The Year of Consecrated Life

Today is the official beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life, which extends until the World Day of Consecrated Life on the Presentation of the Lord (2 February 2016). Just yesterday I finished reading Vita Consecrata, Saint John Paul II's post-synodal exhortation on religious and consecrated life promulgated in 1996.

The main image used in the exhortation is the Transfiguration: that in its contemplative aspect, all consecrated life is a participation in the Transfiguration and likewise a sign of future glory.


The evangelical basis of consecrated life is to be sought in the special relationship which Jesus, in his earthly life, established with some of his disciples. He called them not only to welcome the Kingdom of God into their own lives, but also to put their lives at its service, leaving everything behind and closely imitating his own way of life.

This mystery is constantly relived by the Church... Like the three chosen disciples, the Church contemplates the transfigured face of Christ in order to be confirmed in faith and to avoid being dismayed at his disfigured face on the Cross. All are equally called to follow Christ, to discover in him the ultimate meaning of their lives… but those who are called to the consecrated life have a special experience of the light which shines forth from the Incarnate Word. For the profession of the evangelical counsels makes them a kind of sign and prophetic statement for the community of the brethren and for the world; consequently they can echo in a particular way the ecstatic words spoken by Peter: "Lord, it is well that we are here" (Mt 17:4). These words eloquently express the radical nature of the vocation to the consecrated life: how good it is for us to be with you, to devote ourselves to you, to make you the one focus of our lives! 

The three disciples caught up in ecstasy hear the Father's call to listen to Christ, to place all their trust in him, to make him the centre of their lives. The words from on high give new depth to the invitation by which Jesus himself, at the beginning of his public life, called them to follow him, to leave their ordinary lives behind and to enter into a close relationship to him. It is precisely this special grace of intimacy which, in the consecrated life, makes possible and even demands the total gift of self in the profession of the evangelical counsels. The counsels, more than a simple renunciation, are a specific acceptance of the mystery of Christ, lived within the Church.

Vita Consecrata 14, 15, 16

Accessed from iconreader.wordpress.com

For more information on the Year of Consecrated Life, there are USCCB resources here and Vatican  resources here.