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First Profession of Sr Enda MariaYoung Nun’s First Profession
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SERMON FOR SR. ENDA MARIA'S PROFESSION
I searched through Céilí’s teaching material recently and found when Catherine came to us in 2009 we were looking at future vision. As part of this process we intimated our openness to the possibility of having our own Religious and Priests. This stuck in the recesses of Catherine’s mind until eventually she shared her desire with us two years later in 2010.
Today is the vigil Feast of the Birthday of the Our Lady and a very fitting feast to celebrate Catherine’s First Vows.
In the Christian experience, to follow Jesus is the path for all the baptized, whereas consecrated life is a special call, in the sense that there isn't a commandment on this. Yet, there are people who, to follow Jesus, leave all goods and live in poverty. Another dimension is that of virginity, not because marriage is not valued, but because some have felt that God’s call to Religious Life is greater than marriage. This means to follow Jesus, as Christ followed the Father, and Mary who followed God in virginity. The whole question of obedience and respect for authority is a very beautiful dimension, because one chooses to obey God and does so accepting the mediation of the human authority inspired by the Lord. These are the ways proper to consecrated life. I think that wherever mature communities are born, consecrated persons are born; it has been so since the beginning of the Church.
Consecrated Religious Life is vital to the New Evangelization. Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated life said the following on 22 November 2013
“Precisely because consecrated religious do not live “absent” from the world, nothing that regards men and women can be foreign to them, particularly when it involves wounded and suffering humanity.”
I want to stress that it is this deep relationship with Christ which gives consecrated religious life “extraordinary apostolic and missionary efficacy”. If one thing characterizes the consecrated life, it is the recognition of the living presence of the Lord in our lives and in our history. If it is true that only a prayerful disciple can hand on the Good News, then a life entirely devoted to prayer and the evangelical councils is by its very nature evangelical. It offers a response, rooted in spirituality, to our search for the sacred and for our longing for God, while the consecrated person points out the path toward the transcendent.
It is not by accident that consecrated life is born from hearing the word of God as Hosea did in today’s first reading “therefore I am going to allure her, I will lead her and speak tenderly to her” {Hosea 2:14ff}. A life devoted to following Christ in chastity, poverty and obedience becomes a living ‘example and exegesis’ of God’s word… Every charism and every rule springs from it and seeks to be an expression of it, thus opening up new pathways of Christian living marked by the radicalism of the Gospel.
In the consecrated life, this means going to the very root of the love of Jesus Christ with an undivided heart, putting nothing ahead of this love and being completely devoted to him, the Bridegroom, as were the Saints, like St. Enda of Arran & St Maria Goretti. Our lives as consecrated people must testify to the personal encounter with Christ which has nourished our consecration. This is so important today when we see a certain ‘eclipse of God’ taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our Catholic Faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity as Irish people. In a world of relativism and mediocrity, we need this radicalism to the love of Christ to which our consecration bears witness.
Today’s second reading speaks to us of community and mission “the believers were together and the Lord added to their number” {Acts 2:42ff}. Where does mission originate? The answer is simple: it originates from a call, the Lord’s call, and when he calls us, he does so with a view to building us as church and sending us out. But how is the one sent out meant to live? What are the reference points of Christian mission? This reading from Acts suggests three important points: faithfulness to {1} the church to {2} community and to {3} prayer, especially the Eucharist. It is in this soil of faithfulness, community and Eucharist that all vocations are born and grow. By drawing from this wellspring through prayer, constant recourse to God’s word and to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, it becomes possible to live a life of love in community. Consecrated life lived in community, in preparation for mission and outreach are “schools of communion" modelled and reflecting the harmonious life of the Most Holy Trinity.
This sermon would not be complete without reference to today’s feast day, The Birthday of Our Blessed Lady, Star of Evangelisation. "Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). These are the words - recounted by the Evangelist Luke - with which the Archangel Gabriel greets Mary. At first glance, the term "rejoice", looks like a normal greeting, but the angel's greeting to Mary is an invitation to joy, a deep joy, it announces the end of the sadness that there is in the world in front of the limits of life, suffering, death, wickedness, the darkness of evil that seems to obscure the light of the divine goodness. Like today’s celebration, it is a greeting that marks the beginning of something new. An Evangelii Gaudium moment.
Without a constant “overshadowing from the Most High” {Lk,1:26ff} our mission, as consecrated people can become dull. If we look towards Jesus, we see that “nothing is impossible to God”. {Lk;1:37} Let us cultivate that dimension, even amid the whirlwind of more urgent and pressing duties. And the more the mission calls us to go out to the margins of existence, let our heart be the more closely united to Christ’s heart, full of mercy and love. Herein, I think, lies the secret of the fruitfulness of a consecrated person of the Lord!
Today Catherine is a day of joy for you and us. Why? Because the Holy Spirit will “overshadow you with His power” In the words of today’s first reading “You shall be betrothed in righteousness and justice in love and compassion..and you will acknowledge the Lord” {Hos.”:14-22}. May you always experience that joy of being consoled by him, of being loved by him, then you can bring that joy to others.
Remember as cities built on a mountain and lights placed in candelabra, those who devote themselves to a wholly consecrated life visibly prefigure the goal and end towards which the entire community of the Church is journeying.
Dear friends, with great confidence I entrust us to the intercession of Mary Most Holy. She is the Mother who helps us to make life decisions freely and without fear. May she help you to bear witness to the joy of Gods consolation, to conform ourselves to the logic of love of the Cross, to grow in ever deeper union with her Son. Then our lives will be rich and fruitful! Amen.
Msgr. Pat Lynch
I searched through Céilí’s teaching material recently and found when Catherine came to us in 2009 we were looking at future vision. As part of this process we intimated our openness to the possibility of having our own Religious and Priests. This stuck in the recesses of Catherine’s mind until eventually she shared her desire with us two years later in 2010.
Today is the vigil Feast of the Birthday of the Our Lady and a very fitting feast to celebrate Catherine’s First Vows.
In the Christian experience, to follow Jesus is the path for all the baptized, whereas consecrated life is a special call, in the sense that there isn't a commandment on this. Yet, there are people who, to follow Jesus, leave all goods and live in poverty. Another dimension is that of virginity, not because marriage is not valued, but because some have felt that God’s call to Religious Life is greater than marriage. This means to follow Jesus, as Christ followed the Father, and Mary who followed God in virginity. The whole question of obedience and respect for authority is a very beautiful dimension, because one chooses to obey God and does so accepting the mediation of the human authority inspired by the Lord. These are the ways proper to consecrated life. I think that wherever mature communities are born, consecrated persons are born; it has been so since the beginning of the Church.
Consecrated Religious Life is vital to the New Evangelization. Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated life said the following on 22 November 2013
“Precisely because consecrated religious do not live “absent” from the world, nothing that regards men and women can be foreign to them, particularly when it involves wounded and suffering humanity.”
I want to stress that it is this deep relationship with Christ which gives consecrated religious life “extraordinary apostolic and missionary efficacy”. If one thing characterizes the consecrated life, it is the recognition of the living presence of the Lord in our lives and in our history. If it is true that only a prayerful disciple can hand on the Good News, then a life entirely devoted to prayer and the evangelical councils is by its very nature evangelical. It offers a response, rooted in spirituality, to our search for the sacred and for our longing for God, while the consecrated person points out the path toward the transcendent.
It is not by accident that consecrated life is born from hearing the word of God as Hosea did in today’s first reading “therefore I am going to allure her, I will lead her and speak tenderly to her” {Hosea 2:14ff}. A life devoted to following Christ in chastity, poverty and obedience becomes a living ‘example and exegesis’ of God’s word… Every charism and every rule springs from it and seeks to be an expression of it, thus opening up new pathways of Christian living marked by the radicalism of the Gospel.
In the consecrated life, this means going to the very root of the love of Jesus Christ with an undivided heart, putting nothing ahead of this love and being completely devoted to him, the Bridegroom, as were the Saints, like St. Enda of Arran & St Maria Goretti. Our lives as consecrated people must testify to the personal encounter with Christ which has nourished our consecration. This is so important today when we see a certain ‘eclipse of God’ taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our Catholic Faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity as Irish people. In a world of relativism and mediocrity, we need this radicalism to the love of Christ to which our consecration bears witness.
Today’s second reading speaks to us of community and mission “the believers were together and the Lord added to their number” {Acts 2:42ff}. Where does mission originate? The answer is simple: it originates from a call, the Lord’s call, and when he calls us, he does so with a view to building us as church and sending us out. But how is the one sent out meant to live? What are the reference points of Christian mission? This reading from Acts suggests three important points: faithfulness to {1} the church to {2} community and to {3} prayer, especially the Eucharist. It is in this soil of faithfulness, community and Eucharist that all vocations are born and grow. By drawing from this wellspring through prayer, constant recourse to God’s word and to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, it becomes possible to live a life of love in community. Consecrated life lived in community, in preparation for mission and outreach are “schools of communion" modelled and reflecting the harmonious life of the Most Holy Trinity.
This sermon would not be complete without reference to today’s feast day, The Birthday of Our Blessed Lady, Star of Evangelisation. "Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). These are the words - recounted by the Evangelist Luke - with which the Archangel Gabriel greets Mary. At first glance, the term "rejoice", looks like a normal greeting, but the angel's greeting to Mary is an invitation to joy, a deep joy, it announces the end of the sadness that there is in the world in front of the limits of life, suffering, death, wickedness, the darkness of evil that seems to obscure the light of the divine goodness. Like today’s celebration, it is a greeting that marks the beginning of something new. An Evangelii Gaudium moment.
Without a constant “overshadowing from the Most High” {Lk,1:26ff} our mission, as consecrated people can become dull. If we look towards Jesus, we see that “nothing is impossible to God”. {Lk;1:37} Let us cultivate that dimension, even amid the whirlwind of more urgent and pressing duties. And the more the mission calls us to go out to the margins of existence, let our heart be the more closely united to Christ’s heart, full of mercy and love. Herein, I think, lies the secret of the fruitfulness of a consecrated person of the Lord!
Today Catherine is a day of joy for you and us. Why? Because the Holy Spirit will “overshadow you with His power” In the words of today’s first reading “You shall be betrothed in righteousness and justice in love and compassion..and you will acknowledge the Lord” {Hos.”:14-22}. May you always experience that joy of being consoled by him, of being loved by him, then you can bring that joy to others.
Remember as cities built on a mountain and lights placed in candelabra, those who devote themselves to a wholly consecrated life visibly prefigure the goal and end towards which the entire community of the Church is journeying.
Dear friends, with great confidence I entrust us to the intercession of Mary Most Holy. She is the Mother who helps us to make life decisions freely and without fear. May she help you to bear witness to the joy of Gods consolation, to conform ourselves to the logic of love of the Cross, to grow in ever deeper union with her Son. Then our lives will be rich and fruitful! Amen.
Msgr. Pat Lynch