CONSECRATED LIFE: RADICAL CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIPPath 28: The Religious Life

SharingDo you feel a calling towards religious life?

What sustained the Sister in her religious life through all these years?

If you have a calling…

nurture your relationship with the Lord through prayer,

seek a Spiritual director, preferably a religious, who can answer any questions that arise and help in deciding whether the call is really directed to the one concerned.

Vocation

means a call or a strong inclination to a particular state of life.

gift from God way of life (single blessedness, married life, religious life/priesthood).

As a “call,” it implies the invitation to respond to God’s love and the willingness to accept the demands of loving.

The call to Religious Life or to the priesthood cannot be but a mark of God’s special love for the person interiorly experiencing the invitation.

Sacred Scripture: Mt 19:11-12 p. 167

1. What is the scriptural passage all about?

2. Based on the scriptural passage, why do you think that not all people are called to married life? Are there other states of life that people can consider following?

3. From the way the scripture is explained, why is Consecrated Life a radical way of following Jesus Christ?

the unique call to the religious life as it points out to us that not all are called to this vocation

Single Blessedness; Consecrated Life entails a total giving of oneself; not all

can live the vows of chastity (celibate loving) poverty (renouncing of material foods and living a common life) and obedience (irrevocably abandoning their will to God and adhering to His salvific will; thus, it is a unique and radical way of living and following Jesus Christ.

Church Teaching: Plenary Council of the Philippines II, 448 p.168

1. How do you understand the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II on the Consecrated Life?

2. What does the Second Plenary Council teach about the Religious Life?

A gift to the Church; consecrated person gives his/her total self to the Church and for the Church with an undivided heart; not all are called to this particular vocation

The religious consecrate themselves to the Church and in the Church as they play an important role in evangelization;

affirm the unique participation of the religious in the Church;

consecrated life works its mission in the Church; they serve the poor,

victims of injustice, minister to the overseas workers,

the children in education, and some other works of the Church where they can insert themselves

RELIGIOUS LIFEIs lived in communityShare in the same goal, spirituality, mission and apostolate

Takes evangelical vows of chastity, poverty and obedience

Live a life of prayer and fraternal charity

Different types of ministries

1.Active Religious2.Contemplative3.Active-

contemplative

Religious life is…

a radical commitment to follow Christ.

It requires maturity…

Guide Questions:What special importance or contribution does religious life give to the Church?

What is expected of religious who radically commit themselves to Christ for the service of the Church?

Why is prayer life important in the life of a religious?

EVANGELICAL COUSELS

poverty

POVERTY

-a turning away from material wealth and possessions and turning towards heavenly things.

chastity

CHASTITY- A CHOICE OF A CLOSER AND MORE COMPLETE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MYSTERY OF Christ and the Church for the good of all mankind.

OBEDIENCE

OBEDIENCETHE OFFER OF THE FULL DEDICATION OF THEIR MIND AND HEART AS A SACRIFICE OF THEMSELVES TO God.

PERPETUAL PROFESSION

Have you witnessed a perpetual profession?

How did the religious profess their vows?

What is the importance of making a public perpetual profession?

PERPETUAL PROFESSION

Scripture: Hosea 2: 16, 21-22Hosea and his wife GomerGomer failed to appreciate her blessings, went back to her former lovers and took her old life of sin

Hosea- a loving husband who yearns desperately to have a faithful wife

An act of PERPETUAL PROFESSIONIs a total commitment willed by God and accepted by the person who, wishing to belong entirely and exclusively to God, pledges him/herself to the practice of the evangelical counsels as a form of life which translates God’s calling into practice.

Necessary helps by the congregations…

Prayer lifeCommunity lifeApostolic life

Note: read truths to remembervocabulary words and

moment of truth

THE LAY APOSTOLATE

LAITY- LAOS (Greek term) means “people”...

-refers to baptized Christian people who are not ordained or have made religious profession.

-all the faithful except the priest and those in a religious state sanctioned by the Church.-

-sharers in the 3 offices of Christ.

The Lay SpiritualityIt is rooted in the person of Jesus

Christ.It is exercised through personal

moral acts which give witness to our Lord an savior.

Prayer is essential in fostering Christian lay spirituality and developing personal relationship with Jesus.

ROLE AND LIFE OF THE LAITY To a community of families-renewing the

Christian family life and forming communities

To Christian presence-inspire the world with teachings of Christ!

To service and Evangelization-proclaim the word!

To transformation-rebuilding our society and moving towards greater reconciliation

The Youth: God’s gift to the Church

-the crown of God’s creation-created in God’s image and likeness. As an image, man has been called to be the steward of His creation.

Possesses dignity-capable of knowing,

willing and of freely giving himself to others.

CFC, 334Truths of our being above

all other creatures:1. Gifted with intelligence2. Capacity to love

3. Have freedom to choose what is good.

4. Unique ,yet fundamentally equal

5. A social beings6. Historical beings

WHO WE ARE?

-Created by God-Redeemed by Christ-Sanctified by the Holy spirit

SPIRITUALITY OF THE YOUTH SPIRITUALITY- a way of life which

aids Christians to live a life of grace according to the spirit rather than the flesh.

The Youth- need to develop their personal relationship with Jesus Christ since they are going to proclaim nothing else but Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

To nourish this personal relationship with Jesus it demands…Constant prayerFrequent reception of the sacraments

Daily living of the Gospel values

Participating full at the Mass

Reading the Bible

The Mission of the YouthPope Paul II called the Youth in His

visit during 10th world Youth Day, to be responsible pillars of the Church, to spread the teaching of Christ

To be Jesus’ apostlesCalled to a special mission of

evangelization by being communicators of faith, hope and love

True or False1. The family is also the place where

religious vocations are fostered, so that Catholic marriages have the privilege of providing the Church with priest and nuns, as well as with future holy mothers and fathers, or dedicated singles.

2.Even without prayer life, the religious will exist.

3. Radical Following means total change of lifestyle, views, and philosophies in order to follow his own will and desire.

4. Perpetual profession involves contract by which the religious binds himself/herself to the Congregation and actively participates in its life and mission.

5. The religious must have undergone the necessary preparations and formations that will help them understand more fully the life that they are to live for ever and become more Christ-like.

Identification

1. It is an institutionalized type of life by which people of the same sex live in common and observes the Evangelical counsels.

2.Religious who give emphasis to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy or an apostolate of service.

3. Religious, who also called cloistered nuns, center their activities on prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in their respective convents or monasteries.

4. It is a choice of a closer and more complete relationship with the mystery of Christ and the Church for the good of all mankind.

5. It refers to all baptized Christian who are not ordained or have made religious profession.

6. It is our participation in proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

7-9 Based from CFC 334, identify at least 3 truths of our being above all the other creatures.

10-12 what are the three truths of our faith that tell us who we are.

13-15 In what specific way can you share in the mission of the son and the Holy Spirit?