Coinciding with the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Church celebrates the 28th World Day for Consecrated Life.
It is an opportunity for us to give thanks to God for this form of life in the Church, which is a gift, with the diversity of our charisms; to pray for so many women and men who have given themselves to the service of others in the style of Jesus; and for us, the consecrated, to thank and support God’s faithfulness to us every day.
We invite you to contemplate today’s Gospel, as Pope Francis told us in his homily of February 2, 2022:
Let us look at Simeon and Anna who, even at an advanced age, did not spend their days longing for a past that would never return, but opened their arms to the future that was to meet them. Brothers and sisters, let us not waste the present by looking to the past, or by dreaming of a tomorrow that will never come, but let us place ourselves before the Lord in adoration and ask him for a gaze that knows how to see the good and discern the ways of God.
This is a tender and meaningful scene, unique in the Gospels. God has placed his Son in our arms because welcoming Jesus is essential, it is the center of faith.
On this special day for Religious Life, the first two Vietnamese Daughters of Jesus made their perpetual vows: Anna Nguyen y Rosa Nguyen . We accompany them with our closeness and prayers.
That’s right, “God keeps calling”. In Vietnam it has found fertile ground in which generous responses are flourishing.
We dare to ask:How do you still call us who gave our generous response ten, twenty, thirty… fifty or sixty years ago? What response do I give you today?
Happy Presentation Day. Happy Consecrated Life Day.
