TO CONSECRATE…
One of the beautiful wishes and a solemn one to do of a believer, is to consecrate one’s life before the One who is sacred and is all for the one vowing to it. Like many others, I cherish the experience of those years and my own way of dedicating my life. I often ask: What shall I offer in return? Formation years were filled with questions and acts of offering. It has never been easy with family scenarios and personal desire for inner silence, forgiveness, and peace.
How will I live then this consecration when I pronounce my vows?
I remember that I used to read the books of Og Mandino as some of my fellow novices did read them, too. In one of the twelve books he wrote entitled Mission Success has helped on calibrating this inspiring journey with the Lord. Og Mandino in his writings suggested that: I will live this day as if it was Christmas. I will be a giver of gifts and deliver to my enemies the gift of forgiveness; my opponents, tolerance; my friends, a smile; to the children, a good example and every gift will be wrapped with unconditional love.
On the second day of February of each year is a Day of Consecrated Life and is a day in honor of the Presentation of the Lord. This allows me to go on a retrospection to that life I did live for more than three decades. I only have words of thanks for the graces and people’s names written in my heart and memory whom I lived, encountered, worked with, and accompanied me in all those years of missionary journey.
What kind of journey then?
It was full of surprises, challenges and test of the heart, a test of faith in most times. I understand and come to believe that consecration is the way to be among those whom God sends along the way to journey and wrestle with as I dealt with life, circumstances, and cultures. St. Paul says in Romans 12:1 is to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God which is your reasonable service. It is to offer and work on with many others to reach such goal amidst all the good and difficult realities we live as missionaries, as consecrated persons, witnesses of the goodness and compassion of God for all.
To consecrate is to enter the very heart of God, to a life of dedication, of being instruments in bringing peace and well-being to the people we serve. It is therefore an act of mediation, as a witness of the goodness of God, is a living for a good that is needed in a certain time and place. Hence, to announce the Good News, strive to bring peace and joy to many as well as to be voice for them, to denounce injustices and to seek well-being specially of the least in our midst as well as to seek harmony in the society we live.
Do we give an adequate testimony with our lifestyle or do we invite others to see this precious gift granted to a few? Yes, go as a disciple, make disciples along the way…