LENT: A TIME TO FULLY EMBRACE THE VOWS

As minutes become hours and hours become days, seasons come and seasons go, but for such a special period as the Lenten season, its uniqueness and incomparability remain intact irrespective of the familiarity that comes with it each liturgical year. This is the joy of being a Catholic! The joy of being a Consecrated person! To be given a golden opportunity to renew oneself, repent, be transformed in Christ through the Spirit, and to fully embrace the evangelical counsels.

Lent strives on three pillars. These pillars call for intense prayer, genuine fasting, and generous almsgiving. One may ask, is it only in Lent that we practice these three principles? Surely not. However, Lent invites us to practice them more deeply and intensely in preparation for the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Giving the Eucharist to the sick

How can a Consecrated person or more specifically, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary (FMM) live this season of grace in accordance with the vows one has professed? As an FMM, I am called to be more conscious in my daily living of the evangelical counsels namely; the vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. Poverty invites me to humbly share my being, my gifts, my experiences, and even my joys and sorrows with my community and those I encounter. Obedience challenges me to serve Christ in everyone and chastity calls me to love, to forgive, to care for myself and others without counting the pain and hurt.

As we embrace the last weeks of the Lenten Season, may God’s grace be sufficient for us, may we do all for Jesus as Blessed Maria Assunta, and may we together with Blessed Mary of the Passion say: My End is Love.

Written by:

Eunice Angsotenge, fmm