The formation community of Capelinha, in Franca (Brazil), hosted the renewal of religious vows of Friar Randy Josué Campos Porras and Friar Rodrigo Feitosa Linhares, participants in the Order’s Course of immediate preparation for Solemn Profession; the religious belong to the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine. Celebrated on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Eucharist recalled that every consecrated vocation is called to be conformed to Christ and to reflect, in the midst of the world, the beauty of His face.
What does it mean to renew religious vows before Solemn Profession? The celebration experienced in Franca (Brazil) shows how the Transfiguration of the Lord illuminates the path of Consecrated Life and the formation of future Augustinian Recollect religious.
The Transfiguration, icon of Consecrated Life
Within the framework of the Course of immediate preparation for Solemn Profession, the religious Friar Randy Josué Campos Porras and Friar Rodrigo Feitosa Linhares, from the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, renewed their religious vows during the celebration of the Eucharist on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
The celebration took place on August 6 at the formation community of Capelinha, in Franca (Brazil), and was attended by the postulants, the members of the Course, the formation team, and the team accompanying the preparation itinerary for Solemn Profession.
The choice of this date holds deep significance for Consecrated Life. As the apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata recalls, the Transfiguration constitutes an icon of consecrated life, as it reveals the goal of every vocational journey: to let oneself be transformed by grace until one reflects the beauty of the face of Christ in one’s own existence.
A renewed response to God’s call
During the celebration, both religious publicly renewed their consecration and expressed the desire to continue responding to the call received.
During a moment of the Eucharist, they shared that they persevere in Religious Life because they have experienced the love and faithfulness of God. Precisely because they have known a God who is always loyal and faithful, they wish to continue giving Him their entire lives with generosity and trust.
Their testimony became an invitation for the postulants residing in the formation house and for the participants of the Course to interiorly renew their own vocation, to give thanks for the gift of the call received, and to recognize the beauty of the testimony of those who continue to respond, day after day, to the commitment assumed in Religious Life.
Conforming to Christ to make the Gospel transparent
This moment also recalled the essential objective of formation in Augustinian-Recollect Consecrated Life: to be progressively conformed to Christ, acquiring His mind, His heart, and His freedom.
Formation does not only seek to prepare for Solemn Profession, but to foster an ever deeper relationship with Jesus, lived through friendship with Him, so that this communion transforms one’s own heart. Only then can the religious become a reflection of Christ in the midst of the world, making visible, as in the Transfiguration, the beauty of the Gospel through a life dedicated to the service of God and one’s brothers and sisters.
The renewal of vows on the feast of the Transfiguration reminded all those present that the consecrated vocation is a continuous journey of transformation, renewal, and conversion. Contemplating the transfigured Christ impels the religious to let their own lives be shaped by Him so that, with His mind, His heart, and His freedom, they can make the beauty of Jesus’ humanity transparent in the world and become a sign of hope for the Church and for those who seek the face of God.
