World Day for Consecrated life slated for February 2-3
Washington -
The theme is "Be Seekers of the Lord," from the Book of Zephaniah 2:3.
The celebration, which is called for by the Vatican and celebrated in Rome every February 2, is an effort to highlight the role of the consecrated life in the church.
Consecrated life is a vocation, a call from God, to conform one’s life to Jesus Christ through living as he did in poverty, chastity, and obedience, dedicating oneself to God for service to the church. There are many variations on exactly how that is carried out in a practical sense both individually and communally.
The most well-known form of consecrated life, and that which is the prototype for the other forms, is religious life. In this form, men and women pronounce publicly the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, live in community, and share a common apostolate.
The greatest number of religious are women, called sisters. Among the men, there are both brothers and priests. Whether they are ordained or not, brothers and religious priests are equally religious.
Within religious life, there are two general forms of living: active or apostolic and contemplative. While all religious have prayer as their first and foremost duty, apostolic institutes are actively involved in the works of the church - education, health care, serving the poor, or assisting in various ways in parishes, chanceries, or other ecclesial organizations. Contemplative religious, however, spend a major portion of their day in prayer, separating themselves from the world in order to offer their prayers and sacrifices for the needs of the church and the world. They combine prayer with manual labor of various types, often in farming, crafts, or similar works. Contemplative women are called nuns and the men, monks.
For more information about vocations to the priesthood and Vocations Awareness Week see the Special Report of this issue of the Prairie Catholic.