In the Collect for the Feast of the
Presentation of the Lord, celebrated on February 2nd, we pray, “Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore
your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in
the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented
to you with minds made pure.”
On this Feast, also considered the
World Day for Consecrated Life, several of us presented ourselves to our
Eucharistic Lord at Saints Peter and Paul Church, not far from our Provincial
House here in Alton. There we joined many
other religious communities from the area to praise the Lord who has gifted us
with a sure path to following Him more closely: the evangelical counsels of
poverty, chastity, and obedience. These
three vows are a present from the
Lord to each of us, safeguarding our vocation to be united to Christ in the
religious life.
The Holy Family witnessed to each
vow as they brought their Divine Son to the temple. Poor in material things, they brought the
offering known to be for those who had only a meager income: two
turtledoves. Their undivided hearts
expressed the chaste call of resolute love for God. They listened attentively to the prescription
of God’s law to present their son, the Son of the Father, to Him in
obedience. As we contemplated this
Divine Family while chanting Evening Prayer and adoring the Son present in the
Blessed Sacrament, we prayed for the universal Church and religious brothers
and sisters worldwide and offered back to our Lord what we have first received
from Him: our lives.
- Sister Marysia, FSGM
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