First Religious Profession
[FR]
KIUNGA, Papua New Guinea - On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we had our first profession in the Cathedral of Daru-Kiunga diocese. It was a beautiful and joyful experience for me and my two brothers. As Mary offered her Son Jesus to God, we vowed to a life of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity in the presence of the Delegation Superior, Fr. Aloisius BANGGUR, SMM who represented Father General and the congregation. It was just fitting to celebrate because it was the day of the consecrated life or the religious. For the three of us, this day has marked a very special and significant event in our life as religious brothers. It will never pass without our prayer and reflection on this occasion.
This event will not be possible without the help of our Montfort Associates. They were our companions right from the beginning of our preparation for consecration and first profession. In their meeting with Fr. Roy MILLANO, SMM, they discussed the schedule and the program. They shared contributions and responsibilities among themselves. Some were assigned to cook, others for cleaning and decorating the Church and others were preparing the liturgy for the first profession. The families of Bro. Larouche arrived from the village with a pig and garden food and fruits.
The celebration started at 5pm with the entrance procession dance by our Associates members. The Mass was presided over by Fr. Aloisius BANGGUR, SMM along with Bishop Joseph DURERO, SVD and other priests. Other religious communities also came to witness this occasion. Our families accompanied us in the procession to the altar.
After the Gospel, Fr. Roy called each one of us to the Altar with the response; “Lord, you have called me, here I am!” After this, Fr. Aloisius opened the dialogue with us by asking questions about deepening our consecrated life through Religious Profession. We replied, “Yes, I do” and he concluded with a prayer and proceeded with the profession by which we recited the formula that was given to us. After this, Fr. Aloisius presented to us the constitution of the Company of Mary and the Rosary. Fr. Leo helped to fix the Rosary on our waist. Then the liturgy continued with the prayers of the faithful and the Eucharist.
After the liturgy, a sumptuous banquet followed. During the meal, Bishop Joseph gave an inspiring speech and was followed by Bro. Lucianus of the Brothers of St. Gabriel and the representatives of our family members. In addition, we also had gift presentation and music dance. The celebration was indeed a wonderful grace with the presence of many people, religious and lay alike. Fr. Aloisius, in his remarks, highlighted the history of the Montfortians here in PNG and encouraged us to live by the rules of the congregation, especially according to the vows that we have just professed.
Furthermore, the word that keeps coming to me during the celebration was incarnation. We talked about the Spirituality of Incarnation with Fr. Roshan during the last week of the Montfortian month. It was really a moving reflection that I kept on pondering on it during our consecration and profession. The image of God comes clear to me in the person of Jesus Christ who, as a man, walks, plays, eats, drinks, sleeps, cries, laughs, smiles, prays, works, etc. It was possible only with the “yes” of Mary.
In the mystical body, we are born in the womb of the Church through our baptism. As a child lives and develops inside the womb for nine months, because the child is nurtured in and through the water present inside the womb, so we are cleansed by the waters of baptism and born into a new life of Christ. It is nice to hear baby cries during the ritual of Baptism because it signifies birth of a new life. This mystical body in its pure form is Mary. She is the purest of all creatures who gave birth to Jesus and thus, she is the bodily or the physical form of this mystical body. Our consecration and vows are of higher value than those of the world.
To conclude, I would like to thank my formators, especially Fr. Roy who organized this occasion with the Montfort Associates and friends and made it a meaningful and successful one. Also, I thank Fr. Aloisius, our Delegation Superior, representing the Superior General for accepting our application and presiding over the Mass. I thank our parents, the Montfortian families, benefactors and the countless people whom we met in our formation; for their prayers and kind support that keep us alive and moving on in our journey.
Bro. Godwin DALLE, SMM
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