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Shun “temptation of material attachment”: Catholic Bishop in Mozambique to Consecrated

Celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life (WDCL) at Our Lady of Rosary Cathedral of Mozambique’s Beira Archdiocese. Credit: Beira Archdiocese

By João Vissesse

Beira, 08 February, 2024 / 4:47 pm (ACI Africa).

Women and men Religious need to make every effort to free their hearts from worldly attractions if they have to advance the Kingdom of God, Bishop António Manuel Bogaio Constantino has said. 

At Holy Mass of the annual World Day for Consecrated Life (WDCL) at Our Lady of Rosary Cathedral of Mozambique’s Beira Archdiocese, the Auxiliary Bishop the Mozambican Metropolitan See urged women and men Religious to contribute to the advancement of God’s Kingdom.

“Dear brothers and sisters, if we want to be pilgrims of hope, we need to flee from the temptation of material attachment. The mission does not advance with material attachment,” Bishop Bogaio said in his February 4 homily.

He added, “The Lord will bless us when we truly give our lives without material attachment. The mission advances when we too are open to the mission He gives us.”

“The Kingdom advances when we allow Him to guide us, not in individual pride, but in order to harvest the spirituality of the constellation, where the center is the True Light, which is Jesus,” the Mozambican member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) said.

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He emphasized the need for women and men Religious to witness Jesus Christ by their way of life, making Him shine, not only in words, but also “in our daily actions and attitudes.”

“Each one of us must be part of the constellation of the Kingdom of God. So dear Consecrated brothers and sisters, let us renew and be pilgrims of hope,” Bishop Bogaio during Holy Mass for women and men Religious serving in Beira Archdiocese. 

Pope Saint John Paul II instituted the World Day for Consecrated Life in 1997 as an annual observance to be marked on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. For 2024, the event that brings together members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL) was organized under the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope on the Path of Peace".

In his homily, Bishop Bogaio used the image of light to emphasize the need for women and men Religious to make Jesus Christ known, loved, and worshipped. 

“The light of men is only Christ Jesus; there is nothing else. We are not the Light; we have consecrated ourselves to show the Light. This is also important; we are not at the center, at the center is the Light. Our Life is to serve. But we serve the Light,” he emphasized. 

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The Mozambican Catholic Bishop added, “Let us not allow the darkness and gloom of this world to cover the light of your consecration. We are, or have consecrated ourselves, to dispel the darkness as the Master did.”

João Vissesse

João Vissesse is an Angolan Journalist with a passion and rich experience in Catholic Church Communication and Media Apostolate. 

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