QUEZON City, Feb. 5, 2015—Inspired by Pope Francis’ homily for the recent World Day of Consecrated Life, coinciding with the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation, a woman religious has invited the faithful to gladly drench themselves completely in Christ’s Good News, stressing there is no other way they can truly live and give Christ.
Pope Francis issued a letter for the Year of Consecrated Life, which started on the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30, 2014. The observance will end on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Feb. 2, 2016. (Photo: CBCPNews)
“In this Year of Consecrated Life, let us joyfully and deeply immerse ourselves in the Gospel so that we may truly live and give Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life in the world today,” Sr. Anthony Mary S. Basa, a member of the Pauline family’s Pious Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM), told CBCP News.
‘To listen’
Despite the promises and problems which an increasingly globalized world poses, she shared Christians are constantly reminded to turn to the simplicity of Mary and Joseph who were “guided by their son Jesus to the temple.”
Accoring to the sister, obedience came from the Latin word ‘ob-audire’ which means ‘to listen’.
“In this epoch of modern gadgets, we find it difficult to listen, thus unable to hear the call of God … There are too many voices that passes through our ears and minds by all the gadgets and mass media that we lose the capacity to hear the gentle voice of God who speaks to our hearts,” Basa explained.
Basa, who is also the executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s Episcopal Commission on Culture (ECC), has also presented Simeon and Anna as two examples showing the faithful how they can learn to listen to the Gospel and live it in their hearts, thus they find it easy to recognize God in Jesus.
“Simeon and Anna were given the wisdom and gift of the Holy Spirit to be able to recognize the light of salvation in the baby Jesus. Now, this is intimacy. The gift and wisdom of Simeon and Anna were a fruit of their long years of sacrifice as they come and worship him in the temple day and night,” she said.
Offering of self
Basa explained Simeon and Anna’s old age did not make them poor; rather it made them rich both in wisdom and intuition.
“They have immersed themselves into the Scriptures for such long years, that is why it was natural for them to recognize that, indeed, it is the Lord! Most of all, it was not difficult for them to obey the law of God because they have not only been listening to it but also living it. Their law is the Word of God, the Gospel, which is the source of all other human law,” she added.
According to Basa, consecrated persons are not only religious men and women, but also those who may not be part of a religious community, but who have decided to offer themselves privately to God in obedience to His call. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)
