The mystery of consecrated life – the challenges and hopes of our times

A parable, applied to the structure of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium and the essence of the personal consecration, is the key to interpret the mystery of the Church and personal consecration through the profession of the evangelical counsels. The consecration has been presented as a “proper experience”: of the Son of God (Jn 10:36 – hēgiasen kai apesteilen); of the Church (all are consecrated through the baptism and confirmation; some through a new consecration); of a person called to this state. The essence of personal consecration has been defined in three elements: vocatio (verified by the Church); sacrificatio (the response for calling, in the form of giving one’s life to ministry); sanctificatio (a life transformed to appeal in a meaningful way – cf. VC 20). The ideal fulfilled in Christ and in the Church (various historical and new forms) is a challenge for contemporary vocations. The challenge lies in the deformations, crises; the hopes are related to God’s faithfulness, the radicalism of the young (evangelical radicalism) and solid formation