For the first time the Shalom Community in London will held a consecration in Celibacy for the Kingdom of Heaven of one of its missionary members. It is a special time of graces for the Mission.
Inspired by the diversity and unity within the Holy trinity, the Shalom Catholic Coomunity, established in 1982, is formed by all three ways of life: married couples, priests and celibate people. Each way of life (or form of life) lives its own identity and also the complementarity with the others. Thus, the Community is a family and it mirrors the Trinitarian Life.
Celibacy for the Kingdom of Heaven is one of these ways of life. It is a call to consecrate one’s life entirely in the hands of God and offer Him a particular dedication and service for the sake of the Church and all mankind, especially those who are the least. The Celibate person is a free man or woman who has an exclusive love and an undivided heart. Someone who offers his whole self comprised by his sexuality, affects, body, time, plans, personal projects and also the possibility of a marriage, in order to love more all of those the Lord loves, without attachments, without exclusivity but with a free heart.
Emanuela Cardoso, missionary member of Shalom Community since 1999, have been responsible for Shalom’s London Mission since 2012. She was raised in a Catholic family, have lived in many cities in Brazil and also in the US. At age 13, she experienced a turning point in her life after a colleague from school made a “very annoying and persistent invitation“, as she recalls, to spend the weekend on a religious retreat organised by Shalom Community. Little did she know that this invitation would change her life forever as it was on this retreat that she had a personal experience with the love of God. A few years later she became a missionary of this same community at the yearly age of 18.
“I have been ravished by Jesus’ love and the life He wanted to offer me. I couldn’t resist His call to be only His and to offer my life for those He loves”, she commented on her decision to make a vow of chastity in Celibacy. “There is only gain when the most important decision in your life is Jesus. Am I afraid for not getting married or having my own family? How can I be afraid when the Lord is offering to me His whole family, every man, every woman, every child, every one of those whom He loves and, most of all, Himself as my bridegroom?”, concluded.
Mass and Rite of consecration in Celibacy will be held at St Monica’s Church in Hackney, London, on the 19th of February. The Community extends the invitation to all of those who want to witness this a festive occasion with them. For more details see the invitation herein bellow.
