To kick off the Year of Consecrated Life, men and women living out their religious vocations from various communities in Brooklyn and Queens gathered at Our Lady of Angels Church, Bay Ridge, for an afternoon of prayer Dec. 8.
“This is our year,” said Sister Maryann Lopicollo, S.C., the coordinator of the event and the diocesan delegate for religious, “where the Church recognizes all of the women and men who vow and promise their lives, their energies and their hearts to revealing the holy in our world; to giving hope and encouragement to those who have none, to wearing themselves out for the sake of the Gospel Mission of Jesus.”
Pope Francis declared that Nov. 30 to Feb. 2, 2016 be recognized as the Year of Consecrated Life “to recognize, celebrate and encourage consecrated life, as a vital necessity to the life and mission of the universal Church,” Sister Maryann said.
In the Diocese of Brooklyn those living consecrated lives include: religious sisters, religious brothers, members of secular institutes and consecrated virgins.
Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros presided at the service. After thanking the women and men religious for their service to the Church on behalf of himself, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and the entire diocese, he spoke about his own experiences with those in consecrated life.
He noted that it is a bishop’s job to confirm the faithful in their faith; however, he noted that in this case the opposite was also true.
“I want to give witness of how you religious men and women have confirmed me in my faith,” he said.
He spoke of meeting his first religious sisters when coming to the U.S. at the age of 16. He spoke of the gracious manner in which they formed him in his life and charitably educated him in his vocation. In his dealing with people living out consecrated vows, he said he found a common denominator among most of them: happiness rooted in Christian hope.
Therefore, he asked those present to continue to “touch everyone with the joy of the Gospel.”
Sister Angela Gannon, C.S.J., focused on the slogan of the year, “Wake Up the World!,” during her reflection.
“Before we can wake up the world, we ourselves have to be awake,” she said. “As women and men religious we live out our mission and charism to our last breath. It is not necessarily what we are doing but the persons we are.”
“I think it is sobering,” she said, “in these times of diminishing numbers in our religious congregations, to remember that our institutes were founded by a small group of members.”
Sister Angela reminded those gathered that her own congregation started in New York when three Sisters of St. Joseph came from Philadelphia and within days of arriving, opened a school at St. Mary’s Church, Maujer St., Williamsburg.
Sister Maryann said that throughout the year, the diocese will send out religious two by two to different groups in parishes and schools to speak in order to help people understand the role of consecrated life in the Church.
Among the other events planned for the year are: the opening prayer service for Queens at Immaculate Conception parish, Jamaica, Dec. 14, 3:30 p.m.; the World Day of Consecrated Life liturgy at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, Feb 1, 2015, 10:30 a.m.; National Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14, 2015; Inter-diocesan day for religious at St. John’s University on March 14, 2015, 1:15-4 p.m.; Diocesan Youth Day, April 18, 2015; Lenten Evening Prayer for Brooklyn and Queens; Fall Inter-Cultural Festival, 2015; Advent Vespers 2015; World Day for Consecrated Life; and a closing liturgy.
