Michael KellyEditor’s Comment by Michael Kelly
In his appeal to women and men religious to ‘wake up the world’, Pope Francis urged them to show that “it is possible to live differently in this world”. This is the prophetic nature of religious life and it is also the eschatological character since consecrated life is a pointer towards the world that is to come.
At the heart of consecrated life are heroic and courageous women and men who have felt the hand of God in their lives, read the signs of the times with the eyes of faith and responded creatively to the needs of the Church and the world by translating the Gospel in to a particular way of life.
Recounting the history of the various forms of religious life is essential in preserving identity. Pope Francis summarises it like this: “More than an exercise in archaeology or the cultivation of mere nostalgia, it calls for following in the footsteps of past generations in order to grasp the high ideals, and the vision and values which inspired them, beginning with the founders and foundresses and the first communities.”
“In this way,” the Holy Father continues, “we come to see how the charism has been lived over the years, the creativity it has sparked, the difficulties it encountered and the concrete ways those difficulties were surmounted.
“We may also encounter cases of inconsistency, the result of human weakness and even at times a neglect of some essential aspects of the charism. Yet everything proves instructive and, taken as a whole, acts as a summons to conversion. To tell our story is to praise God and to thank him for all his gifts,” the Holy Father adds.
It’s a beautiful summary of what one might call an exercise in taking stock. Many religious communities see the Year of Consecrated Life as an opportunity to take stock, to look to the past, assess the present and envision a future based on hope rather than fear.
This week, as part of the celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life, The Irish Catholic reflects on the life-giving work of consecrated persons in Ireland today. It’s true that our religious are not as visible as they once were: numbers have declined and apostolates have developed in different directions.
But these courageous witnesses, these women and men who are motivated to show emphatically that “it is possible to live differently in this world” play a vital role in our dioceses and parishes.
In towns and villages across Ireland, consecrated persons are there living their lives alongside those who struggle. Whether it is alleviating material poverty or, as Pope Francis frequently reminds us, salving the grinding poverty of the spirit that crushes and burdens so many, consecrated persons are there as signposts towards a better way to live in this life and ultimate happiness in the world that is to come.
It is right, therefore, to celebrate. But, we do so conscious of the dark shadow of pain that the betrayal of trust of some of our women and men religious has caused. We do so conscious of the silent and unseen work that many religious do to help bring healing and peace to those who have been hurt.
Fitting
It is fitting, in Holy Week, that we should celebrate our consecrated persons, those who meet the cry of the Christ-in-all-of-us who pleads “I thirst”. Those who lead us from the darkness, bewilderment and disappointment of Good Friday through the loneliness and silence of Holy Saturday to the bright dawn of Easter.
There are many challenges facing communities of consecrated persons. The future is, at times, uncertain. It can be hard to assert a way of life that our modern culture sometimes sees as old-fashioned or just plain odd. But, the Year of Consecrated Life can be a kairos moment, a moment of special blessing, to hear again the words of the Lord to Joshua following the death of Moses: “Have I not told you: be strong and stand firm? Be fearless then, be confident, for go where you will, the Lord your God is with you” (Joshua 1:9).