Forty days after Christ's birth the Law of Moses required Mary to go to the temple and take part in the ritual for purification. This was also the day Mary and Joseph formally introduced Jesus to the House of God.In 1997 Pope John Paul the Great also made February 2nd the World Day for Consecrated Life. This day focuses on members of secular institutes, movements and personal prelatures, as well as members of Societies of Apostolic life.
These people have taken vows and effectively set themselves apart for God, that He may use them to do His will in the world and in the Church.
Every year Pope Benedict celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord with the members of Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life to remind us that just as Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to the Lord, those who are consecrated have also presented themselves to the Lord. This day serves as a day for them to once again re-affirm their response to God’s call t
o set themselves apart for His will.
o set themselves apart for His will. The Marianists of the Province of Meribah celebrate today their witness of Christ. With great joy the Brothers express that the Lord is the Love who is able to fill the heart of the human person.
We consider today the words of John Paul II: "Truly there is great urgency that the consecrated life show itself ever more "full of joy and of the Holy Spirit," that it forge ahead dynamically in the paths of mission, that it be backed up by the strength of lived witness, because "modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses"
