With a grateful heart and on behalf of the faithful of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory thanked the women and men in consecrated life – most notably those marking a jubilee anniversary this year – for their profound witness of love, fidelity, joy, hope and dedication to Christ.
“I am a man who has been formed, taught, shaped, occasionally disciplined, and always loved by the religious who have enhanced my life,” said the cardinal in his homily during the annual Archdiocesan Jubilee Mass for Consecrated Men and Women on Feb. 26. “Therefore, I am overjoyed to be with you today, to recall no matter how many years ago, you now celebrate that day when you solemnly entered vowed life.”
Celebrated in the St. Ursula Chapel of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Hyattsville, the liturgy drew many members of the religious communities in the Archdiocese of Washington, and among them were the more than one dozen consecrated men and women celebrating 75, 60, 50, 40 and 25 years of religious life.
The cardinal was joined in concelebrating the Mass by Benedictine Father Joseph Jensen, a jubilarian observing his 75th anniversary of religious life – as well as Father James Wiseman, the abbot of St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C., Jesuit Father Michael Lamanna, and several archdiocesan priests.
Religious Sister of Mercy Gilmary Kay, who serves as the archdiocesan delegate for Consecrated Life, welcomed those attending the Mass and thanked the jubilarian honorees, who represent the religious communities serving in the archdiocese, for the gifts of their vocations to the life of the Church.
“To be successful no matter what our station – bishop, priest, deacon, brother or sister – we must set aside so many things that are a part of our human nature,” Cardinal Gregory said. “…Those of you dedicated to the religious life must remind yourselves daily, that anything that tempts you to forget your commitment to live the Gospel of Christ radically in the world must be overcome and banished from your minds and hearts.”
The cardinal stressed that the secular world and its comforts can beguile and lure persons away from Jesus Christ. In contrast, he said the kingdom of God is declared to the entire world through the example of the lives of consecrated religious.
“…The solutions to these conflicts or temptations are to be found in a few words, and those are the words of our Lord, as He teaches us – (in) the Gospel, and in the wisdom of those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to contribute to the substance of Holy Scripture,” he said.
In the readings of the Mass, including the day’s Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11, of Christ’s temptation in the desert, the cardinal said the Lord instructs His followers on how to proceed in working for the Church and for the glory of God.
“God operates in us, God finds a way of using us in His plan, without regard to our externals – whether or not we are attractive, talented, charming or whether we are men, women or children,” he said. “The first reading recounts God’s creative power and goodness in fashioning all of creation – including us. You have been in the desert with Jesus as He was tempted and so have all of us.”
Cardinal Gregory emphasized that the Mass to honor the consecrated religious is a celebration of the triumphs over countless temptations through the power of the Holy Spirit. “It is a day of jubilee, because you have survived the challenges of fidelity in serving Christ’s Church,” he said. “I rejoice with you and all of those countless consecrated friends and colleagues who have enriched my life and the lives of countless others.”
Early in his homily, the cardinal singled out several religious orders near and dear to his heart from his youth growing up in Chicago and the years beyond: the Adrian Dominicans, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the Religious Sisters of Mercy; the School Sisters of Saint Francis from Milwaukee; the School Sisters of Notre Dame; the Adorers of the Blood of Christ; the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ; the Poor Clares; the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois; the Jesuits; and the Conventual Franciscans – all of whom, he said, “Fill my heart with much joy and deep gratitude.”
Following the cardinal’s homily, the jubilarians were asked to stand for a blessing and in recognition of their “courageous witness of faith and models of holy lives.”
Sister Barbara Spears, of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary who is celebrating 60 years of consecrated life, said she was first drawn to a religious vocation when visiting her grandmother in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a young girl. She recalled seeing a group of nuns helping youngsters. “I asked my grandmother, ‘Who are those women?’ I wasn’t Catholic at the time, but I knew I was going to be one of those sisters.” Her six decades of consecrated life could be summed up in one word, “Service,” she said. Her years as a nun have been spent mainly in education, and she considers the greatest blessing to be her ability to serve others, with the intention to do so for the rest of her life, she said.
Carmelite Father Steven Payne said within his call to the priesthood, he greatly desired the community life of a religious order and joined the Discalced Carmelite Friars 50 years ago. He said serving in Nairobi, Kenya for 12 years, promoting Carmelite prayer, tradition, spirituality and vocations, was the fondest memory of his religious life. Father Payne currently serves as a theology professor at The Catholic University of America and is chair of CUA’s Center for Carmelite Studies.
Sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy of Warsaw, Poland – Sister M. Donata Farbaniec and Sister Mary Ruth Slanina – were honored for 25 years of religious life. Both offered reflections on the blessings their vocations have brought to their lives, which in turn, they have shared with others.
“Jesus brought me (to this day). It is His invitation, His mercy,” said Sister Donata, who serves at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and is a formator and her order’s local superior, adding that for her the great joy of religious life is her relationship with Jesus and “the experience of His love every day regardless of my faults.”
Although she was called to be a woman religious later in life, Sister Mary Ruth said she is grateful to the Lord and credits the Blessed Virgin Mary for her vocation. “The Blessed Mother brought me to Jesus, to His love and His mercy,” said Sister Mary Ruth, who serves as a sacristan and ministers in nursing homes and prisons.
Sister Charlotte Ann Marie King, a member of the Sisters of Life who serves at the St. Clare’s Convent and Eucharistic Chapel in Northeast Washington, D.C., is marking 25 years of religious life. Sister Charlotte, whose religious order helps women in crisis pregnancies and offers healing for those suffering from abortion, describes being called to serve as a “spouse of Jesus” in the Sisters of Life with the charism of promoting the reverence and sacredness of all human life, as “the greatest joy and greatest gift.”
