Mass for the Perpetual Profession of Sr Mary Hoa of the Eucharist

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at the Carmelite Monastery, Kew,
on Saturday, 16th April, 2005.

Introduction

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

United with her human family and with Sister Teresa O’Loughlin and the Religious family of the Carmelites in this convent, we come in rejoicing as Sister Mary Hoa makes her Profession in Religious Life, conscious of the wonder and richness of God’s love and the invitation to deep intimacy with him, which will be life-giving for her family, her community, the world and herself.

As we celebrate this Mass we reach out to touch the wonder of God entering human hearts.

To prepare those hearts for the Lord, let us call to mind our sins.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we come in joy to accompany Sister Mary Hoa as she makes her Perpetual Profession. Her commitment is one to Jesus Christ. We in the Church rejoice in Sister Mary Hoa acquiring the special relationship, which Jesus in his early life established with some of his disciples. She is called not only to welcome the kingdom of God into her own life, but also to put her life at its service, leaving everything behind and closely imitating his own way of life.

I am grateful to the Hoa family for their readiness to give a daughter and a sister to religious life. Many of the baptised throughout history have been called to live such a life in the image of Christ, which is a special gift of the Spirit. In today’s world, which thinks so much of self, religious consecration is a radical following of Christ.

Today’s Gospel speaks of the unity between the disciple and Christ and Christ with the Father. Every consecrated religious is called to enjoy the intimacy with Jesus surrounded by the splendour of the life of the Trinity and the communion of saints, caught up in the horizon of eternity and yet returning to daily reality when they see Jesus in his divine and human nature.

This day of profession is a decisive moment in Sister Mary’s ministry. It brings the challenge to hear the Father’s call, to listen to Christ, to place all her trust in him, to leave ordinary life and to enter into a special close relationship with him. It is this intimacy which makes possible the total giving of self to chastity, poverty and obedience. It was Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus who said, “The elevator, which must raise me to heaven, is your arms, O Jesus and for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little.”

Our late, loved Pope John Paul II stresses the effect of this consecration when he says, “The first duty of the consecrated life is to make visible the marvels wrought by God in the frail humanity of those who are called.” ( Vita Consecrata, 20 ) And particularly appropriate to the Carmelite life are his further words, “The word comes from silence, affirming the absolute transcendence of God over all created things; in his own flesh he conquers our sin and draws every man and woman to himself, giving to all the new life of the resurrection.” ( Vita Consecrata, 23 )

What is perhaps even more challenging are the words in the following section. “Consecrated persons discover that the more they stand at the foot of the cross of Christ, the more immediately and profoundly they experience the truth of God who is love. It is precisely on the cross that the one, who in death appears to human eyes as disfigured and without beauty, so much so that the bystanders cover their faces, fully reveals the beauty and power of God’s love.”

Dear Sister Mary and dear friends, today we are called to ponder the invitation to God’s love, constant, faithful and ever life giving in the free and joyful dedication of Sister Mary, whom we congratulate on this step as we walk forward courageously and with hope to the witness which her life will provide and to the ever present love of God for us, his people.

Jesus and our loved Holy Father have been taken through the passion to the resurrection and as we pray for peace and repose for the Holy Father we are likewise marvelling at the example of consecrated religious, who reassure the people of today that God is ever present, near and loving and his care extends to the depths of the human heart. The love of Saint Teresa, her simplicity and her invitation to Sister Mary is to be generous and love filled at this moment, as she goes forward to make her profession in our presence.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.