Today, Tuesday, July 30th, we continued to be blessed with holy Mass and conferences from Monsignor Thomas Caserta. Today, Monsignor focused on the theological virtues of hope and faith as eschatological signs that we, as religious, are meant to be for the world.
Hope is the theological virtue that orders our activity towards the kingdom of heaven. The witness of religious life makes visible the face of Christ. In this way we should offer hope to all whom we meet. You can imagine the examination that goes on in each of us when we hear this. Monsignor stressed the need to know who we are in relation to God, quoting St. Augustine who prayed often, "Novarum te, novarum me," "Let me know you, and let me know myself."
Monsignor then gave specific examples. He said our vocation is not about our specific work. Our vocation is to belong to the Lord. This is our call. He then said that the vows don't address specific behaviors, they address personhood, from which flows certain behaviors. We have to interiorize the rules, not just follow them. We do what we do for the love of God. Monsignor cautioned us against compliance rather than obedience, sighting that the biggest failure is to do the right thing for the wrong reason. This life is not about ourselves and we are happiest when we are living for others; self-absorption leads to depression.
In the afternoon, Monsignor continued with religious life as a sign of faith in the world. He quoted Hebrews 11 to define faith. He further quoted the Catechism (par. 1314), which states that the virtue of faith is that by which we believe in God and all that He has taught us and all that the Church proposes for our salvation, for He is truth itself.
Faith is about handing over (or entrusting) our whole lives to the Lord. This was demonstrated by the Lord Himself from the Cross: "Into Your hands, Father, I commend my spirit." We are "betting" our life on Him "who can neither deceive nor be deceived." This gift of self-surrender to God is given through our vowed life. As religious, we need to point beyond this world clouded with empiricism to the reality of things unseen. Monsignor reminded us again of the witness of the external signs of our religious life.
Faith is first and foremost a love relationship with God, and we therefore have the responsibility to be joyful and enthusiastic in living out our vowed life of faith, witnessing to that which springs from a life lived in love for God alone. Because all baptized in Christ must give of themselves to God, we need to point the way by living out our own baptismal promises. Because a religious entrusts herself to God, others are more inclined to do the same.
In summary, it is our love that witnesses to the world, a love that is totally self-giving. Catherine Doherty, founder of Madonna House, said it best: "A nun is a woman in love. A nun is a woman on the other side of the Cross."
For those of you who have had the privilege of hearing Monsignor Caserta speak, you know how he illustrates his points with stories.
We ended our day by getting gelato! The store owner down the street knows us now. It was a pleasant night to be out since it was almost 10 degrees cooler today (low 90's).
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