“MARY AND MY LIFE AS A RELIGIOUS FIC BROTHER”

I believe that Mary indeed is the model of my vocation as religious. By her personality, spirituality and virtues she gave birth to religious life and has become an ideal model to emulate. Naturally, religious men and women who have dedicated themselves to live the Christian vocation in the most radical sense find in Mary their mother and model. Mary was the perfect contemplative, totally committed to the one thing necessary (Lk 10:42), yet fully attentive to the needs of others like Elizabeth, the couple at Cana and the disciples praying in the cenacle. Therefore dedicated to the active service of the church and having experienced the tension between the call to communion with God and the demands of ministry, I have in Mary a beautiful model to imitate.

By the profession and practice of evangelical counsels religious bear witness to the kingdom of God already in the present and to be fulfilled in the future. Religious willingly give up precious human goods: the right to possess and dispose of property, the right to establish and enjoy family life, the right of self-determination. Here, the loving faith of Mary makes her a perfect guide to religious life. She is the greatest among the lowly and the poor of the Lord whose trust in him brings abundant harvest. Humanly speaking her virginity seemed to exclude her maternity; yet God made her the mother of the messiah. Her poverty seemed to exclude her son from the Davidic inheritance; but Jesus was the promised son of David. Mary's humble circumstances left little choice but to accept what life brought; but her splendid obedience made her an associate of her son’s work.

For me, I am very convinced that we have the church and are Christians because Mary believed. We are found and have subsequently entrusted ourselves to this special way of life because we have a woman who through faith took to the word of our creator.

In my situation as religious of the day, the personality of Mary is a profound model as I strive to live daily as FIC brother. Her virtues are worthy of emulation for any Christian who enjoys peace, love, obedience, humility, self-emptiness, availability etc. In my life as religious I need to further open my heart to her virtues and let them lead me. As I reflect, I realize that Mary so much connects with any person or group of persons who are willing to accept her. Her total YES to the call of God brought salvation and the salvation of generations to come. She is indeed the first disciple and a trusted one who faithfully followed Christ from birth to Calvary. All these I think were made possible because of her undoubting faith, amidst the challenges of her time. It is therefore binding on me to take Mary in my life seriously and allow her to lead me in my daily life of prayer, apostolate and community life which are core in living the vowed life. 

God created the world out of love. Mary manifests profound love worthy of emulation by consecrated people of all ages. I am also called today to genuinely love people (Rom 12:9). The magnificat is an expression of conscious manifestation of her love for humanity. Her total self-giving also expresses her pilgrimage of faith from Nazareth to Calvary. She becomes a mother of education, faith and love. She is simply a mediator of God’s love for us through her readiness, humility, availability and love for people. Religious life is possible because God is closely at work with us through Mary. 

Bro Nimorious Dery Ganee, Teacher, St. John's Tech Institute/Jubilee School, Nandom (Ghana),