By Sr. Molly Fernandes sfn –
The second day of February reminds us about the blessing of candles as the Church celebrates the Candlemas/the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple.
The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple is according to the law of Moses, as St. Luke 2: 22-24 tells us, When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (“Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
This feast reminds us of Christ, the Light of the World, who invites to dispel the darkness being that beam of light to those groping in low-self esteem, self-pity, pessimism, crookedness, negativity and destruction by acts of love, care, communion, participation, understanding and mercy! Secondly, also signify the offering of the Consecrated Ones through the evangelical counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. To give what you have and be a blessing!
Pope John Paul II established this day, as World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life (WDPCL) in the year 1997. In his first message he highlighted a threefold purpose:
- The intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly thanking him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the cause of the Kingdom.
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To promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God.
- Invites the consecrated to celebrate together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.
While on 29th January 2022, on the occasion of the 26th World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has addressed a letter to the world’s consecrated men and women, The Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz and Secretary, Archbishop Jose Rogriguez Carballo, who signed the letter, invites to walk together as a community in the synodal spirit of participation, where members exercise responsibility for one another through mutual listening, recalling the exhortation of Pope Francis, which says, “no one, no one, should be excluded or feel excluded from this journey; no one, no one, should think ‘it doesn’t concern me’.” This letter focuses three aspects:
The Joy of ‘we’
Invites consecrated persons to go back to their vocational call, reminiscence, warning that “over time it risks losing its strength, especially when we replace the attractiveness of ‘we’ with the strength of ‘I’”.
Participation of all
“I cannot participate if I conceive of myself as the whole and do not recognize myself as part of a shared project.” Hence the importance of asking: “Who are the brothers and sisters we listen to and, before that, why do we listen to them?” “We cannot call ourselves a vocational community, and even less a community of life, if the participation of some or others is missing.”
Responsibility
Participation thus becomes responsibility, whereby “we cannot but be among others and with others” which means co-responsibility, especially in the missionary dream of reaching out to all.
The Holy Family Sisters at its headquarters and Holy Family Convent, Sancoale, Goa, India, celebrated the day with the Eucharistic Celebration “Stay with us Lord to be your Zealous Witnesses”. The Eucharist was preside by the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Kenneth Teles, who blessed Candles representing Christ the Light of the World and led the candle light procession.
Fr. Teles, in his three points homily invited and affirmed the sisters saying – You are blessed, Be a blessing and Share the blessing through the various ministries which you do and are carrying on.
The Pontiff with much love, affection and concern, makes a clarion call through the Intention of Apostleship of Prayer for this month to pray for religious sisters and consecrated women, thanking them for their mission and their courage and (prays) may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.
Certainly, the World needs to rejoice and thank God for the yeomen services by the Consecrated Ones, in various fields: academics, youth, catechesis, hospitals, and frontier ministries, etc. and together owe gratitude by praying for the Religious on this day and offer ourselves too!