By Fr. Dennis Jose OSFS

The First Chapter deals with the challenges of consecrated life that the consecrated persons face today. It begins with the clarification of the term and the different forms of consecrated life, and directly addresses the challenges that the consecrated life faces. In dealing with the challenges the chapter specially speaks of internal challenges and external challenges. After having dealt with the challenges, this chapter also deals with the crisis in consecratcd life with a special reference to the symptoms and causes of crisis. The motivating force to deal with the challenges and crisis of consecrated life is to identify the possible deviations and thus to realize how meaningful it is to live this way of life with its challenging situations of the time. This awareness carries us to the second chapter.

The second chapter deals with the consecrated life as envisioned by Francis de Sales. The chapter begins with the greatest contribution of Francis de Sales to the Mother Church, namely, the founding father of the Visitation Order. As a pastor and spiritual director he knew well the depth and height of the life of consecration. Later on, chaptcr analyses (the meaning of consecration and the need for the renewal in religious consecration. This chaptcr also focuses on the means to grow in religious consecration and how important it is to grow daily in religious consecration. Thus, the chaptcr brings to us a clear idea of the vision of Francis de Sales on consecrated life and we enter the final chapter seeking to know the significance and the applications of his vision on consecrated life amidst the challenges of consecrated life.

The third chapter brings home to us the practical ways of the materialization of the vision of Francis de Sales on consecrated life in living the religious consecration in the face of the challenges of consecrated life. The motto of Francis de Sales was to ‘Live Jesus.’ Borrowing from his idea ‘Live Jesus’ the third chapter is divided in to three sections such as ‘Having Jesus, Giving Jesus and Living Jesus.’ Thus, we realize that the consecrated life is a life centered on the person of Jesus and it is a life to re-live Jesus in order to be a message and to become a message.