And Read Her Reflection on Consecrated Life
On the Sunday after the Feast of the Purification, February 2 (this year February 6), the Church in the United States celebrates “World Day for Consecrated Life.” One of the key purposes of this day is to promote an understanding of the life of those who have embraced the consecrated life as religious (or members of secular institutes) and their role in the Church today.
In actuality the lives of all people are consecrated since God is the very source of life. Christians claim a unique consecration in baptism as they are initiated into the life and mission of Christ Jesus. Some Christians choose to intensify this baptismal consecration by committing themselves to living the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience in community.
Those who are called to consecrated life have a charismatic role in the Church. This means that they are not part of the Church hierarchy (the exception being those religious men who are also ordained priests), but that they have embraced a particular spirit and stance through which they strive to build up the Church and to be of service to the people of God.
Formerly religious were easily recognized by their distinct garb and communal ministries, particularly in the fields of healthcare, education, and social work. Today, in a society and Church dramatically changed since the time of the Second Vatican Council, religious are smaller in number and many are less identifiable. Nonetheless, their presence and wide-ranging works in the Church remain vital.
The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia are just one of hundreds of congregations of consecrated life in the U.S. We embrace the charism of St. Francis of Assisi who, more than 800 years ago, renounced his family legacy to heed Christ’s call to “rebuild the Church.” We strive to live the gospel as Francis did. Through our vow of chastity we forego marital intimacy so that with Christ as the center of our lives, we may more freely respond in love and in compassion to the needs of others. Through our vow of poverty, we choose to live simply, directing our personal and corporate resources to the promotion of justice, peace and reconciliation. Through our vow of obedience, we listen to God’s voice in our world and discern how best to live the passion of the gospel.
As one who has been blessed to live consecrated life as a Sister of St. Francis for over thirty-five years, I can attest to the gratifying experience that it has been. Living in a religious community, strengthened and supported by those who share a common mission and commitment, has deepened my desire and ability to be sister to the people of God and to creation as well. I have had opportunities to live the gospel in ways that I never imagined. Living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a vowed religious has expanded my understanding of God’s total giving of self to us, of God’s overflowing love for us, and of God’s gentle leading of us in the Spirit of Jesus.
