My first and only love
At the origin of every call to religious life is a deep desire for God and a fascination with the person of Jesus and his liberating message. The way God’s Spirit touches us can be very different for every individual. The cares of daily life, the power of habit, failures and disappointments can sometimes turn that first fire of love into ashes. Pope Francis invites us to rekindle in ourselves the fervour of the time of our first love.  
 
For the various founders and foundresses, the Gospel was the absolute rule, whereas every other rule was meant merely to be an expression of the Gospel and a means of living the Gospel to the full. For them, the ideal was Christ; they sought to be interiorly united to him and thus to be able to say with Saint Paul: “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21)… I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day.
 
 Joy is born from the gratuitousness of an encounter! Moreover, the joy of the encounter with him and with his call does not lead to shutting oneself in but to opening oneself; it leads to service in the Church.… Service in the Church arises out of the joy of meeting the Lord and from his call. This mission is to bring to the men and women of our time the consolation of God, to bear witness to his mercy … “Where there are religious, there is joy”. We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek our happiness elsewhere.
 
We have to ask ourselves: Is Jesus really our first and only love, as we promised he would be when we professed our vows? Only if he is, will we be empowered to love, in truth and mercy, every person who crosses our path. For we will have learned from Jesus the meaning and practice of love. We will be able to love because we have his own heart.
 
Look into the depths of your heart, look into your own inner depths and ask yourself: do you have a heart that desires something great, or a heart that has been lulled to sleep by things? Has your heart preserved the restlessness of seeking or have you let it be suffocated by things that end by hardening it? God awaits you, he seeks you; how do you respond to him? Are you aware of the state of your soul? or have you nodded off? Do you believe God is waiting for you or does this truth consist only of “words”?
There is a temptation to seek God in the past or in a possible future. God is certainly in the past because we can see the footprints. And God is in the future as a promise. But the ‘concrete’ God, so to speak, is today.
 
? Take a quiet moment and recall the times in your life when God touched you in a special way!
? What in me tends to diminish my enthusiasm and my fervour? How can I give expression to my love at this period of my life? 

The centre where the Assembly of Brazil took place is called “The Arsenal of Hope”.  At the moment, it is a house which receives homeless people and is also a meeting place for the young people of the Ipiranga region where we live.  We joined with the group from the Parish of San Alfonso.   The phrase which remained engraved on their hearts was, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God ”. The day ended with a Way of the Cross with the homeless people who were in the house.  For us it was a call to contemplate the “Christs” who are suffering in our cities.
A sense of Church pervaded the place, an awareness that we are the beloved daughters and sons of God who want to support those who feel rejected or are looking for an identity as well as  those who are lonely and misunderstood.
The retreat ended with a Mass at which we celebrated the 40th birthday of the chaplain of the Pastoral Action Group for Sexual Diversity which gathers together people of different sexual orientations and their families. We began Lent with these sisters and brothers who were able to speak freely in this place about what they are and what they want to be.  
Silvia Elena Coronel Mundaca
Community of  Paulo de Moraes

Grateful for the past – living the present with passion 
At the occasion of the Year of Consecrated Life Pope Francis has written an Apostolic Letter to all religious in the Church. The Vatican Congregation responsible for religious has collected material from various talks and interviews in a document entitled “Rejoice”. In these texts the Pope challenges us religious to live our call with „passionate love“, to allow ourselves to be challenged by the radicality of the Gospel and to respond creatively to new needs and demands of our world and of the Church. The following texts from these various sources are meant to inspire our personal reflection and community sharing during the weeks of Lent.

The first aims is to look to the past with gratitude… Each charismatic family to reflect on its origins and history, in order to thank God who grants the Church a variety of gifts which embellish her and equip her for every good work. Recounting our history is essential for preserving our identity, for strengthening our unity as a family and our common sense of belonging.
 
More than an exercise in archaeology or the cultivation of  mere nostalgia, it calls for following in the footsteps of past generations in order to grasp the high ideals, and the vision and values which inspired them, beginning with the founders and foundresses and the first communities. In this way we come to see how the charism has been lived over the years, the creativity it has sparked, the difficulties it encountered and the concrete ways those difficulties were surmounted.
 
For the various founders and foundresses, the Gospel was the absolute rule, whereas every other rule was meant merely to be an expression of the Gospel and a means of living the Gospel to the full. For them, the ideal was Christ; they sought to be interiorly united to him and thus to be able to say with Saint Paul: “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21). Their vows were intended as a concrete expression of this passionate loveThe question we have to ask ourselves during this Year is if and how we too are open to being challenged by the Gospel… It is not enough to read it…, nor is it enough to meditate on it … Jesus asks us to practice it, to put his words into effect in our lives.
 
This Year calls us to live the present with passion. Grateful remembrance of the past leads us, as we listen attentively to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today, to implement ever more fully the essential aspects of our consecrated life… Are our ministries, our works and our presence consonant with what the Spirit asked of our founders and foundresses? Are they suitable for carrying out today, in society and the Church, those same ministries and works?
 
When did I read for the last time the writings of our foundress / founder?
How can we occasionally bring inspiring texts from the sources of our charisma into our community prayer? 

Many Sri Lankans seek work and easy money in the Gulf, the Middle East, Malaysia and Singapore. However, the poorly educated and the unskilled have become the victims of human trafficking, including prostitution and forced labour.
As far as human trafficking goes, Sri Lanka is the point of arrival and departure for many victims. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Singapore are the preferred places of destination for those who want to work and improve their lives and those of their family.
However, enticed by the promise of employment as construction or garment workers, as store clerks or domestic staff, many end up in a business where their papers are taken from them, and where they are subjected to threats of deportation or detention, sexual abuse or forced labour.
 “Human trafficking is one of the most cruel and heinous crimes that can be inflicted on another human being”, said Sister Susila Thomas RGS, a member of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who works with migrants and bears witness to the problem. For her, Sri Lankans have a right “to find work and earn a living in their country”.
“I started this mission in April 2014, when the institute sent me to Singapore. There, in the centre run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, I met with about 30 young women, from various countries. Three of them were Sri Lankan Buddhists, from small villages. All of them had turned to prostitution. ”
The nun recalls one of them in particular. “She was a very young woman. In Sri Lanka, she worked as a massage therapist. She wanted to earn more money, and so decided to go to Singapore. Here she met a man who introduced himself as an employment agent. He showed her beautiful pictures of the city and of the life she could have. He charged her a great deal of money and organised her transfer for a two year stay.”
Once in Singapore however, “this agent handed her over to other people and disappeared. She ended up in the prostitution racket. Years later, when she found out about our centre, she asked our help to get out of the trade. ”
In this facility, the nuns “…first take care of the victims’ emotional and psychological needs. Many of them come out devastated by this experience. They feel worthless, outcasts. Some want to commit suicide.
“We do a lot of therapy and counselling in order to bring out their talents and their abilities. We explain that their lives have value and that they are important and necessary for society. Doctors and specialists work alongside us in this work.
“When they feel that they are back on their feet and ready to re-enter the world, we let them go back to their families, but always with the knowledge that they can ask for help at any time.”
Based on her experience, human trafficking “can radically change the victims. They seek revenge; some have even tried to kill. She says; “It is not advisable for the unskilled and poorly educated, both men and women, to go abroad,” she said. “In Sri Lanka, there should be a mechanism to allow these groups to find work and earn a living in their country. It is everyone’s right.”
Melani Manel Perera

Pope Francis’ words after the recitation of the Angelus prayer to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square:
Dear brothers and sisters, today, the liturgical feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, the African nun who as a young girl had the tragic experience of being a victim of trafficking, the International Union of Superior Generals and the Superior Generals of the religious institutes have promoted the Day of prayer and reflection against human trafficking. I encourage those who are committed in helping men, women and children who are enslaved, exploited and abused as instruments of work or pleasure and often tortured and mutilated. I hope that those who have governmental responsibilities may strive firmly to remove the causes of this shameful scourge. It’s true, it is a shameful scourge! A scourge unworthy of a civilized society. Each one of us should commit to be a voice for these our brothers and sister, humiliated in their dignity. Let us pray for them and for their families. Hail Mary…

This year is dedicated to “Consecrated Life”. What do we mean when we say that we are consecrated? Evidently the dictionary definitions – to be declared sacred; set apart – are no longer meaningful within a worldview where everything is sacred and all creation is infused with the Divine. There is no separation between the sacred and profane; all is sacred; all is holy.
Taking vows therefore can no longer be interpreted in terms of making more sacred what already is sacred. Our vowed life is our particular way of living out our baptismal consecration and the different vocations within our Family are complementary calls to bear witness to God Alone who invites us to commit ourselves to the Divine mission. In our Family, there are no hierarchies; we are a Family of equals where members live out their baptismal consecration in fidelity to their particular vocation.
So, consecration by vows involves neither separation nor superiority. In our Founder’s words: “You have not separated yourselves from those who live under the common law…. you follow them… you share with them as far as you can all the fatigues, trials and dangers of the journey” (Preface 1851)
During this year the Pope urges us to “remember the past with gratitude, live the present with passion and look to the future with hope”.
Remembering our past helps us deepen our sense of belonging to our Family; to take courage from those who have gone before us and whose lives can inspire us and give us hope for the future.
Pope Francis challenges us to live the present with passion. Like our Founder and first members, are we close to people to the point of sharing their joys and sorrows? Living the present with passion means becoming “experts in communion”, architects of God’s Divine plan that all be one.
Third, we look to the future with hope – a hope that is not based on statistics or accomplishments, but on the One in whom we have put our trust and for whom “nothing is impossible” This is the hope which does not disappoint; it is the hope which enables consecrated life to keep writing its great history well into the future. It is to that future that we must always look, conscious that the Holy Spirit spurs us on so that God can still do great things with us.
Sr. Gemma Corbett, Unit Leader, Britain & Ireland

In the year of Consecrated life (30th November 2014 – 2nd February 2016), Africa/South Africa Bishops pay tribute to the consecrated women and men who founded the local Church.  Here are surely included the Sisters of the Holy Family who were an important pioneering presence in South Africa from 25 March 1865 and  in Lesotho from 8 April 1865 and continue to minister in those countries.
Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) – “Consecrated men and women established the local Church in our dioceses and most of our parishes, serving people of every background in countless ways”,say the Bishops of the Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference (which brings together Bishops of South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana) in their Pastoral Letter dedicated to the Year of Consecrated Life (30thNovember,2014-2nd February2016).
“We pay tribute to all deceased Religious who have served in our Countries and are buried in our soil, sometimes in obscure or forgotten graves. We appreciate all those Religious who have grown old among us, who have given courageous witness and led exemplary lives”, continues the document, sent to Agenzia Fides.

The Bishops, after pointing out that the mission of evangelization is a duty of every religious, emphasize the wealth resulting from the presence of religious men and women from different parts of the world. “The witness of internationality and multi-cultural living counteracts the tendency to extreme nationalism. Caring for one another across the boundaries of age and culture and listening to each other with respect encourages all to live the Gospel by openness to the mystery of God in each other”.
“We entrust our dear consecrated Brothers and Sisters in a very special way to our Mother’s prayers and to her love. May she share with them, and with all of us, the love which enables them to offer their lives every day for Christ and to cooperate with him in the salvation of the world”, the Bishops conclude. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 29/01/2015)

In the year of consecrated life, 3 days of prayer had been conducted in the three Christian traditions: Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican. 

It was with a sense of joy and much enthusiasm that I joined the group of my sisters to participate in the prayer held in the Russian Orthodox church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, here in Rome, on 23rdJanuary. This was organized in relation to the week of “Prayer for Christian Unity”. What urged me was a desire to be in solidarity with another tradition different from the Catholic tradition, believing in our common search for the One God and to experience that PRESENCE calling for respect and communion in diversity.
 
The Church from the outside was huge, yet the inside space for the faithful was too small to hold the crowd that had gathered that day, that we were almost touching one another. The ceremony was very solemn and prayerful with singing and chanting, both in Italian and in Russian. The Priests alone conducted the whole service and we were mostly an “observing presence”. The “holy of holies” which kept us at a distance from the priests reminded me of the Old Testament times. Since this was my first experience of attending an Orthodox prayer, I was happy to have come to know another unique yet different way of liturgy. For me, the most touching moment was when the deep desire within all of us to be one in heart, praying for unity and oneness, burst into words, as the whole congregation, spontaneously joined in praying the “Our Father” together.

on the dramatic situation in the country.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
During these past few days, Kinshasa has been in a state of insufferable siege.  The people are in revolt; some politicians,  together with the police, are sowing seeds of desolation and creating general insecurity.  We condemn these actions which have been the cause of death and passionately launch the following appeal:  Stop killing your people;  do not walk on the ashes of your fellow citizens.   Also,  we disapprove of and condemn all revision of the electoral law which would remove the essential content of article 220 of our constitution and illegally prolong the 2016 elections.
1. We also call on the Minister in charge of the media to restore freedom to all audio – visual media whose signal has been cut off.  Democracy demands pluralism of opinion and thought. It abhors  uniformity of thought.  It is not right that the national television channels give only the opinion of the powerful majority.
2. We call on our people to oppose in legal and peaceful ways every attempt to change the essential laws of the election process of our country and to avoid all looting of private and public goods.
3. We offer our sincere and deep condolences to the families of the victims and we pray for eternal rest for  the dead. May the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady, grant our country lasting peace in justice and truth.
Archbishop’s House, Kinshasa,  20 January, 2015.
+ L. Cardinal MONSENGWO PASINYA
Archbishop of Kinshasa

Hundreds gathered in Mullaitivu tsunami memorial place on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the place.
When a 9.15-magnitude quake opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean on Dec. 26 a decade ago, it triggered a wave as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) which crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries, wiping some communities off the map in seconds.
In memorial on Friday at 8.45 all were gathered with tsunami victims and relatives for the prayer service. There were Hindu priest, Muslim Priest conducted the prayers then followed by Holy Mass. The Priest showed their tribute by placing flowers.
Moving moment…
When the holy mass was over people remained inside the “Tsunami Ninaivalayam” where their dear ones’ names were engraved on the wall. They lighted the candles, incense and garlanded, family members wiped away tears as they placed flowers at their respective walls where their dear ones named are found. Many bursting into tears as poem and song were heard….. 
Inside the Tsunami Ninaivalayam there are pillars on which the names of the 3000 victims, belong to different religions were placed it. The family members and relatives sat together and showed their tribute.
The weeping scene was continued and it was a moving experience.The relative and family members were consoling each other by holding their hand. We the Holy family sisters were with them and we have no words to console them than to be beside them,touching their shoulders.
Still we feel that they need our prayers and soupport and we are with them by our presence. At this juncture with gratitude we rember all those who have hepled our people to come up from this tragedy and to start their life from zero. We are very much grateful  for your contributions.
Jaffna Province