Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus to the Temple, Year C
Readings for Feast of Presentation: Malachi 3:1-4; Heb 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Rebuilding ourselves into a model society for the world
Dear friends in Christ,
It is fitting, indeed, that we open the Jubilee Year by celebrating the Feast of the Presentation which is also designated as the World Day for Consecrated Life. We give thanks not simply for the work that religious do, great or small, seen or unseen, among the mainstream society or on the margins. We give thanks to God, above all, for their selfless embodiment of the Gospel. The late Pope Benedict XVI said that “just as Jesus is the living parable of the Emmanuel, religious are the eloquent sign for today’s world of the presence of God’s kingdom”. The ceremony of the procession with candles at the beginning of Mass illustrates this connection. Christ is the light for the nations and religious carry the living light of the Gospel. As long as the consecrated men and women are illumined by Christ and his Gospel, there is always hope for the Church despite all appearances to the contrary.
Religious life in Australia and most Western societies is in transition. Judging by many measures, some would even conclude that their best days are behind them. The doomsayers are ready to write obituaries for a life so glorious in the past but now destined for completion. Like the People of God in the exile, religious are being led to a place of great trial and temptation, a place until now untrodden and uncharted. Religious are torn between the security of institutional visibility of yesteryear and the insecurity of letting go and reimagining a new future.
Religious history is a journey into chaos, discovery and re-imagination writ-large. You have known too well that there is never a time to settle into false securities. Discerning and living the creative power of the Spirit through the paschal rhythm of life and death have been your strength. Religious are the avant-guarde who are entrusted with the prophetic task of pioneering and trailblazing. The Church and the world depend on us to lead them to new thresholds and crossroads where the God of the journey beckons.
The Scriptures today speak about hope in challenging times. In the first reading, Malachi prophesies about the renewal of the temple and its worship. As the returned remnants gather for the rededication, he calls them to renew their faith in the God of the covenant. In the light of their experience of the exile, the temple worship takes on a new meaning. Their faith has been refined and purified. Therefore, they will make the offering acceptable to the Lord. Religious are like Malachi whose task is to speak hope to the people of our time and to align their vision to that of God.
The Gospel reinforces the theme of hope and promise with a contrasting image of the new and the old. As the child Jesus is presented in the temple, Simeon and Anna recognise him as the glory of Israel and the light of all nations. In their wisdom and faith, they contemplate the Messiah and speak the prophecy concerning his future and the destiny of the whole humanity.
The image of Simeon and Anna holding the child is a fitting metaphor for religious today. If like them, you are faced with decline and death, you should not fear as long as you can pass on to others the hope and the light that you have seen. The survival of your institute is not paramount. In fact, many have come and gone. Religious movements are but finger pointing to the moon. It is the Gospel and the reign of God that you are utterly committed to. If your institute is facing its own mortality, Simeon and Anna remind us of passing on the hope of Christ as a legacy for others.
Religious life is the art of scanning the horizons above and exploring the terrain below for signs of a new life and a new future. They are like the scouting party who Moses sent to reconnoiter the land. They were the avant-guarde who went ahead of the people in order to map out the path ahead and ensure a safe passage for those who followed. They took enormous risks and led the People of God to a new future.
Religious life, as we know, is always present among the poorest. We are called to live at the margins or thresholds of vulnerability, the new Galilee, in order to carry out the mission to the oppressed and forgotten (asylum seekers, refugees, First Nations people, LGBTI+, etc). I admire religious, who despite their own vulnerability in terms of falling numbers, reducing resources or even opposition to their cause form alliances such as Pax Christi, Acrath, Talitha Kum, etc.. and engage with people at the margins. They are reimagining Christian life with new and exciting inter-congregational, ecumenical, interfaith and ecological possibilities.
Dear brothers and sisters,
All followers of Christ are called to exchange everything for that advantage or the pearl of great prize. But religious visualise the radicalness of Christian discipleship by the witness of their vowed and consecrated life. The whole Church is indebted to you for being the eloquent sign of God’s kingdom, especially in embodying the alternative social model of hospitality, care and compassion. In doing do, you have bolstered our confidence as we join together in making present “the new heaven and new earth” in the here and now. As we pray today we pray with gratitude. For we are sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.
