Year of Consecrated Life
Pope Francis has dedicated the year 2015 to the Consecrated Life. What is
the consecrated life? Consecrated life, in the canonical sense defined by the
Catholic Church, “is a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who feel
called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognized by the Church.”
This year is dedicated to increasing our awareness and to thanking God for
the magnificent gift of the consecrated life in the Church today. For those called to
the vowed life and for their families, there is an inner awareness of having been
specially touched by the Lord, of having received an invitation from Jesus to
follow Him very closely all throughout life and in death. It is a call to serve as He
served and to pray as He prayed and to love as He loved. It is a call to share in the
very life of the Lord.
A religious vocation is not something that one chooses or accomplishes in
adulthood similar to receiving a degree or achieving a professional appointment. A
religious vocation is given by God through grace at baptism, and is nurtured, often
unknown to the recipient, all through the young person’s life. The family
participates in the nourishing of that emerging call, usually without knowing it. As
adulthood develops, through the graces of the Sacrament of Confirmation, the
called person sometimes begins to feel drawn to the Lord in a deeper way. He or
she may become curious about a religious vocation, and begin to explore what that
is. This initial interest or attraction to a life of consecration originates completely
by divine initiative. Sometimes persons who are called have never met or known
consecrated persons, but may meet someone or read something and suddenly feel
compelled to find out what appears so attractive.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the consecrated life as a life
of perfect charity following the pattern of Jesus. In the consecrated life, the
perfection of charity entails the obligations of chastity in celibacy, of poverty and
of obedience, in a permanent state of life recognized by the Church. (CCC915) The
religious state is a "more intimate consecration" of Baptism. The person serves the
kingdom and proclaims the glory of the world to come. (CCC 916) Canon Law or
Church Law defines religious life as “consecrated through the profession of the
evangelical counsels in a stable form of living by which the faithful, following
Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, are totally dedicated to God
who is loved most of all, so that, having been dedicated by a new and special title
to His honor, to the building up of the Church, and to the salvation of the world,
they strive for the perfection of charity in the service of the kingdom of God and,
having been made an outstanding sign in the Church, foretell the heavenly glory.”
Can. 573 §1.
Once a young man or woman recognizes that they are called live to a life set
apart of perfect charity, and to give themselves entirely to what they know the Lord
is asking of them, they need to find the community where God is calling them to
begin to live this vocation. Where should they look? How can they begin to find
the place where God wants them to be? Sometimes young people seeking a
community go online to find a way of life that resonates with the particular way
that they believe that they are being called. Some talk with their parish priest or
another respected adult. Others visit religious communities. In seeking the right
community, they may feel the desire to serve the Lord in a particular way such as
by caring for the elderly, or for teaching or caring for the sick. Some might feel the
desire to “pray always”, leading them to a contemplative way of life. Each one of
these urges comes from the Holy Spirit and can be discovered in a religious
community founded with a particular charism. When that charism of the
community resonates with the charism that the individual person feels, there is no
need to look further. The person seeking can know that he/she can be at home
there.
If you feel called to live the consecrated life, it is because God has initiated
that call within you. He has made you for Himself. He does not make mistakes
about who He calls. He only asks that you not be afraid to seek His will because
He has carried you in your vocation from the moment that you were baptized.