It served as a wonderful reunion but fruitful get-together when all the different Religious Congregations serving in the Archdiocese of Lagos gathered at the Christ the King Catholic Church, Ilasamaja, Lagos, on Thursday 6th of February, to celebrate the 2020 Day for Consecrated Life. The celebration which was shifted from the usual 2nd of February due to Sunday's activities in the various parishes in Lagos Archdiocese was presided over by the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr Alfred Adewale Martins in the presence of the multitude Consecrated persons working in the Archdiocese. Even though the Archbishop celebrated the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Religious, there was still the Rite of Blessing of the Candles to commemorate the Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. However, the readings of the Feast were equally taken. The Archbishop began his homily by appreciating the Consecrated Persons present at the occasion for the noble vocation they have chosen. He thanked the religious for their activities in the archdiocese. The Archbishop reflected on the homily the Holy Father, Pope Francis gave in Rome at the celebration of the 2020 Day for the Consecrated Life. He acknowledged the depth of what the Holy Father said that day. That there were lots of persons in the temple on the day of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple but only Simeon and Anna saw the child Jesus as God and Redeemer. And in so doing Simeon exclaimed that him the servant of the Lord has to go in peace according to the promise of the Lord because Simeon was privileged to see that which matters. However, the religious life is all about seeing only that which matters. Archbishop Martins also stated that the religious sees everything as gifts because our eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. He further said that, Knowing how to see Christ is a special grace that as religious, we need to see God in all things not seeing things as the world would see them because that will make us to be demanding our own space and we would begin to lament as if we are "Frs" or "Sr" Lamentation." Truly, We need to see things as Simeon saw them in the Gospel according to Luke. Simeon sees Jesus as one who is humble as one who came to serve and not to be served. The Archbishop challenged the Religious to learn how to see Jesus in others especially in their various communities. It is actually a grace that every Religious was invited to pray for. He said that the eyes of Simeon saw salvation, the light for the nation which is the light of hope. Archbishop Martins opined that Simeon and Anna were elderly but they did not lose hope, he said that Anna was always in the temple hoping and praying for the redemption of Israel. He equally recognized the mission of the consecrated persons in our society today as very important and cannot be over emphasized. As consecrated persons, the archbishop stated that we have chosen the life of service in order to bring others to the love of God. He rounded up his homily by entrusting all Consecrated persons to the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church. The high point of the celebration was the renewal of commitment to the consecrated life, which was led by the Vicar for Religious in the Archdiocese of Lagos. Before the final blessing by the Archbishop, the religious present at the celebration had a special thanksgiving to God for the gift of the religious life. The celebration was rounded up with entertainment of guests after the Mass whereby the religious had special moment of felicitation....