If I’ve learned one thing through the experiences I’ve been privileged to share in life, it is the Teilhard insistence that every life is consecrated and sacred. His words have been echoed by Pope Francis who reminds us that all of life “is a gift from God! It is always sacred and inviolable”.
What does it mean when we speak of the World Day of Consecrated Life? For me, it’s an opportunity to acknowledge the sacredness of the whole of life and to give thanks for the hugely diverse ways each of us is consecrated. It is also the opportunity to reflect specifically on our consecration as Josephites, at this time in our story.
As I reflect on our life as Josephites, I give thanks for our story and the many ways our Sisters have lived this life embedded in the call to mission, expressed through our particular lens on living the gospel – the call to those pushed to the edge and living on the margins, especially children and women.
I give thanks for all the women across our congregation who have responded to the call to live radically in the spirit of Mary and Julian and our founding Sisters – to be:
- Committed to those isolated at the periphery with few choices, and without hope
- Impelled to respond to the cry of Earth and the cry of those made poor
- To pledge to work for life and structures
- To nurture the interconnectedness of the whole of life in the heart of God
- To recognise the interrelationships at the heart of our journey, with those shattered and dispossessed (including what is shattered and dispossessed within ourselves).
Sister Carmel, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar, who died so unexpectedly last week has truly been for me the embodiment of the call to live with those pushed to the edge, those with few choices and often without hope. With passion and without fuss, and with her special way of challenging and then belly laughing with us, Carmel died as she lived – challenging us to live every moment, and to live that moment fully and without guile. We have been truly blessed in the life and death of this remarkable woman.
Bishop Budde, likewise, advocated last week for those pushed to the peripheries by the new U.S. government. Grounding her words clearly in scripture, the bishop urged President Trump to respond to the call of the gospel and the witness of Jesus’ life – to show mercy, compassion and welcome in his leadership. Her courage in speaking truth to power has earned her both admiration and fury. For us who vow commitment to the gospel, her words call us to refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice and inequality.
We are reminded on the World Day of Consecrated Life that the blessings and sacredness of the moments and people in our lives are gifts given – to be received with gratitude, love and daily consecration.
Sr Jan Barnett rsj
Josephite Justice Network
Click here to view a reflection by Emilia Nicholas on World Day of Consecrated Life
Visit Catholic Religious Australia to find out what’s happening on World Day of Consecrated Life across Australia.