Forms of Consecrated Life

Consecrated Life is like a tree with many branches.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this about the vocation to the Consecrated Life: 

            “The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.” (CCC 916)

On the Feast of the Annunciation in 1996, Pope John Paul II issued an Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata (The Consecrated Life).  In this beautiful document, he introduces the vocation to the Consecrated Life in this way:

The Consecrated Life, deeply rooted in the example and teaching of Christ the Lord, is a gift of God the Father to His Church through the Holy Spirit.  By the profession of the evangelical counsels the characteristic features of Jesus – the chaste, poor, and obedient one – are made constantly “visible” in the midst of the world and the eyes of the faithful are directed towards the mystery of the Kingdom of God already at work in history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven.

In every age there have been men and women who, obedient to the Father’s call and to the prompting of the Spirit, have chosen this special way of following Christ, in order to devote themselves to him with an “undivided” heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:34).  Like the Apostles, they too have left everything behind in order to be with Christ and to put themselves, as he did, at the service of God and their brothers and sisters.  In this way, through the many charisms of spiritual and apostolic life bestowed on them by the Holy Spirit, they have helped to make the mystery and mission of the Church shine forth, and in doing so have contributed to the renewal of society. (VC 1)