2015: The Year of Consecrated Life Provincial’s Welcome
Dear Passionist Family,
In recognizing the importance of Consecrated Life in the Church today, Pope Francis announced that 2015 would be dedicated as the Year of Consecrated Life.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Raleigh is the Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and he has a brief video on the descriptions of the various forms of Consecrated Life. It is worth watching as we begin fourteen months of honoring and affirming the women and men who live Consecrated Life:
He identifies five types of Consecrated Life:
- Men and Women Religious
- Secular Institutes
- Consecrated Virgins
- Hermits
- Societies of Apostolic Life
The men and women who consecrate their lives in order to live in these different vocations have traditionally served the Church and the world by their dedicated commitment to personal prayer, ministry, especially to the most neglected, some form of community life and vows/promises that are recognized by the Church.
The Passionist Family includes women and men religious and secular institutes.
St. Paul of the Cross founded the Passionist Community to preach and promote the Passion of Jesus Christ, what we call the Passionist Charism. Passionist men and women religious serve by preaching parish missions and retreats, setting up Retreat Centers, ministering in parishes, hospitals, orphanages, schools and universities here in the States and as missionaries overseas. Our faith, our parishes, our dioceses and our Church have been sustained and enhanced because of these dedicated men and women.
During these next fourteen months, the Province will have different ways of “Waking Up the World,” which is the theme for the Year of Consecrated Life. Fr. Don Senior will give a reflection on this theme and you will find that on our passionist.org website and on Facebook. Each month after that, we will feature someone from our Province, a brother or a priest, that illustrates our mission in the Church and our ministry within the Congregation.
We invite you to remember the many Passionists who have inspired or helped you in your journey of faith, by praying for them and maybe adding a comment about them in our Facebook page when we post our monthly picture.
During this special Year of Consecrated Life, I invite you to pray for all those who have made commitments in the consecrated life. Be sure to thank them for their dedication and service. May they continue to be inspired by Holy Spirit and respond generously to their vocation as religious to serve you and the Church today.
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