Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will host a convocation for the religious of the Diocese Oct. 4 in St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville. The convocation, which will include a keynote speaker, Mass and a luncheon, anticipates both the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council document Perfectae Caritatis and the Year of Consecrated Life to begin this fall.

Sister of St. Joseph Patricia Kelly will serve as the convocation’s keynote speaker. Sister Patricia, a pastoral administrator in St. Andrew Parish, Newtown, Pa., will address the assembly on Perfectae Caritatis, (“Of Perfect Charity”), a document issued by the Second Vatican Council dealing with the institutes on religious life and promulgated Oct. 28, 1965 by Pope Paul VI.

The celebration of Holy Mass will follow, with Bishop O’Connell as principal celebrant and Msgr. Thomas Mullelly, diocesan vicar for clergy and consecrated life, and Trinitarian Father Gerard F. Lynch, administrator, St. Ann Parish, as concelebrants.  

“The Holy Father announced the Year of Consecrated Life, and our Bishop wanted to anticipate it,” said Sister of St. Joseph Rose McDermott, delegate for religious in the diocesan office of clergy and consecrated life. Sister Rose, who estimates that about 310 sisters and 55 brothers serve in the Diocese of Trenton, reported that 90 religious from the diocese have responded to the invitation so far.

“The Year dedicated to consecrated life is a time of grace for all of those living this vocation in the Church,” she continued. “It is a time to reflect on the past in gratitude for one’s vocation and the special charism or gift that drew one to imitate the life of Christ. It is a time to live in the present with passion despite the many crises in the Church and society. Most of all, it is a time to anticipate the future with hope, since Christ continues to call young women and men to imitate his life of poverty, chastity and obedience.”

In 2013, Pope Francis declared that a Year of Consecrated Life (YCL) be celebrated throughout the world. The upcoming YCL, with the theme of “Wake up the World,” will begin on the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30, 2014, and will close on the World Day of Consecrated Life, Feb. 2, 2016.

In response to the Holy Father’s call, the USCCB’s Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations Days collaborated with four religious leadership conferences to create “Days with Religious.” These three days will serve as an opportunity for dioceses, parishes and schools to explore religious life in three ways. A Day of Prayer with Religious is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2015; a Day of Service with Religious for that summer, and an Open House with Religious is slated for Sept. 13, 2015.