Religious men and women working in Macau for the Kingdom gathered together on February 2, 2014, to celebrate joyfully and prayerfully the Day of Consecrated Life, which is celebrated throughout the world on this day, the Presentation of our Lord.
The meeting started at 5:30 p.m. at the seminary with a talk by Fr. John Ledesma, SDB, on Our Spirituality. Hereafter, we offer a summary of the well-received speech of Fr. Ledesma. The speaker began by saying: “We need to -Study it, Speak it , Pray it, and Live it out.â€
Fr. Ledesma spoke of five dangers: danger of exaggerations; speaking the language of the world and pursuing the values of the world; not following the challenge of every spirituality  that is, creative fidelity; working for God but not doing God’s work, and following a Christ without the cross. He developed the first tow dangers.
Regarding the first danger, the danger of exaggerations, the speaker said that we live in a culture of consumerism and materialism; of violence, terrorism and death; of advanced technology, communication and science; and a culture of pluralism and secularization. Religious life is a life of “challenging/healthy tensionsâ€: formal prayer – direct apostolate; individual uniqueness – community life.
Vow poverty: need to be detached, simple, austere – access to material goods; need to use them. Vow of chastity: need to be detached, celibate) – need to enter into people’s lives and be “personal†and compassionate. Vow of obedience: need to be detached; go where we are sent – need to discern; use our sense of giftedness and talents.
Regarding the second danger, or the language of the world and pursuing the values of the world, Fr. Ledesma he opposed the language of the world focused on profit, productivity, investments, promotions, domination…; and the language of spirituality, which is centered on vocation, mission, Gospel values, the Beatitudes, sacrifice, compassion, the least, the lost and the last, the cross…
After the reflection, the sisters and the brothers went to the Chapel of Saint Joseph Seminary for the solemn celebration of the Holy Eucharist, which was presided by Bishop Jose Lai, and concelebrated by 15 priests. Over one 100 religious men and women participated in the Mass. In his homily, the bishop echoed the discourse of Pope Francis to Major Religious Superiors last November at the Vatican. He also underlined the fact that Macao is ‘mission territory’ and needs the commitment of all religious men and wmen.
There were a couple of testimonies after communion as well as presentation by Bishop Lai about his plan to ask religious in Macao to organize language courses in Latin and Latin languages with a double aim: to help the people in Macao and also to let people know more about religious life and their different charisms.
The celebration of the Eucharist was followed by a dinner – a pleasant and tasteful agape with plenty of food and laughter and everybody having a good time (AR).