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A Jubilee of Light: 150 Years of the SVD and the Gift of Perpetual Vows
Andrés Pico Vellojín, SVD
In this jubilee context, I had the grace of professing my perpetual vows, definitively joining the Congregation. This consecration, celebrated within the anniversary itself, was not a simple coincidence but a providential sign. On the one hand, it united us spiritually with the memory of so many who gave their lives in service of the Gospel across diverse cultures. On the other, it made clear that perpetual vows are part of a greater history that precedes and sends us forth: the history of a charism that, from St. Arnold Janssen until today, has sought to respond with fidelity and creativity to the demands of mission.
The anniversary was also an opportunity to experience in a concrete way the communal dimension of our vocation. The presence of Divine Word Missionaries, lay partners, and parish communities showed that our consecration is not lived in isolation but in communion with the Church and the People of God. I professed my perpetual vows surrounded by the SVD family, who at the same time renewed their own, powerfully expressing that personal commitment finds its deepest meaning within a shared missionary project.
My perpetual profession, providentially united with the jubilee anniversary, invites me to read my vocation in the light of the Congregation’s journey: a memory that inspires gratitude, a present that demands missionary passion, and a future that we embrace with confidence. These 150 years are testimony to God’s faithfulness, and my vows are my trusting response to that fidelity: the offering of my life in poverty, chastity, and obedience as a path of freedom in service to the Kingdom and as a sign of hope in the midst of a wounded world.
That is why I can say that this celebration not only commemorated the fruits of the SVD mission in Colombia and throughout the world, but also renewed within me the certainty that God calls, sends, and accompanies those who give themselves for mission. Today, my consecrated life is definitively united with this history, convinced of the mandate expressed in our jubilee motto: “We are called to be witnesses to the Light for all peoples.” May this jubilee spirit strengthen my fidelity, my availability, and my joy in belonging to a Congregation that, after 150 years, continues to proclaim the Gospel in every culture, to every people, and to every person.
