On Thursday, 19 October, at the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci, Card. Joâo Braz de Aviz presided over the Eucharist in thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of religious profession in the Company of Mary of Fr. Pier Luigi Nava, Undersecretary of the Dicastery.
Among the concelebrants were His Excellency Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM, newly appointed coadjutor archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, Fr. Yoseph Putra Dwi Darma Watun, SMM, Superior General of the Company of Mary and some Montfortan confreres, religious working at the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Trinitarian religious of the parish of S. Maria delle Grazie. Officials and staff of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life were also present.
In an atmosphere of joy and fraternal sharing Fr. Nava, in the course of his homily, expressed gratitude to the Lord for the call to religious life, a gift of His mercy: “The well-known expression - professio in manibus - I interpret it above all as a profession into the hands of God’s Mercy, hands that clasp our hands as a gesture of affection and welcome. I have touched with my own hands how my faithfulness is nothing but a gift of His Mercy.”
There are many mercies of the Lord with which life is dotted. The Undersecretary retraced the journey so far: the friendships, the meaningful experiences, his “consecration to Jesus Christ Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom through the hands of Mary,” the sometimes steep paths, the free and liberating choice to serve the Lord, and the awareness of being safeguarded by Mary, in her Motherly heart. Fr. Nava addressed her with filial affection, “I hope and pray that the Blessed Virgin Queen of Hearts will still keep my name in her heart.”
At the conclusion of the celebration, the Cardinal Prefect spoke words of gratitude and esteem to Fr. Nava for his dedication and competent service in the Dicastery.