated life that are present here, we rejoice in the new forms of consecrated life that have been and are being born in the Spirit.

Contemporary challenge

There is no doubt that in many countries of the world, including Trinidad and Tobago, the consecrated life is facing challenges due to, among other issues, the intense secularisation of international society.

Yet it is important to note that there are many young and early middle aged people in the world and in our nation who are living the Christian life in a serious manner and who are searching for deeper meaning in their lives.

The consecrated life must be visible and present to all people, but especially the young and middle aged as they discern their vocations i.e. whether they shall serve the Lord as 1) single persons, 2) married persons, 3) as religious in clerical institutes or lay institutes or 4) as diocesan priests.

They must be given an explicit invitation to specify the direction of their Catholic Christian lives by being open to a call by the Spirit to the religious life and priesthood.

Members of the consecrated life must offer ongoing support to people who are discerning their vocations. They must offer to the young and middle aged the visibility of a community life that is attractive both in terms of its vitality and, if an apostolic institute, in its ministry.

Only in this way can those who are discerning have confidence that they are making a good choice for the one life God has given them to live.

Three specific elements

There are three points I want to stress briefly:

1) The attitude of religious toward the future : I want everyone to remember the teaching of Pope John Paul II. He said to the members of the Consecrated Life, ‘You have not only a glorious history to remember, you have a great history still to be accomplished.' If your individual and communal faith is strong enough to trust in that teaching, then you can plan for the future confidently even with aggressive prudence;

2) The Vitality of Community Life : As we celebrate the witness that religious give to the Church, we must also include the witness, the support and encouragement religious give to the members of their institutes and the mutual support religious institutes should give to each other. It is a mistake to think that religious do not need support and it is a mistake to think that religious do not need a community that prays, loves and serves.

3) Ministry : Be a zealous sign of God's presence to all, but especially to those whom you serve. Your witness affirms the primacy of God and eternal life in the vocation of the consecrated life. Your ministry that flows from the charism of your institute is the principal basis of your visibility among the people. In all probability, your ministry is what attracts candidates initially. Only later do they learn about the many dimensions of the consecrated life.

The attitude toward the future, the vitality of your community and the quality of your ministry are the reasons why people see your life as authentic, attractive and important. These criteria are especially significant for candidates to the consecrated life and priesthood.

Therefore, in your internal dialogue as religious institutes, look critically at these three criteria. Their presence is a sign of life and will be perceived as such. Their absence leads the membership and candidates to draw a different conclusion.

Conclusion

I want every institute represented here today to be a vibrant part of the future. Without ever interfering in the internal affairs of your communities, I shall always encourage you to face issues for the good of the Church and for your own future.

I shall always encourage you to be faithful to your respective charisms, but also to be in active relationship with the flow of life and planning in the archdiocese. Do not turn in on yourselves.

In these difficult times, do not be content just with survival. Remember: contemporary Church life is not just challenging, it is also exciting.

I thank you for your contribution to the life of the archdiocese. I am truly grateful for your presence, your witness and your ministry. I assure you of my continued prayerful and personal support and also, whenever needed, my collaboration.”

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