Consecrated life is a special way of living the Christian vocation that each of us received at baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that:
The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.
It’s interesting to note that there are hundreds of institutes, orders, and congregations of religious life. Still, their objective is the same: to evangelize according to their own charisms and in different contexts, always with a total dedication to the designs of God.
Aleteia interviewed three religious and asked them three questions:
1. Based on your experience, what is consecrated life?
2. What purpose does it serve in the world?
3. Are you happy in your vocation?
Here are the answers they shared with us.
1SR. ROSA MARIA LUNA
Congregation: Ecumenical Missionary Sisters Oblates of the Church
Consecrated life serves to give witness in the world.
For Sister Rosa, consecrated life is a way of life modeled on Jesus, who was, chaste, poor and obedient. It's also a response to the call to live this life, to conform oneself to it, to try to configure oneself more and more to him in a life of fraternity in community, and according to a special charism that the Holy Spirit has inspired in each founder within the Church.
Consecrated life, she says, serves to give witness in the world to the presence of Jesus and to the Gospel in a practical and experiential way. Each institute has its own personal charism and seeks to express a specific aspect of the face of Jesus to the world.
We want to show people Jesus, who saw and experienced the division of the world, and saw that he himself would be a cause of division. So, he prays to the Father at the last moment, as his last wish, for the unity of all people in Christ. We consecrate ourselves to this cause and we pray for this every day to the Father: “that we may all be one.”
Sister Rosa affirms without hesitation that she is happy in her vocation. She told us:
God, my Lord, who called me without my deserving it, is incredibly faithful. At very specific moments he provides for my needs and makes himself felt, filling me with joy and happiness. It has been a journey of learning, falls, and stumbles. But the amazing thing is his faithfulness that inspires me with the desire to follow him with all my heart and with all my strength in my vocation, carried out in the mission.
2SR. DORIS JIMENEZ SIMROTH
Congregation: Oblates of the Most Holy Trinity
If I were to be born again, I’d become a religious again.
For Sister Doris, consecrated life is total surrender to God. It’s an unconditional response to a call of love and a radical living of one's baptism through the profession of the evangelical counsels. This is carried out in community life, with one's own charism and in the search for holiness in love and dedication to one's neighbor.
Consecrated life testifies to Christ's presence in the life of humanity, she says. It proposes to the people an identity, opportunity, aspiration, learning, and above all, credible love and holiness. This makes it possible to be believable witnesses who make palpable the civilization of love.
With joy, she adds that she is "extremely happy."
The best thing that has happened to me is God’s call to this unconditional self-giving. I believe that nothing better could’ve happened to me in this life. And if I were to be born again, I’d become a religious again.
Even its adversities and setbacks are nothing when you have the loving gaze of Jesus. It’s the joy, the joy of feeling his healing word, his healing encounter in each Eucharist. Not to mention the love of Mary, that gives security to our project of life.
3Sr. LOURDES GONZALEZ
Congregation: Disciples of Mary in the Holy Spirit
It means living the fullness of our baptism.
Sr. Lourdes defines consecrated life as a life totally given to God, which belongs to Him alone. It means living the fullness of our baptism.
The Disciples of Mary, united to Jesus, make His love known in people's lives "so that we may all turn to him and allow ourselves to be loved. Thus, we can reach the holiness to which we are called. Above all, we seek to reach the hearts that are far from Him because of sin.”
"I am happy," she tells Aleteia, before adding, "When we are in the vocation to which Jesus calls us, then we can be happy."
