Perhaps one of the most outstanding characteristics of the poor religiosity of our time is the “forgetfulness of Eternal Life”. There is not, I think, a direct denial that after this life eternity awaits us, but there is a great distraction, certainly caused by the worldly spirit. People do not think about and do not value their eternity.
For this reason, the constant witness of eternal life is necessary. St. John Paul II in “Vita consecrata” mentions this witness as a principal dimension of religious life, the eschatological dimension. We are the ones who constantly, with our lives, remind the world that man was created for eternity, and that he must dedicate himself to reaching it.
Wearing our cassock we show everyone that we have already died to this world, that we have already given ourselves entirely to God, that we no longer live for ourselves but for Him; that is, that there is eternal life, and that it is worth giving everything for it.
On November 24th, 2018, 5 novices received the religious habit (which in our Institute is the cassock). This is a grace from God for our Institute, which continues to be blessed with vocations, and also for this country, which so needs vocations and the witness of the religious.
Four of them are from Guyana, who from childhood have been close to our missions; two are from the Moruca River, which depends on our mission in Santa Rosa and the other two from the Pomeroon River, which depends on our mission in Charity. And the four of them have been in the dormitory that we run in Charity. I mention these details to thank so many missionaries who have worked in this mission. The fifth novice is from Haiti.
The ceremony was attended by many people from all the communities we serve. Fr. Barattero came for the occasion and it was he who, presiding, blessed the cassocks of the novices. With the great help of the sisters Servants of the Lord and of the Virgin of Matará, and of the parishioners, the celebration went very well and it was lived in a very familial atmosphere.
We thank God and the Virgin of Luján, mother of the vocations of our Institute, for these vocations of the novitiate “Saint John Paul the Great”. We also ask for many prayers for their perseverance.
In the Incarnate Word
Fr. Joaquín Ibarra, IVE
Guyana
