Bringing the light of God's love to us

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. It is the same Holy Spirit who continues to distribute many different varieties of gifts. (1 Cor 12:4)
St. Paul, probably around the year 50 – 55 AD, already observed that the Holy Spirit was working in a variety of ways among the members of the early Church. In the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, he would continue to describe the Church as a body made up of many parts, each part having its own role.
The Spirit continues to work within the Church in a variety of ways. How unfathomable the ways of the Spirit as the Spirit brings about the work of God in a marvelous diversity of ways. The Spirit calls each of us to make the Church strong as much as each part of the body has its own role in making the body healthy and strong.
On Sunday, Feb. 6, the Church calls each one of us to thank God for those who serve in Consecrated Life which is one example of the ways in which the Spirit works with a multiplicity of gifts for the good of the People of God. We thank God for calling men and women to serve in building up the Kingdom of God as nuns, sisters, brothers, religious priests, consecrated virgins, and hermits.
We in the Archdiocese of Mobile should especially be grateful for these wonderful men and women who serve in our midst. Many of us have personally known someone in consecrated life and been blessed by their ministry. They have brought and continue to bring the light of God’s love to us and to many.
The Spirit has enriched the Church with an array of ways in which members of consecrated life contribute to the life of the Church. Some serve in parishes, being in the midst of the days to day life of faith of the parishioners through word, worship and service to others. Some are involved in education whether in elementary schools, high schools or institutes of higher learning. Some serve the poor, the immigrant, the troubled or the sick in ministries of charity, or care for the elderly in our midst. Some provide retreat houses or spiritual direction helping people to grow in faith. Some live a life of contemplative prayer placing our needs before the Father in intercessory prayer. Some fulfill their calling by living a life of prayer as a consecrated virgin within contemporary society, or as a hermit who fulfils a life of prayer by withdrawing from the clamor of society. Some labor within the communities in which they were raised, while others have followed the Lord to bring God’s love far from their place of birth. All in Consecrated Life commit themselves to the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience.
These three counsels come from the teachings of Jesus. When the young man asked Jesus what he should do to obtain eternal life, Jesus told him to “keep the commandments.” When the man said that he already kept the commandments, Jesus told him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Jesus also taught that “there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.” (Mt 19) In 1 Corinthians 7, St. Paul also counsels that celibacy for the kingdom is praiseworthy. 
The members of the Church who live a commitment to Consecrated Life seek to form their lives as completely as possible to these counsels from the Lord. Let us pray for them and with them. May the Holy Spirit continue to pour out an abundance of gifts upon the Church which come from Consecrated Life and which so powerfully blesses the Church.