As you are aware, Pope Francis has dedicated this year to the Consecrated Life. It began on the First Sunday of Advent last year and continues until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord next year, 2016. In September we had a two-day celebration entitled “Living Joyfully”. I write these few words as a greeting and acknowledgement to all those who live the Consecrated Life within this Diocese of Middlesbrough.
According to our website we have 182 religious living and working within the diocese. Without the life and work of religious in our diocese we would be so much the poorer. We need your witness and dedicated ministry, brothers and sisters, in religious communities, apostolic societies and secular institutes. The history of so many of our parishes and indeed the diocese itself, together with its myriad institutions, is intimately entwined with the testimony and dedicated ministry of so many religious communities. Thank you for your witness and presence. They are precious gifts to us and to our world in which there is a dearth of such spiritual treasures. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience are not common commodities these days; but what a sign they give!
In his Apostolic Exhortation, Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope Saint John Paul II encouraged us to “remember the past with gratitude…live the present with enthusiasm…and enter the future with confidence!” This year is an opportunity to remember the past and show our gratitude. But we best honour the accomplishments of those who have served in the Consecrated Life by the lives we lead today – by the commitment we make now to assure that such good works continue with the same creative and exciting spirit that marked their efforts in the beginning.
As Bishop, I would like to invite all the clergy and people of the Diocese of Middlesbrough to give thanks to Almighty God in acknowledging the service and ministry of so many sons and daughters of the Church in Consecrated Life during the last 137 years of our diocesan history. The life of the diocese and our own personal lives are changed for the better because of these dedicated men and women who have committed their lives to the Lord.
During the course of this year we offer our prayers especially for those who have made the commitment to the religious life and all forms of Consecrated Life. With our Holy Father Pope Francis we “entrust this Year of Consecrated Life to Mary, the Virgin of listening and contemplation, the first disciple of her beloved Son. Let us look to her, the highly beloved daughter of the Father, endowed with every gift of grace, as the unsurpassed model for all those who follow Christ in love of God and service to their neighbour.” (Letter on the Year of Consecrated Life, November 21 2014)
Yours in blessed hope,

+Terry