Archbishop Costelloe has this week echoed the call of Pope Francis to ‘Wake up the World’ in celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life.
At a special celebration held at St Mary’s Cathedral on Monday, 2 February to inaugurate the occasion, the Archbishop reminded those living consecrated lives that their identity should be focused not only on what they do, but also on what they are called to be, in and for the Church and the world.
The Archbishop went on to encourage Perth’s religious sisters, brothers and priests to be strong signs of Christ’s love within the world, drawing on the Apostolic Letter to Consecrated People from Pope Francis released in November last year.
“The religious, by virtue of our unique way of life within the community of faith, are consecrated by God to be ‘sacraments’, living signs, of some of the most essential aspects of the Christian life,” the Archbishop said.
Reaching into his own Salesian tradition, the Archbishop said that, in a world tempted by atheism and the idolatry of pleasure, possessions and power, one’s religious way of life bears witness, especially to the young, that God exists.
“It is not our apostolate alone, but our whole way of life which can give meaning to our place in the Church and in the world.
“This is true for every religious.
“What is vital for us is the difference which the vow of poverty makes to the way we live our daily lives, the difference which the vow of chastity makes to the way we conduct our relationships with others, the difference which our vow of obedience makes to the way we read the signs of the times and how we respond to them,” the Archbishop said.
The Archbishop acknowledged the significant presence and contribution of so many faithful religious men and women to the Church and archdiocese in Western Australia.
His statements underscored the urgency of keeping Christ as the foundation stone of every religious life.
“If Christ is not at the very heart of our religious life, both individually and as communities, if Christ is not the Way we follow, the Truth we proclaim and the Life which gives us life, then we must ask ourselves if we have lost our way. Apostolates may change, forms of dress may change, styles of community life might change, but the central place which Christ must have in religious life must never change,” the Archbishop concluded.
This special year dedicated to consecrated life is similar to previous themed years announced by popes such as Year of the Priest (2009-2010) or Year of St Paul (2008-2009).
The year also marks the 50th anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis, a decree on religious life, and Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.
In his Apostolic Letter to Consecrated People, Pope Francis called for religious men and women to be “men and women of communion”, to “live the present with happiness” and “embrace the future with hope”.
He encouraged consecrated people to live their ministries with the same passion and spirit that guided their founders and foundresses and expressed a desire to see this year as “an occasion for us to step out more courageously from the confines of our respective institutes and to work together on projects involving formation, evangelisation and social action”.
The Pope also reserved a message for those not belonging to religious orders. “The Year of Consecrated Life,” the Pope wrote, “concerns not only consecrated persons, but the entire Church. Consequently, I ask the whole Christian people to be increasingly aware of the gift which is the presence of our many consecrated men and women, heirs of the great saints who have written the history of Christianity”.
The Year of Consecrated Life began on 30 November 2014, the first Sunday of Advent and will conclude with the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple on 2 February 2016.