Wake up the World! The Year of Consecrated Life announced by Pope Francis began last November and will end on February 2, 2016, the World Day of Consecrated Life. The objective of the 15-month long celebration is to highlight the various dimensions of consecrated life. Observance of “Days with Religious” will focus on prayer, service and community. Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Consecrated Life for renewal, remembrance, hope and his hope was that National Conferences of religious orders to actively participate in it. The logo for the year is ‘Wake up the World’, a phrase taken from Pope Francis’ words. He said that today’s religious men and women need to be prophetic, ‘capable of waking up the world,’ of showing they are a special breed who ‘have something to say’ to the world today: ‘The church must be attractive. Wake up the world! Be witnesses of a different way of doing things, acting, living! (Show) it’s possible to live differently in this world.’ The Pope went on to say: Preparing new members for religious life is ‘a craft, not a police operation. We must include the formation of hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mould the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps.’ Scheduled events will provide an opportunity, especially for young people, to see how men and women religious live. Although the year’s events are intended to give laypeople a deeper understanding of consecrated life, the men and women religious also said they will most likely benefit.   This week:
  • Organise a visit to an enclosed convent/monastery. Work with the community for the day and pray with them.
  • Pray for vocations to religious life
  • Talk with a religious about her/his vocation.
  • Volunteer with a religious community in your area, get to know their charism and help them bring about their work in the community by promoting what they do.
Donate some money/food/clothes/books to a missionary order