«Here am I, Lord, to you I come.»
On Friday, August 14, 2020, Brothers Emilio Arriaga, Luis Mauro Pacheco, José Salvador Maldonado, José Brayan Reyes, Matías José Muñoz, Luis Gerardo Sánchez, Arturo Rafael Naranjo and Roberto Valencia, made their first religious profession at the Novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Monterrey.
Paul Lara, L.C., territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ; Fathers Jesús Cardier, Vicente Yanes, Carlos Zanatta and Felipe Rivas, LLCC, participated in the Eucharistic celebration.
«To consecrate myself to God in the Legion of Christ, dedicating my life to the service of the Church and the Pope,» was the response of the eight confreres.
During the homily, Fr. Paul Lara told those present:
«Brothers, seeing you young, joyful, strong, full of enthusiasm, full of life, with a whole future ahead of you, I think a lot of the passage in the Gospel where Christ speaks of that man who, finding a treasure in a field, sells all he has to buy the land, or of that seller of pearls who, finding the most valuable pearl, sells all he has to buy it.
It is really moving to see them, and to see the step they are taking today with their religious profession. To think of all that God our Lord has done to discover for them that treasure for which it is worth selling everything to follow Him.
It is overwhelming to see you and to think that this is precisely what God our Lord has done with you, He has helped you to discover this treasure for which it is worthwhile to leave absolutely everything and follow Him. How impressive to think what God has done to touch the heart of each one of you, to conquer your heart and to make this call to you! A mystery to which God calls you, to be part of the mystery of what He lived, He who calls His apostles to be His intimates, He leads them to experience His love, He makes Himself known, they experience Him, He forms them and launches them so that they too may lead other people to experience the love of Christ and to form apostles. This is the mission to which God has called them and today they are here to say “yes” to Him.
Today we can see in the readings how God acts and how He has been revealing Himself and shaping the heart of each one of you.
In the first reading we see how the Lord speaks and how he calls Samuel. God makes himself present and forms Samuel so that he learns to listen to him. God who is patient with him. Eli who helps Samuel to discover that he is the Lord. This is what he has done with you in your life, God has made himself present, he has wanted to be close, he has spoken to you and has helped you to discover and listen to his voice.
You have had two years in the novitiate to listen attentively to the voice of the Lord and to see what he wanted from you; long hours of prayer, of adoration, to listen to him and, not only that, but also to listen to him in the different circumstances of life, to discover how he speaks to you and what he wanted to tell you and to discover that call for you».
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Paul Lara, L.C. thanked the team of formators and the families of the novices.
Later he said: «They also had help, as Samuel had Eli, in their formators who accompanied them in their spiritual direction, who helped them to discover that voice of God, that call of God. Today we take advantage of this Holy Mass to thank them here, the team of formators, precisely for accompanying them and helping them to discover that voice of God. Likewise, today we thank your parents and your families who are here, who throughout your lives have helped you to discover that voice of God that speaks to us. Thank you also for being part of this family of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, since you have been part of the family since the novitiate and now in a special way after this “yes” that you give to God our Lord publicly before the Church».
The priest continued with a reflection on the second reading: «In the second reading St. Paul says: “I do not mean that I have already achieved this ideal, or that I am already perfect, but I strive to conquer it, because Christ Jesus has conquered me”.
Precisely, we see a radical change in the life of St. Paul when Christ conquers him, when he formally sees Christ and has the experience of Him, he radically changes his life.
Like St. Paul, let us seek to open our hearts to Christ so that he may guide us, inspire us and teach us to see others as he sees them.
Paul concluded by saying: «Let us ask Mary that we may be able to penetrate the love of Jesus and discover that treasure for which it is worth leaving everything to follow him.
The ceremony was attended by some relatives of the professed and the first year novices, taking into account the measures of healthy distance that are lived in the new reality in the face of the pandemic.
