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: Published: 28 December 2025

: Published: 07 February 2026

Mass celebrates a prophetic witness of peace and justice

CHARLOTTE— Members of religious orders who serve in the Diocese of Charlotte came together Saturday for the annual Consecrated Life Mass offered by Bishop Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv., who also celebrates with them as a religious Conventual Franciscan.

The special Mass offered at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte marked the 30th World Day of Consecrated Life, which was instituted by St. John Paul II in 1997 to honor women and men religious.

Bishop Martin echoed Pope Leo XIV’s sentiments spoken Feb. 2 at St. Peter’s Basilica designating men and women religious as "messengers who announce the presence of the Lord and prepare the way for Him."

Bishop Martin called "the collection" of religious, including himself, an example of “prophetic witnesses of peace and justice” who continue to offer the same message of hope found in the readings about the prophets Isaiah and St. John the Baptist.

“As consecrated men and women, we are here today with purpose, regardless of our age, regardless of our charism of community, regardless of our degrees of fidelity, regardless of our number,” the bishop said.

“The special place of consecrated life has to be held up,” he said. “First and foremost, by us not to imagine ourselves as some appendage in the life of the Church, but rather at the heart of the Church. Calling her to something beyond this moment. Are you up for that?”

The 50 or more religious were up to it, listening as Bishop Martin urged them to live as an expression of justice and peace within their homes, never forgetting the call and zest God placed in them to be Christ-like examples.

“Look in your own residences, convents, communities, rectories,” the bishop said. “Where is the justice and peace emanating, screaming to the world, that this is how it should be?”

“That is the nature of the consecrated life,” he said, garnered through Mass readings from Isaiah 61 and John 15. “To stand, or sit, or tumble through this life. People should look to us and for us to say something that makes them a little uncomfortable but also gives them hope. What is that hope? A mission of justice and peace.”

“The diocese does not need your work,” he said. “It needs the witness of your life. What you bring to the local Church is not what you do but who you are, and that is harder, a lot harder.”

He concluded his homily by encouraging the crowd to “lean into the call” by rediscovering their communities and recommitting to their charisms. Only then can the community be grounded in the rich gift of prophetic witness in the Church, he said.

Five were honored at the event as “jubilarians,” celebrating an anniversary milestone in their lives as consecrated religious.

The jubilarians present were both Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. Father Christopher Kirchgessner celebrated his 50th anniversary and still teaches at Belmont Abbey as a professor of theology. Brother Emmanuel Slobodzian, who came to the order at the age of 54, celebrated his 25th year. He continues to find sheer joy in the way of the Church and living out his vocation day by day.

Although unable to attend, Sister Marian Joseph, a Mercy sister and missionary nurse who spent her youth serving the impoverished communities in Belize, was noted for her 70-year jubilee. Also recognized for her 50^th anniversary was Sister Pat Coward, well known for leadership within the community.

The other Mercy Sisters shared congratulatory words about their sisters at the reception after Mass.

“Pat has been a voice for mercy for several years,” Mercy Sister Carmelita Hagan said. “She is a gift and a leader for our community, and I love her. Marian Joseph is a real witness of spiritual life for me. She spends a lot of time in chapel and prayer.”

The Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey and the Sisters of Mercy have ministered in western North Carolina for more than 100 years.

Sister Janis McQuade of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who serves at St. Stephen Mission in Elkin, was also commended in her absence for her 60 years of consecrated life.

After Mass, everyone convened in the cathedral’s fellowship hall to share a meal and time together, the bishop encouraging them to sit apart from their orders.

While eating, the bishop asked them questions to answer among themselves.

“I think we are all witnesses to our love for God, and the bishop expressed that very eloquently during Mass today,” Mercy Sister Laretta Rivera-Williams said. “But during our conversation today, we were told it was nice to see older religious. It gives the younger sisters something to look up to. Being a senior in this group, I want to cherish that and take it home. So sisters, if you are over 30, know that the younger sisters are looking up to you.”