Search
Jubilarians celebrate 440 years of service to the Church
-
March 1, 2024The Diocese of Baton Rouge honored seven religious men and women who have a combined total of 440 years of service to the church at a Jubilee and Consecrated Life Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Baton Rouge on Feb. 15.
The Mass was held to commemorate World Consecration Day, which was Feb. 2.
Celebrating jubilees this year are 75 years: Brother Ramon Daunis SC; 65 years: Brother Ray Hebert SC, Paul Montero SC, and Marcus Turcotte SC; 60 years: Sister Judith Brun CSJ and Sister Eileen Rowe FMOL; and 50 years: Brother Harold Harris SC.
In congratulating the jubilarians, Bishop Michael G. Duca, who presided at the Mass, noted there is an efficacy that comes with age and experience.
He pointed out that through times of joy and difficulty, God is always present, defending, guiding, and speaking to the heart.
Top Right Photo: Pictured with Bishop Michael G. Duca, are, front row, from left, Brother Harold Harris SC, Brother Paul Montero SC, Sister Judith Brun CSJ, Brother Ramon Daunis SC, Brother Marcus Turcotte SC, Sister Eileen Rowe FMOL and Brother Ray Hebert SC. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator
Above Photo: Jubilarians hold lit candles as they renew their vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
The most important of all the commitments that religious make is the vow of love, the bishop explained.
“Maybe at first it was a vow of religious life, but more and more it became a love of God, lived out in our world,” he said.
There’s a purification that goes on as the religious break away from idealistic notions, the bishop explained. As highlighted in the Gospel reading of that day, Lk 9: 22 – 25, they “pick up their crosses and follow (Jesus).” Once their hearts are in sync with the Lord, it frees them to talk about the faith and share Christ’s love in the situations they find themselves in and with the people they encounter.
Bishop Duca referred to a phrase someone told him years ago, “A vocation in God is especially a call beyond our own self-understanding.”
While holding blessed candles, symbolizing that people in consecrated life are called to reflect Christ to all peoples, the jubilarians renewed their vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. The bishop then concluded the celebration with words of blessing that God would continue to prosper them and with the commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
With an apparent glow of renewal on their faces, the religious left the church to fellowship as the closing hymn, “City of God,” filled the church.
Brother Paul Montero SC proclaims the first reading at the Jubilee and Consecrated Life Mass.