On Friday, August 14, 2020, the Novitiate of Monterrey celebrated a Mass of religious profession where brothers Emilio Arriaga, Luis Mauro Pacheco, José Salvador Maldonado, José Brayan Reyes, Matías José Muñoz, Luis Gerardo Sánchez, Arturo Rafael Naranjo, and Roberto Valencia took their vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity for the first time.
The religious profession ceremony was presided over by Father Paul Lara, LC, territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ for the Monterrey territory; participating in the Eucharistic celebration were Fathers Jesús Cardier, Vicente Yanes, Carlos Zanatta, and Felipe Rivas, LLCC.
“Consecrating 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 brothers.
During the homily, Father Paul Lara said to 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 about the passage from the Gospel where Christ speaks of that man who, upon finding a treasure in a field, sells everything he has to buy the field, or of that merchant of pearls who, upon finding the most valuable one, sells all he has to buy it.
It truly moves to see you, and to see the step you are taking today with your religious profession. To think about all that God our Lord has done to discover that treasure for which it is worth selling everything to follow Him.
It is overwhelming to see you and to think precisely that this is what God our Lord has done with you, He helped you discover this treasure for which it is worth leaving absolutely everything and following Him. How impressive to think about what God has done to touch each of your hearts, to conquer your hearts, and to make this call to you! A mystery to those whom God calls, to be part of the mystery of what He lived, He who calls His apostles to be His intimates, leading them to experience His love, revealing Himself, making them experience Him, shaping them, and sending them out so that they too may lead others to experience the love of Christ and to form apostles. This is the mission to which God has called you, and today you are here to say ‘yes.’
Today we can see in the readings how God acts and how He has been revealing and shaping the hearts of each of you.
In the first reading, we see how the Lord speaks and how He calls Samuel. God who makes Himself present and is shaping Samuel so that he learns to listen. God who is patient with him. Eli who helps Samuel discover that it is the Lord. This is how 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 He has helped you discover and listen to His voice.
You have had two years in the novitiate to attentively listen to the voice of the Lord and see what He wanted from you; long hours of prayer, of adoration, to listen to Him and, not just that, but also to listen to Him in the various circumstances of life, to discover how He speaks to you and what He wants to tell you, to discover that call for yourselves.”
Father Paul Lara, LC, expressed gratitude to the team of formators and to the families of the novices.
He then said: “You also had help like Samuel had with Eli, in your formators who accompanied you in spiritual direction, who helped you 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 you and helping you discover that voice of God. Likewise, today we thank your parents and families who are here, who throughout your lives have helped you discover that voice of God who speaks to us. Thank you also for being part of this family of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, since from the novitiate you are part of the family, and now in a special way after this ‘yes’ you give to God our Lord publicly before the Church.”
The father continued with a reflection on the second reading: “In the second reading, Saint Paul says: ‘Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached my goal, but I press on to take hold of it, because Christ Jesus took hold of me.’
We see a radical change in Saint Paul’s life when Christ conquers him, when he formally sees Christ and experiences Him; his life changes radically.
Like Saint Paul, let us seek to open our hearts to Christ so that He may be the one guiding us, inspiring us, teaching us to see others as He sees them.”
Father Paul concluded by saying: “Let us ask Mary to help us penetrate the love of Jesus and discover that treasure for which it is worth leaving everything to follow Him.”
Some family members of the professed and first-year novices attended the religious profession ceremony, taking into account the health measures of social distancing in the new reality brought about by the pandemic.
