The group of Consolata Missionaries celebrating their jubilee, who are participating in the second course of ongoing formation in Rome, had a day of retreat this Tuesday, September 2. The retreat was led by Father Peter Nkumbira, a Carmelite religious and professor of Scripture from Malawi.
By Deogratias Makei Mlay *
The course is attended by 14 priests and 1 brother from Africa, Latin America, and Europe, who during this six-year period will celebrate 25 years of priestly ordination and/or religious profession.
The theme of the retreat was “The Word of God as a Guide to Consecrated Life.”
“To be consecrated means to be sanctified and set apart for a mission,” affirmed the preacher. “The first to be consecrated was Jesus himself.” Father Peter Nkumbira emphasized that the participants of Course G25 “are consecrated and set apart for a mission just as Jesus was consecrated and set apart for a mission. The model of discipleship is Jesus Christ himself.”
The biblical scholar, who taught at the National Theological Seminary of St. Peter and now teaches at the Catholic University of Malawi (where religious study philosophy, religious sciences, and the humanities), reminded the group that “the only way to know Jesus is through the Scriptures. There is a direct link between the Word of God and the consecration of his disciples. The foundation of consecrated life is the Word of God. In fact, our charism is the concrete way of living Consecrated Life. Without the Word of God, Consecrated Life becomes very superficial.”
In his reflection, the preacher focused on the relationship between the Word of God and Consecrated Life, basing himself on the Gospel of John, chapter 10. He began with the citation: “The sheep follow him because they know his voice” (Jn 10:4). “This verse shows us that reading and listening to the Word of God helps create a relationship with Him,” he noted.
Father Peter Nkumbira then highlighted the importance of the Word of God in three aspects:
The Word of God as a guide to Consecrated Life.
The Word of God as liberator from the “house of death.”
The Word of God as nourishment, because Jesus is the Bread of Life (Jn 6).
“It is through the Word of God that we encounter Jesus. Without this Word of life, we risk becoming slaves to our fears, to the image we have of ourselves, and to the opinions of others,” the religious said.
After his profound presentation, the preacher left the missionaries with two questions for personal reflection: “Do I make time and have the patience to read the Word of God? What are the challenges or obstacles to reading and listening to the Word of God in my life?”
The participants were invited to rediscover the place of the Word of God in their lives, particularly through meditation and Lectio Divina.
The day of retreat concluded with Holy Mass presided over by Bishop Peter Makau, IMC, bishop of the Diocese of Isiolo in Kenya, who was also in Rome for the course for new bishops organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization. In his homily, Bishop Peter Makau, who has extensive experience of consecrated and missionary life in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Venezuela, where he lived for 15 years, recalled the importance of “taking time to reflect on life and mission after 25 years of ordination and/or religious life in the Institute.” He also invited the participants “to value the spirit of belonging to the congregation and to strengthen community life in order to be true witnesses in the mission.”
By Father Deogratias Makei Mlay, IMC, missionary in Tanzania.
