BY Daniel Harkins | December 5 | 
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Year of Consecrated Life officially begins
Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell opened the Year of Consecrated Life in the diocese with a Mass in St Bride’s Church, Bothwell, last Saturday ahead of Pope Francis’ call to priests and those in religious life ‘to wake up the world.
The year of events marking consecrated life officially began on St Andrew’s Day November 30, the first Sunday of Advent, and will finish on February 2 2016, the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. The Pope expressed his hopes for the yearlong observance in a letter to ‘consecrated men and women’ on Sunday.
“I am counting on you ‘to wake up the world,’ since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy,” he wrote. “This is the priority that is needed right now.
“Show everyone that to follow Christ and to put his Gospel into practice fills your hearts with happiness.”
Fr Ronnie McAinsh, CSSR, from Kinnoull, preached the homily at the well-attended event in Bothwell that followed those held in countries across the world and in other dioceses in Scotland. Sisters from convents throughout Scotland along with local and missionary priests joined the celebrations.
Mother Angela of the Poor Clare Sisters in Bothwell attended the Mass and said the year was a ‘wonderful opportunity to thank the lord for the gift of our vocation.’
“It’s not easy all the time but at the same time we are very happy,” she said. “I think this is a time where we can really thank the Lord for all the gifts that he has given us over the years.
“I would hope more people will become more aware of the consecrated life. There is such a great need for prayer in the world today. There is an awful lot of good in the world but also a lot of evil.”
Pic: Tom Eadie
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