At some point in your life, you may have asked yourself what gives meaning to what you do each day, to the projects and dreams you have set before you. Perhaps today is the right moment to pause and write, in the book of your personal history, the deep meaning of your inspirations, which sustains the desire to uphold what you love despite difficulties. Human existence is a gift from God (cf. Colossians 1:16): “for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him…”; by his Word all things were made. Saint Marie Eugénie recalls this in a profound way when she says: “beneath the Word of God is God himself.” Yet our life finds its meaning when we place it in the hands of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the inspiration of our dreams.
Saint Marie Eugénie also had dreams; one of them was “to make this earth a place of glory for God,” a society transformed by the Gospel, where everyone has a place at the banquet of love. Committed, like Jesus, we are called to live the challenge of becoming incarnate in this reality where there are no trophies or applause, but rather the gift of freedom and the possibility of going out to meet others, in order to create together spaces that are more fraternal and more sensitive to the suffering of our brothers and sisters. This is only possible when we allow the gaze of God to accompany our smallness.
Throughout history and through faith in God, we come to understand that consecrated life is a gift of the Spirit for the life of the Church; it is his grace that animates our religious communities and urges us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. Consecration involves demanding renunciations: “I love the Father and always do what pleases him” (cf. John 14:31; 8:29). It means seeking him in community and looking only to him; it means nourishing together the “yes” that is renewed each morning through prayer. “He has called us by name; he has predestined us from all eternity to be his; we must do something so that this may come to be.” Thus, the full joy of women and men who consecrate their lives to God in simplicity springs from the experience of knowing themselves loved by the Father; conscious and free, they trust that fidelity sustains and accompanies their self-giving life, becoming a visible sign of the Kingdom of God made present on earth through simple gestures: a look, a smile, a handshake, an embrace. Noble gestures that mark history and confirm that a more fraternal and just society is indeed possible—gestures that become the trace of God accompanying humanity.
The love of God urges us on, for from it comes the “yes” of consecrated life, a response that is listening to the Word and a free response to the project of the Kingdom of God. This means entering into the dynamic of the challenges of today’s reality. “In a world marked by restlessness, the joy and peace of a community are a question for many and become a sign of the presence of Jesus among his own” (cf. R.V. 49). Consecrated life consists of communities that are free spaces for living fraternity and being a reflection of hope for today’s world; a humanising gesture that accompanies the life of the Church and humbly offers the gifts that develop within each religious community. The total gift of living for God and for others is a grace, trusting that he sustains each charism. We are blessed, for Jesus calls us by name each day; “we must respond to his call, learn to serve him, to live the delicacies of his companionship, how to live inwardly and outwardly all our actions, our thoughts, our conduct.” Therefore, the joy of carrying out small daily tasks under the gaze of God makes room for humility, simplicity, and a passion for the Kingdom of justice dwelling among us. He reveals himself in his Word; from it flows every good, the very goodness that is his fidelity.
Religious life is a space of praise: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever” (cf. 1 Chronicles 16:34). His goodness knows no boundaries; it is he who inspires creativity so that, from the “being” and the “doing” proper to the charisms, lives may be given in ways that open paths of communion and dialogue. “By giving themselves without reserve to Jesus Christ, the sisters give themselves unconditionally to the building up of his Body, to the prophetic proclamation of the Good News and to the coming of the Kingdom” (cf. R.V. 1). This is to live in trust and in the newness of the Father. Consecrated life is a light for today’s world, ardently desiring to keep the flame of love alive—the gift received on the day of our baptism—and thus to bear witness to the Resurrection of Christ who dwells in our communities and calls us to live faithfully to his covenant.
Sister Claudia Marilú
Central America-Cuba Province
Source of support