Sealed with Christ

I have recently been reflecting upon the Rejoice! message of our Pope which is a letter to all consecrated men and women.  I was particularly struck with these words where he said:

Christ is the seal on our foreheads, he is the seal on our hearts: on the forehead because we always profess him; on the heart because we always love him; he is the seal on our arms because we are always working for him.

As religious, we convey to people that we are pointing to something important.  It gives us an identity that our life is a mark or seal pointing to God.  Our business is for God and everything is for God.  So it is a challenge and responsibility to make this sign visible and clear as we are leading people to God.  If this sign or seal is not clear and if we religious are not doing things the right way, we can mislead them.  Our identity as religious also has something to do with our charism which makes us different from one another.  Each Congregation is unique and founded by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  It is the way we express our lives to God and to others through our various ministries.

My assignment to do this ministry as a Vocation Promoter is for me a challenge to accompany a young person searching for the meaning of their life or to respond to a particular vocation in life as God wants them to be: priestly or religious life, married life or single blessedness.  May we become an expert and be able to radiate and manifest this sign through our deeds and authentic witnessing that generates true vocations, especially for priestly and religious vocation.

Let us continue to pray for all consecrated persons to be authentic witnesses of the joy of the Gospel and for those who are called so that they may be courageous and generous enough to answer God’s call with an open heart.

Sr Cielo Tanio fdz