At 5:30pm (GMT+1) yesterday, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the XX Day of Consecrated Life, the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of a Mass celebrated in the Vatican Basilica with the members of various Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, marking the Jubilee of Consecrated Life and the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life.
Priests belonging to various Orders, Congregations and Religious Institutes concelebrated with the Holy Father.
During the celebration, which began with the blessing of candles and a procession which led to the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope spoke the following homily:
Before our eyes, there is a simple, humble but great truth: Jesus is carried by Mary and Joseph to the temple in Jerusalem. He is a baby like any other, but he is unique: he is the only begotten who came for everyone. This baby brought with him the mercy and tenderness of God: Jesus is the face of the Father's mercy. This is the image that the gospel offers us at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life, a year which has been lived with much enthusiasm. Like a river it flows now into the confluence of the sea of mercy, in the immense mystery of love that we are experiencing during the Extraordinary Year.
Today's feast, especially in the East, is known as the feast of encounter. In effect, in the gospel which has just been proclaimed, we see various encounters (cf Lk 2:22-40). In the temple, Jesus comes to meet us and we go to meet him. Let us contemplate the encounter with the elderly Simeon, who represents the faithful anticipation of Israel and the exultation of the heart for the fulfilment of ancient promises. Let us also admire the meeting with the elderly prophetess Anna, who upon seeing the baby, exults with joy and praises God. Simeon and Anna are both anticipation and prophecy; Jesus is the new and the fulfillment: He presents himself to us as God's perennial surprise; in this child, born for all, we encounter the past, made up of memory and promise, and the future, full of hope.
In this image, we can see the beginnings of consecrated life. Consecrated men and women are called above all to be men and women of encounter. In fact, this vocation is not designed by any effort on our part, conceived of around a table, but by the grace of God who comes to meet us, and this encounter changes our lives. One who truly meets Jesus cannot remain the same as before. He is renewed and renews everything. One who lives this encounter becomes a witness and makes it possible for others to have the same experience; he also becomes an advocate for the culture of encounter, avoiding the natural reflex to close ourselves in upon ourselves.
The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews that we have heard, reminds us that Jesus himself, in order to come to our encounter, did not hesitate to share our human condition: Since the children share blood and flesh, Jesus too, shared in them (Heb 2:14). Jesus did not save us from outside, he did not remain outside of our drama, but wanted to share our life. Consecrated men and women are called to be concrete and prophetic signs of God's closeness to us, of this sharing in the condition of frailty, sinfulness and the woundedness of mankind in order to be in a permanent state of mission, sharing the joys and hopes, the sufferings and anxieties of the men of our times, especially the poor and those who are suffering (Gaudium et spes, 1).
The gospel also says that the father and mother of Jesus were astonished by the were being said about him (Lk 2:33). Joseph and Mary preserve the wonder of this encounter, full of light and hope for all people. We too, as Christians and as consecrated people, are custodians of wonder. A wonder that calls us to be constantly renewed; woe to the habit in the spiritual life, woe to the crystalization of our charisms into abstract doctrine: the charisms of our founders - as I said on other occasions - are not to be sealed in bottles as though they were statues in museums. Our founders were moved by the Spirit and were not afraid to get their hands dirty with daily life, with people's problems as they courageously travelled along the geographic and existential peripheries. They did not allow obstacles to stop them, nor a lack of understanding of others, for they maintained in their hearts a sense of wonder for the encounter with Christ. They did not domesticate the grace of the gospel; in their hearts, they always carried a healthy concern for the Lord, a consuming desire to bring him to others, like Mary and Joseph did in the temple. We too are called today to make prophetic and courageous choices.
Finally, from today's feast, we learn to live in gratitude for the encounter with Jesus and for the gift of our vocation to consecrated life. To thank, to give thanks: Eucharist. How good it is when we meet the joyful face of a consecrated person, perhaps already advanced in years like Simeon or Anna, content and full of gratitude for his or her own vocation. This is a word that can sum up all that we have lived during this Year of Consecrated Life: gratitude for the Holy Spirit's gift, that constantly inspires the Church through various charisms.
The gospel concludes with the expression: The child grew and was strengthened, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him (Lk 2:40). May the Lord Jesus, through the maternal intercession of Mary, grow in us, and increase in each one of us the desire for encounter, and may we keep this gift with the wonder and joy of gratitude. If so, others will be attracted to his light, and will be able to encounter the Father's mercy.
At the conclusion of the Mass, the Holy Father went to the Sagrato of the Vatican Basilica and greeted the religious men and women who were not able to enter into the Basilica and addressed the following words to them:
Dear consecrated brothers and sisters, thank you very much! You have participated in the Eucharist with a bit of freshness in the air! But your hearts are warm!
Thank you for concluding in this way, all together, the Year of Consecrated Life. Keep on moving forward! Every one of you has a place, some work to accomplish in the Church. Please, don't forget the first vocation, the first call. Keep it in your memory! With the love with which you were called, today, the Lord continues to call you. Do not lessen it, do not lessen this beauty, the wonder of the first call. And continue to work. It is good! Continue. There is always something to do. The main thing is to pray. The medal of consecrated life is prayer: pray! You will grow old, but you will age like good wine!
I want to tell you one thing. I am always pleased when I see elderly religious men and women, but with their eyes shining, because they have the fire of the spiritual life within them. It has not gone out, the fire has not gone out! Go on today, every day, continue working and looking toward tomorrow with hope, always asking the Lord to send new vocations, so that our work of consecration will continue. Memory: don't forget your first call! Our work every day is to hope and to continue moving forward, sowing goodness. May others who come after us receive the inheritance we leave to them.
Now, let us pray to Our Lady.
Hail Mary ...
(Blessing)
Good evening and pray for me!
Priests belonging to various Orders, Congregations and Religious Institutes concelebrated with the Holy Father.
During the celebration, which began with the blessing of candles and a procession which led to the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope spoke the following homily:
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the celebration of Mass with members
of Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life
Before our eyes, there is a simple, humble but great truth: Jesus is carried by Mary and Joseph to the temple in Jerusalem. He is a baby like any other, but he is unique: he is the only begotten who came for everyone. This baby brought with him the mercy and tenderness of God: Jesus is the face of the Father's mercy. This is the image that the gospel offers us at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life, a year which has been lived with much enthusiasm. Like a river it flows now into the confluence of the sea of mercy, in the immense mystery of love that we are experiencing during the Extraordinary Year.
Today's feast, especially in the East, is known as the feast of encounter. In effect, in the gospel which has just been proclaimed, we see various encounters (cf Lk 2:22-40). In the temple, Jesus comes to meet us and we go to meet him. Let us contemplate the encounter with the elderly Simeon, who represents the faithful anticipation of Israel and the exultation of the heart for the fulfilment of ancient promises. Let us also admire the meeting with the elderly prophetess Anna, who upon seeing the baby, exults with joy and praises God. Simeon and Anna are both anticipation and prophecy; Jesus is the new and the fulfillment: He presents himself to us as God's perennial surprise; in this child, born for all, we encounter the past, made up of memory and promise, and the future, full of hope.
In this image, we can see the beginnings of consecrated life. Consecrated men and women are called above all to be men and women of encounter. In fact, this vocation is not designed by any effort on our part, conceived of around a table, but by the grace of God who comes to meet us, and this encounter changes our lives. One who truly meets Jesus cannot remain the same as before. He is renewed and renews everything. One who lives this encounter becomes a witness and makes it possible for others to have the same experience; he also becomes an advocate for the culture of encounter, avoiding the natural reflex to close ourselves in upon ourselves.
The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews that we have heard, reminds us that Jesus himself, in order to come to our encounter, did not hesitate to share our human condition: Since the children share blood and flesh, Jesus too, shared in them (Heb 2:14). Jesus did not save us from outside, he did not remain outside of our drama, but wanted to share our life. Consecrated men and women are called to be concrete and prophetic signs of God's closeness to us, of this sharing in the condition of frailty, sinfulness and the woundedness of mankind in order to be in a permanent state of mission, sharing the joys and hopes, the sufferings and anxieties of the men of our times, especially the poor and those who are suffering (Gaudium et spes, 1).
The gospel also says that the father and mother of Jesus were astonished by the were being said about him (Lk 2:33). Joseph and Mary preserve the wonder of this encounter, full of light and hope for all people. We too, as Christians and as consecrated people, are custodians of wonder. A wonder that calls us to be constantly renewed; woe to the habit in the spiritual life, woe to the crystalization of our charisms into abstract doctrine: the charisms of our founders - as I said on other occasions - are not to be sealed in bottles as though they were statues in museums. Our founders were moved by the Spirit and were not afraid to get their hands dirty with daily life, with people's problems as they courageously travelled along the geographic and existential peripheries. They did not allow obstacles to stop them, nor a lack of understanding of others, for they maintained in their hearts a sense of wonder for the encounter with Christ. They did not domesticate the grace of the gospel; in their hearts, they always carried a healthy concern for the Lord, a consuming desire to bring him to others, like Mary and Joseph did in the temple. We too are called today to make prophetic and courageous choices.
Finally, from today's feast, we learn to live in gratitude for the encounter with Jesus and for the gift of our vocation to consecrated life. To thank, to give thanks: Eucharist. How good it is when we meet the joyful face of a consecrated person, perhaps already advanced in years like Simeon or Anna, content and full of gratitude for his or her own vocation. This is a word that can sum up all that we have lived during this Year of Consecrated Life: gratitude for the Holy Spirit's gift, that constantly inspires the Church through various charisms.
The gospel concludes with the expression: The child grew and was strengthened, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him (Lk 2:40). May the Lord Jesus, through the maternal intercession of Mary, grow in us, and increase in each one of us the desire for encounter, and may we keep this gift with the wonder and joy of gratitude. If so, others will be attracted to his light, and will be able to encounter the Father's mercy.
At the conclusion of the Mass, the Holy Father went to the Sagrato of the Vatican Basilica and greeted the religious men and women who were not able to enter into the Basilica and addressed the following words to them:
Dear consecrated brothers and sisters, thank you very much! You have participated in the Eucharist with a bit of freshness in the air! But your hearts are warm!
Thank you for concluding in this way, all together, the Year of Consecrated Life. Keep on moving forward! Every one of you has a place, some work to accomplish in the Church. Please, don't forget the first vocation, the first call. Keep it in your memory! With the love with which you were called, today, the Lord continues to call you. Do not lessen it, do not lessen this beauty, the wonder of the first call. And continue to work. It is good! Continue. There is always something to do. The main thing is to pray. The medal of consecrated life is prayer: pray! You will grow old, but you will age like good wine!
I want to tell you one thing. I am always pleased when I see elderly religious men and women, but with their eyes shining, because they have the fire of the spiritual life within them. It has not gone out, the fire has not gone out! Go on today, every day, continue working and looking toward tomorrow with hope, always asking the Lord to send new vocations, so that our work of consecration will continue. Memory: don't forget your first call! Our work every day is to hope and to continue moving forward, sowing goodness. May others who come after us receive the inheritance we leave to them.
Now, let us pray to Our Lady.
Hail Mary ...
(Blessing)
Good evening and pray for me!
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