Q&A: A WAY OF LIFE
What do they mean when they say that Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary is not a devotion, but a way of life? Can I as a religious make this total consecration and still live my own religious life!
Father James McMillan, SMM
Submitted by Sr. V. F., St. Petersburg, Fla.
A Way of Life
It would be more exact to say that this consecration is both: a devotional practice – (the act of consecration) that entails a way of life (the consequent living up to what one promises).
Maybe a comparison would help. When someone is elected to public office, he takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and performs his official duties with honesty and integrity to the best of his / her ability. The oath that he takes brings with it the obligation to live in accordance with what he has promised.
The Montfort consecration works in very much the same way; we offer ourselves completely to Jesus through Mary by the act of consecration and as a result, try to live up to our promise.
There is no opposition at all between your religious life and this form of consecration. You will find, in fact, that your consecration will make you a better religious, as the experience of thousands has shown.
