Launch of the Year for Consecrated Life

 

 Our parish priest and a large crowd of local religious and laity joined us this evening for an Hour's prayer before sung Vespers - we are happy to share with our readers the opening reflection.

As we gather on this first Sunday of Advent and begin this special Year for Consecrated Life, let us pause for a moment to become aware of the One in Whose Presence we are – the One who has called us by name and Who continues to call day by day.   Let us remember that we are united with a countless number of brothers and sisters throughout the Church in every part of the world who are also reflecting on and celebrating the same realities as we are – we remember those women and men who live the consecrated life in its various forms and in different cultures.  We remember in particular those who are being persecuted for their faith and who cannot celebrate in public – those who are feeling forgotten and losing hope.

In his letter for this Year of Consecrated Life, published yesterday, Pope Francis set before us three aims:

1.     look to the past with gratitude

2.     live the present with passion

3.     embrace the future with hope

First and foremost, consecrated life is God’s gift to His Church for which we must give thanks.  St John Paul II described consecrated life as a “radical gift of self for love of the Lord Jesus and of the whole human family.” (cf VC 3).  But our gift of ourselves is only a response to the gift of the One who has first loved us, the light of whose face has shone on us and chose us to be His instruments. It is a great mystery that our infinite God should look upon His weak human creatures and invite us to be part of His plan for the salvation of the world – not because we are better than others – in fact God seems to delight in choosing the weakest and frailest, so that we are left in do doubt that it is all His work - His gift.  While we are only the clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, yet He has chosen to need our hearts - my heart and yours - to do His praying and His loving.  In His plan He uses A to bring about His purpose for B.  During this time together this evening let us give thanks for this gift of Consecrated Life in the Church down through the centuries – remembering all those who have gone before us – many of whom lived and worked in difficult circumstances – our own founders and foundresses and a countless host of men and women who remained faithful and have passed on the gift to us.

As I was preparing this reflection a verse of psalm 43 jumped out of the page – I quote:

          No sword of their own won the land

          No arm of their own brought them victory.

          It was your right hand, your arm

And the light of your face, for You loved them.  

No doubt it was the ‘light of His face’ and the experience of His love which attracted our forbearers and gave them the strength to spend themselves totally for the Lord and his people, especially for the most vulnerable.  Let us believe that the light of that same Face is shining on us to enable us to “live the present with passion.”  

I quote Pope Francis’ letter:

“The apostolic effectiveness of consecrated life does not depend on the efficiency of its methods but rather on the eloquence of our lives, lives which radiate the joy and beauty of living the Gospel and following Christ to the full.”  But for this to become a reality, Jesus must be our first love, as we promised when we made our profession.  “Only if He is, will we be empowered to love, in truth and mercy, every person who crosses our path…. We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness. The consecrated life will not flourish as a result of brilliant vocation programs, but because the young people we meet, find us attractive, because they see us as men and women who are happy!” 

This year is a time for us to tune into our own vocation story - to experience again that  irresistible attraction, that persistent whisper, that divine spark which burned in our hearts and urged us on to say our ‘yes’.  It is a time to ask forgiveness for our infidelity and allow ourselves to be bathed in the light of His Face – that merciful Face which heals and renews us.  To quote St Paul may all of us, with unveiled faces, like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, be transformed into the image that we reflect, in brighter and brighter glory through the working of the Lord who is the Spirit.” (cf 2Cor 3:18).

As we look to the future with confidence let us take heart from the Mass Readings which the Church provides us today the first Sunday of Advent Yr B, reminding us that God is the great Potter – we are only the clay but He can work wonders with us if only we let go and leave ourselves in His Hand.  With Isaiah and the Psalmist we ask that He would come and be with us, let His face shine on us – while trusting in Paul’s promise that we will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while we are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (cf 1Cor) 

Therefore we turn to you, Jesus, here present on the altar and ask you to let your Face shine on us that we may be transformed into true images of Yourself, so that with you we may “wake up the world” and set it on fire with your love.  May this year be one of deep conversion and renewal for all of us and may we so live the Gospel values that others will be drawn to leave all to follow you.  

We thank you for the friendship and support of so many lay people, family, friends and benefactors – may they always know the joy and peace of your Presence in their lives and we pray for your special protection for them and their families. 

Third Sunday of Advent - Gaudate Sunday – 2013

 

The day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus over two thousand years ago, is drawing very close. The Church’s Advent Liturgy is unbelievably rich in helping us to reflect and pray on this unfathomable mystery of God’s stupendous gift to us of His only begotten Son.

In today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, we read: ‘John the Baptist in his prison heard what Jesus was doing’. St. Matthew says ‘his prison’ not just ‘prison’.  This leads us to reflect on how all of us can be in some kind of prison at one time or another in our lives – the prison of fear, of insecurity, selfishness, depression, pride, prejudice, illness, unbelief, poor self image – the list is endless.  Whatever it may be, we too, like John the Baptist, can hear in the Gospels, what Jesus said and did, and of course, we hear him in the teaching of the Church.

A few weeks ago Pope Francis in his Angelus message to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square said: ‘I would like all of you to consider a medicine,” at this point he raised a little box for the crowds to see.  The Pope continued: ‘It is a special medicine to make the fruit of the Year of Faith more concrete’-  and I’m sure we could add to the Pope’s words of encouragement -, to make our whole life more fruitful  when we are healed of what it is that imprisons us -

 ‘Take it!’ said the Pope,  It’s a Rosary which one can pray also the chaplet of Divine Mercy, spiritual help for our souls and for spreading love, forgiveness and brotherhood everywhere’.  ‘Don’t forget to take it,’ he repeated, ‘because it does good.  It does good for the heart, for the soul, for all of life’.  And earlier on, the Pope had emphasised the need for faith and trust in God in the face of life’s difficulties –‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened’ Jesus invites us in the Gospel.

In all life’s difficulties, we can be certain that Pope Francis would have great compassion and a desire for the healing of all who suffer from interior imprisonment of whatever kind, when handing out his special medicine.  The little box also contained a leaflet  with all the necessary explanations and prayers on it -  and a final assurance (as we find in many medicines) ‘this medicine has never been known to cause any harm!’

Our Advent journey, and indeed the spiritual journey of our whole life, is not any isolated selfish seeking of personal holiness – quite the contrary.  Into this journey, fortified by our spiritual medicine, we bring the whole of humanity, pleading for their salvation, the whole purpose for which God sent His Son into the world (the purpose too of course, for which St. Dominic  was inspired to found his Order).

May our prayer during the remainder of this Advent be one, especially, of listening and of fostering a spirit of awareness of the Presence of God in our lives; and of living, with the help of his ever present Grace, the sacrament of the present moment , in our daily lives.  Let us

remember that the healing of the Sacrament of Penance and the food of Jesus Himself in the Holy Eucharist and in his Word, will be for us all, a vital help in our many sufferings and weaknesses – it is at times hard to believe, but God really and truly does  thirst for  our love – ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you, for you are mine’ we read in holy Scripture,  What joy, what peace, what healing this brings us.

Let us then, once again, invite him to come to us and to all peoples – ‘Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay’.

Don’t forget to take the medicine’ Pope Francis repeated to the crowds ‘ because it does good!’

Year of Faith: World Day Celebrating Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

 

Pope Francis' homily at the Mass this morning is excellent - we have taken it from the Vatican web site and share with our readers here: 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

            This celebration has a very beautiful name: “Evangelium Vitae”, the Gospel of Life. In this Eucharist, in the Year of Faith, let us thank the Lord for the gift of life in all its forms, and at the same time let us proclaim the Gospel of Life.

            On the basis of the word of God which we have heard, I would like to offer you three simple points of meditation for our faith: first, the Bible reveals to us the Living God, the God who is life and the source of life; second, Jesus Christ bestows life and the Holy Spirit maintains us in life; and third, following God’s way leads to life, whereas following idols leads to death.

1. The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Samuel, speaks to us of life and death. King David wants to hide the act of adultery which he committed with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in his army. To do so, he gives the order that Uriah be placed on the front lines and so be killed in battle. The Bible shows us the human drama in all its reality: good and evil, passion, sin and its consequences. Whenever we want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death. King David’s adultery is one example of this. Selfishness leads to lies, as we attempt to deceive ourselves and those around us. But God cannot be deceived. We heard how the prophet says to David: “Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight? (cf. 2 Sam 12:9). The King is forced to face his deadly deeds; he recognizes them and he begs forgiveness: “I have sinned against the Lord!” (v. 13). The God of mercy, who desires life, then forgives David, restores him to life. The prophet tells him: “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die”.

What is the image we have of God? Perhaps he appears to us as a severe judge, as someone who curtails our freedom and the way we live our lives. But the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God is the Living One, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of life. I think of the beginning of the Book of Genesis: God fashions man out of the dust of the earth; he breathes in his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living being (cf. 2:7).  God is the source of life; thanks to his breath, man has life. God’s breath sustains the entire journey of our life on earth. I also think of the calling of Moses, where the Lord says that he is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of the living. When he sends Moses to Pharaoh to set his people free, he reveals his name: “I am who I am”, the God who enters into our history, sets us free from slavery and death, and brings life to his people because he is the Living One. I also think of the gift of the Ten Commandments: a path God points out to us towards a life which is truly free and fulfilling. The commandments are not a litany of prohibitions, but a great “Yes!”: a yes to God, to Love, to life. Dear friends, our lives are fulfilled in God alone. He is the Living One!

2. Today’s Gospel brings us another step forward. Jesus allows a woman who was a sinner to approach him during a meal in the house of a Pharisee, scandalizing those present. Not only does he let the woman approach but he even forgives her sins, saying: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Lk 7:47). Jesus is the incarnation of the Living God, the one who brings life amid deeds of death, sin, selfishness and self-absorption. Jesus accepts, loves, uplifts, encourages, forgives, restores the ability to walk, gives back life. Throughout the Gospels we see how Jesus by his words and actions brings the transforming life of God. This was the experience of the woman who anointed the feet of the Lord with ointment: she felt understood, loved, and she responded by a gesture of love: she let herself be touched by God’s mercy, she obtained forgiveness and she started a new life.

            This was also the experience of the Apostle Paul, as we heard in the second reading: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). What is this life? It is God’s own life. And who brings us this life? It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ. The Spirit leads us into the divine life as true children of God, as sons and daughters in the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Are we open to the Holy Spirit? Do we let ourselves be guided by him? Christians are “spiritual”. This does not mean that we are people who live “in the clouds”, far removed from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage. No! The Christian is someone who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, someone who allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters. And this entails realism and fruitfulness. Those who let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit are realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful; their lives bring new life to birth all around them.

3. God is the Living One; Jesus brings us the life of God; the Holy Spirit gives and keeps us in our new life as true sons and daughters of God. But all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the “Gospel of Life” but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others. It is the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love – a new Tower of Babel. It is the idea that rejecting God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfilment. As a result, the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death. The wisdom of the Psalmist says: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8).

            Dear brothers and sisters, let us look to God as the God of Life, let us look to his law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets us free! Let us say “Yes” to love and not selfishness. Let us say “Yes” to life and not death. Let us say “Yes” to freedom and not enslavement to the many idols of our time. In a word, let us say “Yes” to the God who is love, life and freedom, and who never disappoints (cf. 1 Jn 4:8; Jn 11:2; Jn 8:32). Only faith in the Living God saves us: in the God who in Jesus Christ has given us his own life, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit has enabled us to live as true sons and daughters of God. This faith brings us freedom and happiness. Let us ask Mary, Mother of Life, to help us receive and bear constant witness to the “Gospel of Life”.