Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The feast we celebrate today reminds us that for your witness to the Gospel to be truly effective it must stem from an unconditioned response to the initiative of God who consecrated you to Himself with a special act of love”: Pope Benedict XVI said to men and women religious gathered in the Vatican Basilica in the early evening of 2 February to celebrate the 11th Day for Consecrated Life on the feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. After the Eucharistic Concelebration presided by Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Pope Benedict XVI went downstairs to St Peter’s to meet the religious and deliver his address.
The Pope remarked on the widespread desire today to encounter God, particularly among young people. “Those whom God has chosen for the consecrated life - Pope Benedict XVI said - make this spiritual longing their own definitively. In face they have but one desire: the Kingdom of God: that God may reign in our will, in our hearts, in the world. They are filled with a burning thirst for love, which only the Eternal One can satisfy. With their example they proclaim to a world often disorientated, but in actual fact always in search of meaning, that God is the Lord of our existence and his "grace is worth more than life itself". Opting for obedience, poverty and chastity for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven they show that attachment to things and person can never fully satisfy the heart”.
The Holy Father said “consecrated life is total, definitive, unconditioned and enthusiastic response to God” and he thanked God for “for the many religious and consecrated persons in every corner of the earth who continue to offer supreme and faithful witness of love for God and for others, witness not rarely coloured with the blood of martyrdom”. Consecrated life is a gift from God, and it is the Lord who brings it to completion according to his plan: “this certainty should be a source of comfort- the Pope said - to preserve us from the temptation to be discouraged when faced with the inevitable difficulties of life and the many challenges of the modern day. In fact in the difficult times in which we are living, no few Institutes tend to feel somewhat lost because of weaknesses within their communities and the many obstacles encountered as they strive to carry out their mission. The Child Jesus, presented today at the Temple, lives among us and in an invisible way he sustains us that we may cooperate faithfully which Him in the work of salvation, never leaving us alone.”
Referring to the Liturgy of the day, marked by the symbol of light which indicates Christ, the light of the world, the Pope encouraged all men and women religious: “be filled with the flame and let it shine in your lives, that everywhere there may glow a little of the brightness irradiated by Jesus, the splendour of the truth … “In contemplation and activity, in solitude and in fraternity, in service to the poor and the neglected, in personal accompaniment and in the modern forums, be ready to proclaim and witness to God who is Love and how sweet it is to love Him”. May Mary Tota pulchra teach you to communicate to the men and women of today that divine attraction which should shine in your every word and deed”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/2/2007; righe 38, parole 568)
