From Spero News
Six new priests ordained in Sydney and others ordained in Melbourne in 2010; a significant increase in seminarians throughout the country... These are the figures that make up the "miracle that occurred in the Year for Priests," says Fr. Brendan Lane, Rector of Corpus Christi Seminary in Melbourne, noting that the phenomenon goes against the trend of decline in vocations and priestly ordinations in recent years. "Twenty years ago, we may have thought we were headed into extinction," he said, but now the prospects are quite different.
The Australian Church is experiencing this moment of joy that offers new hope for the future. The Catholic community in Sydney is preparing for the ordination ceremony for six new priests, which will coincide with the closing of the Year for Priests, Friday, June 11 at Saint Mary's Cathedral, presided by Cardinal George Pell. The Archdiocese also has 63 seminarians, a significant increase considering that in 2000 there were only 17.
Six new priests will be ordained in Melbourne, home to more than 50 seminarians from the states of Victoria and Tasmania. In Brisbane, where a new seminary was built in 2008, the number of seminarians has doubled in two years, from 16 to 32 today. The same phenomenon is noted in the Seminary of Wagga Wagga (which houses 20 students) and in the two existing seminaries in Perth (with around 40 students).
The figures show great hope for the future of the Church. "Confronted by a postmodern world lacking in beliefs and values, many young people are seeking something solid and I would like to think they find it in the Catholic faith," said the rector of Sydney's Good Shepherd seminary, Father Anthony Percy. "I also think Pope John Paul II and the World Youth Days inspired this generation," he said.
Showing posts with label Pope John Paul II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope John Paul II. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"Apostolic Nuncio Speaks on Vocations"
From The National Catholic RegisterPosted by Tim Drake
This morning Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., gave a historic address to the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors gathered for their annual convention in East Rutherford, N.J. Archbishop Sambi had several stirring things to say to the nation’s vocation directors.
“The enemy of every vocation is selfishness,” Archbishop Sambi told the group. He quoted at length from Pope John Paul II’s book Gift and Mystery.
In an interesting comparison, Archbishop Sambi compared the post-sexual abuse-crisis priesthood to that of post-Nazi-occupied Poland. He spoke about how Karol Wojtyla’s witnessing so many priests being arrested and deported impacted the future Pope’s priestly vocation.
“As the Pope was encouraged by the many priests brought to concentration camps, you should be pushed by the fact that many priests have abandoned their mission,” said Archbishop Sambi. “We are in a poverty of priests, but are coming on a New Springtime in which there will be more priests, and of a better quality.”
Given that it’s the Year for Priests in honor of St. John Marie Vianney, Archbishop Sambi then posed a hypothetical question to all of the vocation directors.
“If St. John Vianney came to you today as a prospective seminarian, would you help him in his vocation?” Archbishop Sambi asked.
He then presented two scenarios for how a vocation director might respond.
In the first scenario, the vocation director describes an older, dedicated, devout individual with a rural upbringing who is behind in his studies, but knows the faith because of the example of his family. He doesn’t grasp Latin well, but has a real sense of sacrifice. Other priests support him and see his vocation as authentic.
In the second scenario, the vocation director describes an individual with long hair and a provincial faith, who is focused on the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament and is described as perhaps being too Eucharistic and too much into the cult of Mary. He describes the priest as speaking of being available for confession, but the vocation director questions, “Really, who goes any more?” Finally, the vocation director says that the candidate sounds a bit old Church, so the director says he’s probably suited to a more traditional order and says, “No, thank you.”
Those gathered shared a good laugh over the descriptions, but it was an effective exercise in getting vocation directors to think about what’s important. Archbishop Sambi urged caution in dealing with prospective candidates because “one of them could be a future saint.”
Monday, February 23, 2009
"Heeding call to priesthood DON'T AWAIT DIVINE E-MAIL"
From Fredericksburg.com
BY Amy Flowers Umble
As a young adult, Keith Cummings felt God calling him to become a Catholic priest.
He responded by leaving the church.
"It was a radical way of life, and one that I was not ready to embrace," Cummings said.
Overwhelmingly, young Catholic men are turning away from the priesthood.
The number of American priests began dropping in the late 1970s and has declined ever since, creating a priest shortage in the country, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
Religious scholars and the Vatican offer a number of reasons for the decline: smaller Catholic family sizes, a tarnished image of Catholic clergy following sex-abuse scandals, a cultural shift in American priorities and the celibacy requirement.
But the impact is pretty similar. Parishes often struggle without priests. Some share clergy. Some shut down.
But this isn't much of a problem in the Arlington Diocese of the Catholic Church, which extends from Northern Virginia through Spotsylvania County. In fact, while nationally the priesthood has declined, the diocese has had a growing number of priests since its formation in 1974.
Now, more than 160 diocesan priests serve in 68 parishes. The number is adequate, but if more priests came on board, the diocese could open more parishes for the growing Catholic population.
With that goal, the diocese has an active vocations program to help those who, like Cummings, may feel a calling but hesitate to take the leap of faith.
Over the course of 20 years, Cummings came back to the church occasionally. In 2005, after the death of his mother, he began attending Mass several times a week. He knew he would probably end up a priest.
Still, Cummings--who worked as a computer scientist in King George County--doubted his worthiness. Priests, he thought, were a lot like the saints: extremely holy.
He brought his concern to the Rev. Brian Bachista, vocations director for the Arlington Diocese. It's a common worry.
"What we say off the bat is that you're not worthy enough, and you're not holy enough. There are no perfect priests," Bachista said. "We're all called to be faithful Christians and the reason one explores the priesthood is not their level of holiness but because they believe this is what God created them for."
On Easter 2006, Cummings said he definitely felt God calling him to be a priest with a very strong, peaceful feeling.
It took nearly a year to apply to seminary. The proc-ess involves a 38-page application, eight letters of reference, a criminal background check, a psychological evaluation, two essays and a 10-page biography.
"The process is similar to applying to a college, with a much more detailed analysis on our personalities and spirituality," said Jason Burchell, a Courtland High School graduate studying to be a priest.
The application is long and difficult, but Cummings said he understood.
"The church takes very seriously the problems of the past," he said.
The process weeds out the majority of applicants, Bachista said. They are not asked to continue to seminary if they've committed any sexual abuse or if they have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, he said. Also, anyone who comes to the priesthood immediately after a job loss or breakup is asked to wait a year.
After making it through the screening process, potential priests enter seminary. The diocese sends priests to one of six seminaries. Cummings attends a Massachusetts seminary, geared toward older men. Burchell, 29, attends one in Maryland.
For most men who, like Cummings and Burchell, already have college degrees, it takes about six years of study to become a priest. The diocese pays the $30,000 annual tuition. About 75 percent of those with degrees will go on to become priests. About 50 percent of those without college degrees will finish. Those who become priests serve in the sponsoring diocese.
Most of the 33 men now studying to become priests first finished college and had another career. The trend, Bachista said, has been for older men to enter the priesthood.
But he sees that changing and attributes it to Pope John Paul II's outreach to youth.
Burchell said that many of his generation felt closer to the recent pope and this, in turn, changed them from a "me-first" generation to one prepared to serve.
The sacrifices of the priesthood are great, he and Cummings said. Even now, they spend much of their time in class, teaching and and serving. And in the future, they expect to work hard as priests.
"All of our life is a balancing act between the sacrifices we make and the compensations we get from those sacrifices," Cummings said. "This is a radical sacrifice but we are compensated by Christ himself."
BY Amy Flowers Umble
As a young adult, Keith Cummings felt God calling him to become a Catholic priest.
He responded by leaving the church.
"It was a radical way of life, and one that I was not ready to embrace," Cummings said.
Overwhelmingly, young Catholic men are turning away from the priesthood.
The number of American priests began dropping in the late 1970s and has declined ever since, creating a priest shortage in the country, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
Religious scholars and the Vatican offer a number of reasons for the decline: smaller Catholic family sizes, a tarnished image of Catholic clergy following sex-abuse scandals, a cultural shift in American priorities and the celibacy requirement.
But the impact is pretty similar. Parishes often struggle without priests. Some share clergy. Some shut down.
But this isn't much of a problem in the Arlington Diocese of the Catholic Church, which extends from Northern Virginia through Spotsylvania County. In fact, while nationally the priesthood has declined, the diocese has had a growing number of priests since its formation in 1974.
Now, more than 160 diocesan priests serve in 68 parishes. The number is adequate, but if more priests came on board, the diocese could open more parishes for the growing Catholic population.
With that goal, the diocese has an active vocations program to help those who, like Cummings, may feel a calling but hesitate to take the leap of faith.
Over the course of 20 years, Cummings came back to the church occasionally. In 2005, after the death of his mother, he began attending Mass several times a week. He knew he would probably end up a priest.
Still, Cummings--who worked as a computer scientist in King George County--doubted his worthiness. Priests, he thought, were a lot like the saints: extremely holy.
He brought his concern to the Rev. Brian Bachista, vocations director for the Arlington Diocese. It's a common worry.
"What we say off the bat is that you're not worthy enough, and you're not holy enough. There are no perfect priests," Bachista said. "We're all called to be faithful Christians and the reason one explores the priesthood is not their level of holiness but because they believe this is what God created them for."
On Easter 2006, Cummings said he definitely felt God calling him to be a priest with a very strong, peaceful feeling.
It took nearly a year to apply to seminary. The proc-ess involves a 38-page application, eight letters of reference, a criminal background check, a psychological evaluation, two essays and a 10-page biography.
"The process is similar to applying to a college, with a much more detailed analysis on our personalities and spirituality," said Jason Burchell, a Courtland High School graduate studying to be a priest.
The application is long and difficult, but Cummings said he understood.
"The church takes very seriously the problems of the past," he said.
The process weeds out the majority of applicants, Bachista said. They are not asked to continue to seminary if they've committed any sexual abuse or if they have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, he said. Also, anyone who comes to the priesthood immediately after a job loss or breakup is asked to wait a year.
After making it through the screening process, potential priests enter seminary. The diocese sends priests to one of six seminaries. Cummings attends a Massachusetts seminary, geared toward older men. Burchell, 29, attends one in Maryland.
For most men who, like Cummings and Burchell, already have college degrees, it takes about six years of study to become a priest. The diocese pays the $30,000 annual tuition. About 75 percent of those with degrees will go on to become priests. About 50 percent of those without college degrees will finish. Those who become priests serve in the sponsoring diocese.
Most of the 33 men now studying to become priests first finished college and had another career. The trend, Bachista said, has been for older men to enter the priesthood.
But he sees that changing and attributes it to Pope John Paul II's outreach to youth.
Burchell said that many of his generation felt closer to the recent pope and this, in turn, changed them from a "me-first" generation to one prepared to serve.
The sacrifices of the priesthood are great, he and Cummings said. Even now, they spend much of their time in class, teaching and and serving. And in the future, they expect to work hard as priests.
"All of our life is a balancing act between the sacrifices we make and the compensations we get from those sacrifices," Cummings said. "This is a radical sacrifice but we are compensated by Christ himself."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
"Prayer Is the Answer to the Vocation Shortage"
From the General Audience of His Holiness Pope John Paul II on October 19, 1994"In discussing the foundation of consecrated life on the part of Jesus Christ, we mentioned the calls he extended from the beginning of his public life, generally expressed in the words: "Follow me." Jesus' care in making these appeals shows the importance he attributed to Gospel discipleship for the life of the Church. He linked that discipleship with the "counsels" of consecrated life, which he desired for his disciples as that conformation to himself which is the heart of gospel holiness (cf. Veritatis Splendor 21). In fact, history confirms that consecrated persons--priests, men and women religious, members of other institutes and similar movements--have played an essential role in the Church's expansion, as they have in her growth in holiness and love.
In the Church today, vocations to religious life have no less importance than in centuries past. Unfortunately, in many places we see that their number is insufficient for meeting the needs of communities and their apostolate. It is no exaggeration to say that for some institutes this problem has become critical, to the point of threatening their survival. Even without wishing to share the dire predictions for the not-too-distant future, it is already apparent today that, for lack of members, some communities are forced to give up works usually destined to produce abundant spiritual fruit. More generally, fewer vocations lead to a decline in the Church's active presence in society, with considerable losses in every field.
The present vocation shortage in some parts of the world is a challenge to be met with determination and courage. It is certain that Jesus Christ, who during his earthly life called many to consecrated life, is still doing so in today's world and often receives a generous, positive response, as daily experience proves. Knowing the Church's needs, he continues to extend the invitation, "Follow me," especially to young people, whom his grace makes responsive to the ideal of a life of total dedication.
In addition, the lack of workers for God's harvest was already a challenge in gospel times for Jesus himself. His example teaches us that the shortage of consecrated persons is a situation inherent in the world's condition and not only an accidental fact due to contemporary circumstances. The Gospel tells us that as he roamed through towns and villages, Jesus was moved with pity for the crowds which "were lying prostrate from exhaustion, like sheep without a shepherd" (Mt 9:36). He tried to remedy that situation by teaching them at great length (cf. Mk 6:34), but he wanted the disciples to join him in solving the problem. So he invited them, first of all, to pray: "Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his harvest" (Mt 9:38). According to the context, this prayer was intended to provide people with a greater number of pastors. However, the expression "laborers for the harvest" can have a wider application, indicating everyone who works for the Church's growth. The prayer, then, also seeks to obtain a greater number of consecrated persons.
The stress put on prayer is surprising. Given God's sovereign initiative in calling, we might think that only the harvest master, independently of other intervention or cooperation, should provide a sufficient number of workers. On the contrary, Jesus insisted on the cooperation and responsibility of his followers. He also teaches us today that with prayer we can and must influence the number of vocations. The Father welcomes this prayer because he wants it and expects it, and he himself makes it effective. Whenever and wherever the vocation crisis is more serious, this prayer is all the more necessary. But it must rise to heaven in every time and place. In this area the whole Church and every Christian always have a responsibility.
This prayer must be joined to efforts to encourage an increase in the responses to the divine call. Here too we find the prime example in the Gospel. After his first contact with Jesus, Andrew brought his brother Simon to him (cf. Jn 1:42). Certainly, Jesus showed himself sovereign in his call to Simon, but on his own initiative Andrew played a decisive role in Simon's meeting with the Master. "In a way this is the heart of all the Church's pastoral work on behalf of vocations" (PDV 38).
Encouraging vocations can come from personal initiative, like Andrew's, or from collective efforts, as is done in many dioceses that have developed a vocation apostolate. This promotion of vocations does not at all aim at restricting the individual's freedom of choice regarding the direction of his own life. Therefore, this promotion avoids putting any kind of constraint or pressure on each person's decision. But it seeks to shed light on everyone's choice and to show each individual, in particular, the way opened in his or her life by the Gospel's "Follow me." Young people especially need and have a right to receive this light. On the other hand, the seeds of a vocation, especially in young people, must certainly be cultivated and strengthened. Vocations must develop and grow, which usually does not occur unless conditions favorable to this development and growth are guaranteed. This is the purpose of institutions for vocations and the various programs, meetings, retreats, prayer groups, etc., that promote the work of vocations. One can never do enough in the vocations apostolate, even though every human initiative must always be based on the conviction that, in the end, each person's vocation depends on God's sovereign decision.
A basic form of cooperation is the witness of consecrated persons themselves, which exercises a healthy, effective attraction. Experience shows that often the example of a man or woman religious has a decisive impact on the direction of a young personality which has been able to discover in that fidelity, integrity and joy the concrete example of an ideal way to live. In particular, religious communities can only attract young people by a collective witness of authentic consecration, lived in the joy of self-giving to Christ and to their brothers and sisters.
Lastly, the importance of the family should be stressed as the Christian environment in which vocations can develop and grow. Once again I invite Christian parents to pray that Christ will call one of their children to the consecrated life. The task of Christian parents is to form a family in which Gospel values are honored, cultivated and lived, and where an authentic Christian life can elevate the aspirations of the young. Because of these families the Church will continue to produce vocations. Therefore, she asks families to collaborate in answering the harvest master, who wants us all to be committed to sending new "laborers into the harvest."
Saturday, July 26, 2008
"Why cannot women be ordained?"
From The Pilot (Boston)by Dale O'Leary
The Catholic Church has never ordained women to the priesthood and never will. However, with all the changes in the roles of women in the world, it is not surprising that some asked: Is the Church’s restriction of the priesthood to men ordained by God or merely an accommodation to culture?
In his letter on the dignity and vocation of women, John Paul II explained the reason for this practice:
“Since Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, linked it in such an explicit way to the priestly service of the Apostles, it is legitimate to conclude that he thereby wished to express the relationship between man and woman, between what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine.’ It is a relationship willed by God both in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of Redemption. It is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ the Bridegroom towards the Church the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts ‘in persona Christi,’ is performed by a man.”
The priesthood isn’t a job. The priest is a sign of Christ the bridegroom. The Church is the bride. This just doesn’t work if the priest is a woman. The Eucharist must be wheat bread and grape wine, not rice cakes and orange juice. The matter matters. So it is with ordination.
The question that should be asked is: Why do some women want to be the bridegroom when they are called to be the bride?
Some women view any social recognition of sex difference as unjust discrimination. They have been influenced by postmodernist/social deconstructionist professors who argue, in spite of the undeniable scientific evidence to the contrary, that the differences between men and women are not natural, but artificial social constructions that can and should be eliminated. While narrow or demeaning stereotypes, which limit women’s participation in society, should be eliminated, the natural differences between men and women are part of the goodness of creation and cannot be wished away. Church teaching is rooted in reality. She defends the rights and equality of women, but also appropriate recognition of differences between men and women.
Woman is called to be a sign of the Church no matter her state in life--as virgin waiting for the bridegroom, as bride a sign of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, or as mother nurturing new life. This is a wonderful vocation. Women can achieve their full dignity without imitating men.
In addition to the denial of the natural goodness of sex difference, those pushing for the ordination of women have a warped idea of power. They see the priesthood as a position of power and believe that if women were ordained that they would be able to change Church teaching on other issues. This shows their total lack of understanding of what it means to be Catholic. The leaders of the Church do not have the power to change the teachings handed down to them. To be Catholic is to believe that God reveals his will to his people and protects the Church from error.
Over the centuries, controversies have arisen. The debates have been heated, but in the end, the truth emerged and became part of the unchangeable treasury of the faith.
In his apostolic letter on reserving priestly ordination to men alone (May 1994), Pope John Paul II sought to eliminate any confusion over this issue:
“...in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
John Paul II doesn’t say it is his opinion, but that he has “no authority’ to change what has been handed down to him.
In an age where everything is challenged, where rebellion is praised, where people build on the sand of opinion and ideology, it is good to belong to a Church that is built on a rock. It is good to know that God loves us so much that he has revealed the truth to us and will protect us no matter how far from truth our culture strays. Those women who have mocked God by pretending to be ordained have built on sand and what they have constructed will be washed away, like sand castles that crumble as the tide sweeps over the beach.
Dale O’Leary is the author of “The Gender Agenda” and “One Man, One Woman.”
In his letter on the dignity and vocation of women, John Paul II explained the reason for this practice:
“Since Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, linked it in such an explicit way to the priestly service of the Apostles, it is legitimate to conclude that he thereby wished to express the relationship between man and woman, between what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine.’ It is a relationship willed by God both in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of Redemption. It is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ the Bridegroom towards the Church the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts ‘in persona Christi,’ is performed by a man.”
The priesthood isn’t a job. The priest is a sign of Christ the bridegroom. The Church is the bride. This just doesn’t work if the priest is a woman. The Eucharist must be wheat bread and grape wine, not rice cakes and orange juice. The matter matters. So it is with ordination.
The question that should be asked is: Why do some women want to be the bridegroom when they are called to be the bride?
Some women view any social recognition of sex difference as unjust discrimination. They have been influenced by postmodernist/social deconstructionist professors who argue, in spite of the undeniable scientific evidence to the contrary, that the differences between men and women are not natural, but artificial social constructions that can and should be eliminated. While narrow or demeaning stereotypes, which limit women’s participation in society, should be eliminated, the natural differences between men and women are part of the goodness of creation and cannot be wished away. Church teaching is rooted in reality. She defends the rights and equality of women, but also appropriate recognition of differences between men and women.
Woman is called to be a sign of the Church no matter her state in life--as virgin waiting for the bridegroom, as bride a sign of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, or as mother nurturing new life. This is a wonderful vocation. Women can achieve their full dignity without imitating men.
In addition to the denial of the natural goodness of sex difference, those pushing for the ordination of women have a warped idea of power. They see the priesthood as a position of power and believe that if women were ordained that they would be able to change Church teaching on other issues. This shows their total lack of understanding of what it means to be Catholic. The leaders of the Church do not have the power to change the teachings handed down to them. To be Catholic is to believe that God reveals his will to his people and protects the Church from error.
Over the centuries, controversies have arisen. The debates have been heated, but in the end, the truth emerged and became part of the unchangeable treasury of the faith.
In his apostolic letter on reserving priestly ordination to men alone (May 1994), Pope John Paul II sought to eliminate any confusion over this issue:
“...in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
John Paul II doesn’t say it is his opinion, but that he has “no authority’ to change what has been handed down to him.
In an age where everything is challenged, where rebellion is praised, where people build on the sand of opinion and ideology, it is good to belong to a Church that is built on a rock. It is good to know that God loves us so much that he has revealed the truth to us and will protect us no matter how far from truth our culture strays. Those women who have mocked God by pretending to be ordained have built on sand and what they have constructed will be washed away, like sand castles that crumble as the tide sweeps over the beach.
Dale O’Leary is the author of “The Gender Agenda” and “One Man, One Woman.”
"Fraternity founded by Pope John Paul II"
From the B.C. CatholicBy Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo
The origin of the Societies of Apostolic Life (one of which is the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter) lie in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the establishment of the Oratorians by St. Philip Neri, and the Daughters of Charity by St. Vincent de Paul, who resisted efforts to organize them as a religious orders.
We must thank the New Code that makes these societies similar to, yet distinct from, the institutes of consecrated life.
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the followers of the traditional Latin rite of the Mass were jubilant when, on March 23, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in his own diocese of Rome entrusted them with the stately church of the Most Holy Trinity as a personal parish.
This was not only a source of joy for friends of the fraternity but also a relief, since their former quarters of San Gregorio dei Muratori in Rome were too small for the large crowds that gathered for many of their liturgical events.
On Easter Sunday the Pope decreed the establishment of the parish "in order to warrant proper pastoral care for the entire community of traditional faithful residing in the same diocese."
This is a milestone for the fraternity. It is not only the 10th parish that has been established as a full personal parish, but it is also the first in Europe.
On May 7, shortly after the official announcement, Father Joseph Kramer of the Fraternity of St. Peter was named the first pastor of this personal parish. He explained that the apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter had been started in Rome in 1988 under the auspices of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, with papal approval. Today there are 200 priests of the fraternity in dioceses all over the world serving the faithful who are attached to the Traditional Mass in Latin.
Speaking of what the new parish would mean to the fraternity, Father Kramer first acknowledged that it was not only "a great sign of trust on the part of the diocese of the Holy Father, but it also involved great responsibility, because Rome has always been an example to the rest of the Church."
When asked about continuing tradition, he answered: "St. Philip [parish] seems to have been the first to begin the Forty Hours Devotion here in Rome, and we will certainly continue that tradition."
Holy Trinity Church was built in 1597 in the wake of the Tridentine liturgical reform. Numerous features make the church ideal for the fraternity: "The visibility of the altar and the raised, large, well-lit sanctuary with the broad altar rail. While there are eight side chapels, there are no side aisles, and everything focusses on the main high altar."
A most interesting fact about the fraternity is that its founder was Pope John Paul II himself, when he proclaimed his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, defending the purity of the liturgical tradition of the Mass while at the same time condemning the schismatic actions of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
He established the so-called Priestly Confraternity of St. Pius X in Switzerland to train priests in pre-conciliar Catholicism. The Pope declared him ipso facto excommunicated for consecrating four bishops without the necessary papal mandate.
As the Pope had foreseen it, many priests and seminarians left the schismatic movement in order to reconcile with the Holy Father. They realized that union with the Successor of St. Peter and the living Magisterium of the Church are not optional. A seminary was first established in Wigratzbad, Germany, a second in Denton, Neb.
According to the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of Pope John Paul II, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter now takes care "of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition to whom respect must be shown to use the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962."
In his recent Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the importance of preserving the Latin Mass.
Perhaps the circumstances of the foundation are symbolized in the fraternity's coat of arms: the keys of St. Peter on a blue background, and three tear drops, recalling Peter's denial and his return.
Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, established on June 30 Holy Family Parish in Vancouver as a personal parish for the use of the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962. Its pastor is Father Erik Deprey, FSSP.
The origin of the Societies of Apostolic Life (one of which is the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter) lie in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the establishment of the Oratorians by St. Philip Neri, and the Daughters of Charity by St. Vincent de Paul, who resisted efforts to organize them as a religious orders.
We must thank the New Code that makes these societies similar to, yet distinct from, the institutes of consecrated life.
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the followers of the traditional Latin rite of the Mass were jubilant when, on March 23, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in his own diocese of Rome entrusted them with the stately church of the Most Holy Trinity as a personal parish.
This was not only a source of joy for friends of the fraternity but also a relief, since their former quarters of San Gregorio dei Muratori in Rome were too small for the large crowds that gathered for many of their liturgical events.
On Easter Sunday the Pope decreed the establishment of the parish "in order to warrant proper pastoral care for the entire community of traditional faithful residing in the same diocese."
This is a milestone for the fraternity. It is not only the 10th parish that has been established as a full personal parish, but it is also the first in Europe.
On May 7, shortly after the official announcement, Father Joseph Kramer of the Fraternity of St. Peter was named the first pastor of this personal parish. He explained that the apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter had been started in Rome in 1988 under the auspices of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, with papal approval. Today there are 200 priests of the fraternity in dioceses all over the world serving the faithful who are attached to the Traditional Mass in Latin.
Speaking of what the new parish would mean to the fraternity, Father Kramer first acknowledged that it was not only "a great sign of trust on the part of the diocese of the Holy Father, but it also involved great responsibility, because Rome has always been an example to the rest of the Church."
When asked about continuing tradition, he answered: "St. Philip [parish] seems to have been the first to begin the Forty Hours Devotion here in Rome, and we will certainly continue that tradition."
Holy Trinity Church was built in 1597 in the wake of the Tridentine liturgical reform. Numerous features make the church ideal for the fraternity: "The visibility of the altar and the raised, large, well-lit sanctuary with the broad altar rail. While there are eight side chapels, there are no side aisles, and everything focusses on the main high altar."
A most interesting fact about the fraternity is that its founder was Pope John Paul II himself, when he proclaimed his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, defending the purity of the liturgical tradition of the Mass while at the same time condemning the schismatic actions of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
He established the so-called Priestly Confraternity of St. Pius X in Switzerland to train priests in pre-conciliar Catholicism. The Pope declared him ipso facto excommunicated for consecrating four bishops without the necessary papal mandate.
As the Pope had foreseen it, many priests and seminarians left the schismatic movement in order to reconcile with the Holy Father. They realized that union with the Successor of St. Peter and the living Magisterium of the Church are not optional. A seminary was first established in Wigratzbad, Germany, a second in Denton, Neb.
According to the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of Pope John Paul II, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter now takes care "of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition to whom respect must be shown to use the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962."
In his recent Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the importance of preserving the Latin Mass.
Perhaps the circumstances of the foundation are symbolized in the fraternity's coat of arms: the keys of St. Peter on a blue background, and three tear drops, recalling Peter's denial and his return.
Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, established on June 30 Holy Family Parish in Vancouver as a personal parish for the use of the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962. Its pastor is Father Erik Deprey, FSSP.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Pope John Paul II inspires local man to "go for it"
From The Sault Star - Ontario, CAIf Vince Fiore had any doubts that he was being called to the priesthood, they ended when he saw Pope John Paul at World Youth Day in 2002.
The Sault Ste. Marie man attended a papal mass at Downsview Park, in Toronto’s north end. An estimated 800,000 people were there, but the St. Mary’s College graduate felt the Holy Father directed his homily straight at his heart.
“Do not be afraid to follow Christ on the royal road of the cross,” he said.
That’s all Fiore needed to hear.
“I thought, ‘All right, no more hesitating. I’m going to go for it,’” he said.
“Now here I am.”
Jean-Louis Plouffe, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie, will ordain Fiore on Friday at St. Gregory’s Catholic church.
Fiore, 35, is the first Sault man to be ordained in more than a decade.
“It is my way of saying, ‘I love you, Jesus. I am totally yours,’” said Fiore.
“Becoming a priest is an expression of my love for the one who spared nothing by laying down his own life for love of me.”
His interest in religious life is long-standing. The oldest child of Agostino and Linda Fiore remembers ‘playing mass’ in his room as a youngster.
By the time he was a teenager, Fiore considered “the more popular expectation” of getting a job, marrying and starting a family.
He studied business at Lake Superior State University and University of Windsor for three years, thinking he’d become an entrepreneur and open his own business. But his choice of study wasn’t for him.
Fiore returned to Sault Ste. Marie and worked at Algoma Steel for about four years. By his mid-20s, he started to “ask the deeper questions in life.” Fiore returned to University of Windsor and graduated with a philosophy degree.
He worked as a support services worker with the Children’s Aid Society in Windsor before deciding to enter St. Peter’s Seminary in London in 2003 to see if the priesthood was, in fact, for him.
“I needed to be with people who could help me understand if this call is a genuine or authentic call,” said Fiore.
His “strong inclination” that he would become a priest was confirmed after a pastoral internship at Our Lady of Hope parish in Sudbury, starting in 2005.
“I wanted to really get my feet wet, immerse myself in the experience with the people of God,” said Fiore.
His responsibilities included starting a parish youth group, preaching and giving communion to the sick in hospital.
The practical experience was rewarding for Fiore. Feedback from parishioners encouraged him that he finally had found his right vocation.
“I was affirmed in that by the people . . . that I would do well as a priest,” he said. “I felt comfortable in that context. It was something that fit.”
He expects 200 family and friends and as many as 60 priests from the diocese to attend his ordination at his home parish. Fiore will celebrate his first mass Saturday at 5 p.m.
Plouffe has yet to decide where Fiore will be posted, but it’s likely he will assist another pastor who has a parish.
“It’s good to be ordained, but then the priesthood has to grow on you,” said Plouffe.
Fiore is ready to go wherever he’s needed. He’s fluent in Italian and knows enough French “to get by.”
“I’m looking forward to being that expression of God’s love to his people, being that friend, that warm embrace,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to growing and maturing into the vocation.
“I’m looking forward ultimately to be a shepherd of God’s people and to ultimately lead souls to God the father — with his help, of course.”
His ordinaton comes at a challenging time for the Catholic church.
Parishes throughout the country are being closed because of a lack of priests, slumping attendance and tightened finances.
When the Pope made his first visit to the United States earlier this month, he apologized to victims of sexual abuse by priests.
Fiore isn’t deterred.
“To me, to be a priest in these days is actually an exciting concept,” he said.
Fiore wants to use his role as a priest to encourage other men to seriously consider a religious vocation.
“If it’s a call, we have to think of the one who is calling,” he said. “There’s an inherent dignity in this call. That merits some degree of attention on our part.”
With his ordination just days away, Fiore acknowledges he’s “in a very good space,” nearly 30 years after he first used a towel as a vestment as he pretended to act out a priest’s actions during mass.
“I feel like I’m going to be ordained into what I was born to do,” he said.
“Nothing in the world I found could be more fulfilling than that.”
Fiore is one of five men from St. Peter’s Seminary who will be ordained. He is the only one from Northern Ontario.
Jack Goldie was the last Sault man to be ordained. The retired Algoma Steel electrician became a priest in 1995. He has since retired.
Trevor Scarfone, ordained in 1994, is serving in Sturgeon Falls and Garden Village.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
How In The World Did I Miss This One????
Pope John Paul II talks about his own vocation to the priesthood.
Monday, April 9, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE IX WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
SPECIAL MESSAGE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
FOR WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
Archbishop Franc Rodé, C.M., Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, presided at the traditional Mass for consecrated persons in St Peter's Basilica. Here is a translation of Archbishop Rodé's brief introduction in Italian to the Holy Father's Message for the Day.
"On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, the day on which the Son of God, conceived in eternity, is proclaimed by the Holy Spirit as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles' and the "glory for your people Israel', we are gathered here to renew our consecration to the Lord. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I convey to you all the personal greeting of the Holy Father, who thanks you for the affection you have shown him and for your fervent prayers. He joins us here at this moment with his prayers and he sends us his Blessing. Let us listen with grateful hearts to his Message to the consecrated men and women of the world".
Archbishop Rodé then read the Pope's Message:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Today, we are celebrating the Day of Consecrated Life, a favourable occasion for thanking the Lord together with all who are called by him "to the practise of the evangelical counsels, and who make faithful profession of them, bind[ing] themselves to the Lord in a special way. They follow Christ who, virginal and poor (cf. Mt 8: 20; Lk 9: 58), redeemed and sanctified men by obedience unto death on the cross (cf. Phil 2: 8)" (Perfectae Caritatis, n. 1). This year the celebration acquires special importance because we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the Decree Perfectae Caritatis, through which the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council updated the guidelines for the renewal of the consecrated life.
During these 40 years, in obedience to the directives of the Church's Magisterium, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic life have followed a fertile path of renewal, marked on the one hand by the desire to be faithful to the gift received from the Holy Spirit through their Founders and Foundresses and, on the other, by concern to adapt their way of living, praying and acting to "the present-day physical and psychological condition of the members. It should also be in harmony with the needs of the apostolate, in the measure that the nature of each Institute requires, with the requirements of culture and with social and economic circumstances" (ibid., n. 3).
How could we not thank the Lord for this timely "updating" of consecrated life? I am certain that it will also lead to the multiplication of the fruits of holiness and missionary activity, on condition that consecrated persons keep their ascetic zeal unaltered and instil it in their apostolic works.
2. The secret of this spiritual ardour is the Eucharist. In this year specially dedicated to the Eucharist, I would like to urge all men and women religious to establish an ever more profound communion with Christ by sharing daily in the sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualizes the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God's pilgrim people. "By its very nature", as the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata affirms, "the Eucharist is at the centre of the consecrated life, both for individuals and for communities" (n. 95).
Jesus gives himself as Bread "broken" and Blood "poured out" so that all may "have life, and have it abundantly" (cf. Jn 10: 10). He offers himself for the salvation of all humanity. Taking part in his sacrificial banquet does not only entail repeating his gestures but also means drinking the same cup and taking part in the same immolation. Just as Christ makes himself "bread broken" and "blood poured out", so each Christian, and especially every consecrated man and every consecrated woman, is called to give his or her life for the brethren, in union with the life of the Redeemer.
3. The Eucharist is the inexhaustible source of fidelity to the Gospel, for in this sacrament, the heart of ecclesial life, the deep identification and total conformation with Christ to which consecrated persons are called, is completely fulfilled. "In the Eucharist all forms of prayer come together, the Word of God is proclaimed and received, relationships with God, with brothers and sisters, with all men and women are challenged. It is the Sacrament of filiation, of communion and of mission. The Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity with Christ, is at the same time the Sacrament of Church unity and community unity for the consecrated person. Clearly it is "the source of spirituality both for individuals and for communities'" (Starting Afresh from Christ, n. 26). Consecrated people learn from the Eucharist "a greater freedom in the exercise of the apostolates, a flourishing with greater awareness, a solidarity expressed through knowing how to stand with the people, assuming their problems, in order to respond to them, paying close attention to the signs of the times and to their needs" (ibid., n. 36).
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us penetrate the mystery of the Eucharist guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary and following her example! May Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, help all who are called to special intimacy with Christ to participate diligently in Holy Mass and obtain for them the gift of prompt obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity; may she make them holy disciples of Christ in the Eucharist.
With these sentiments, as I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, I willingly bless all consecrated persons and the Christian communities in which they are called to carry out their mission.
From the Vatican, 2 February 2005
JOHN PAUL II
FOR WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
Archbishop Franc Rodé, C.M., Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, presided at the traditional Mass for consecrated persons in St Peter's Basilica. Here is a translation of Archbishop Rodé's brief introduction in Italian to the Holy Father's Message for the Day.
"On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, the day on which the Son of God, conceived in eternity, is proclaimed by the Holy Spirit as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles' and the "glory for your people Israel', we are gathered here to renew our consecration to the Lord. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I convey to you all the personal greeting of the Holy Father, who thanks you for the affection you have shown him and for your fervent prayers. He joins us here at this moment with his prayers and he sends us his Blessing. Let us listen with grateful hearts to his Message to the consecrated men and women of the world".
Archbishop Rodé then read the Pope's Message:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Today, we are celebrating the Day of Consecrated Life, a favourable occasion for thanking the Lord together with all who are called by him "to the practise of the evangelical counsels, and who make faithful profession of them, bind[ing] themselves to the Lord in a special way. They follow Christ who, virginal and poor (cf. Mt 8: 20; Lk 9: 58), redeemed and sanctified men by obedience unto death on the cross (cf. Phil 2: 8)" (Perfectae Caritatis, n. 1). This year the celebration acquires special importance because we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the Decree Perfectae Caritatis, through which the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council updated the guidelines for the renewal of the consecrated life.
During these 40 years, in obedience to the directives of the Church's Magisterium, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic life have followed a fertile path of renewal, marked on the one hand by the desire to be faithful to the gift received from the Holy Spirit through their Founders and Foundresses and, on the other, by concern to adapt their way of living, praying and acting to "the present-day physical and psychological condition of the members. It should also be in harmony with the needs of the apostolate, in the measure that the nature of each Institute requires, with the requirements of culture and with social and economic circumstances" (ibid., n. 3).
How could we not thank the Lord for this timely "updating" of consecrated life? I am certain that it will also lead to the multiplication of the fruits of holiness and missionary activity, on condition that consecrated persons keep their ascetic zeal unaltered and instil it in their apostolic works.
2. The secret of this spiritual ardour is the Eucharist. In this year specially dedicated to the Eucharist, I would like to urge all men and women religious to establish an ever more profound communion with Christ by sharing daily in the sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualizes the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God's pilgrim people. "By its very nature", as the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata affirms, "the Eucharist is at the centre of the consecrated life, both for individuals and for communities" (n. 95).
Jesus gives himself as Bread "broken" and Blood "poured out" so that all may "have life, and have it abundantly" (cf. Jn 10: 10). He offers himself for the salvation of all humanity. Taking part in his sacrificial banquet does not only entail repeating his gestures but also means drinking the same cup and taking part in the same immolation. Just as Christ makes himself "bread broken" and "blood poured out", so each Christian, and especially every consecrated man and every consecrated woman, is called to give his or her life for the brethren, in union with the life of the Redeemer.
3. The Eucharist is the inexhaustible source of fidelity to the Gospel, for in this sacrament, the heart of ecclesial life, the deep identification and total conformation with Christ to which consecrated persons are called, is completely fulfilled. "In the Eucharist all forms of prayer come together, the Word of God is proclaimed and received, relationships with God, with brothers and sisters, with all men and women are challenged. It is the Sacrament of filiation, of communion and of mission. The Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity with Christ, is at the same time the Sacrament of Church unity and community unity for the consecrated person. Clearly it is "the source of spirituality both for individuals and for communities'" (Starting Afresh from Christ, n. 26). Consecrated people learn from the Eucharist "a greater freedom in the exercise of the apostolates, a flourishing with greater awareness, a solidarity expressed through knowing how to stand with the people, assuming their problems, in order to respond to them, paying close attention to the signs of the times and to their needs" (ibid., n. 36).
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us penetrate the mystery of the Eucharist guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary and following her example! May Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, help all who are called to special intimacy with Christ to participate diligently in Holy Mass and obtain for them the gift of prompt obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity; may she make them holy disciples of Christ in the Eucharist.
With these sentiments, as I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, I willingly bless all consecrated persons and the Christian communities in which they are called to carry out their mission.
From the Vatican, 2 February 2005
JOHN PAUL II
Sunday, April 8, 2007
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE VIII WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
MASS FOR RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN
ON THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
EIGHTH WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Monday, 2 February 2004
1. "He had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb 2: 17).
These words from the Letter to the Hebrews express well the message of today's Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. They offer us the key to its interpretation, so to speak, putting it in the perspective of the Paschal Mystery.
The event we are celebrating today takes us back to what Mary and Joseph did when, 40 days after his birth, they presented Jesus to God as their firstborn son, complying with the law of Moses.
Their offering was later to find complete and perfect fulfilment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. Only then would he fulfil his mission as the "merciful and faithful High Priest", sharing in our human destiny to the very end.
At the presentation in the Temple, Mary, the faithful Virgin who takes part with him in the eternal plan of salvation, was with him as she was on Calvary.
2. Today's liturgy opens with the blessing of the candles and the procession to the altar to meet Christ and to recognize him "in the breaking of the bread" until he comes again in glory.
The Church celebrates the Day of Consecrated Life in this setting of light, faith and hope. All those who have offered their life to Christ for ever for the coming of the Kingdom of God are invited to renew their "yes" to the special vocation they have received. The entire Ecclesial Community, however, also rediscovers the riches of the prophetic witness of consecrated life in the variety of its charisms and apostolic commitments.
3. With sentiments of praise and gratitude to the Lord for this great gift, I would like first of all to greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at today's Celebration. With him, I extend my cordial good wishes to all who are participating in this evocative liturgical assembly.
My affectionate greeting goes especially to you, dear Men and Women Religious and Members of Secular Institutes, as well as to all the witnesses faithful to the values of consecrated life in every region of the world.
Christ is calling you to conform ever more closely to him, who out of love made himself obedient, poor and chaste. Continue to dedicate yourselves passionately to proclaiming and promoting his Kingdom. This is your mission, as necessary today as it was in the past!
4. Dear Men and Women Religious, what a favourable opportunity you are afforded on this day dedicated to you, to reaffirm your fidelity to God with the enthusiasm and generosity of the moment when you first pronounced your vows! Repeat your "yes" to the God of Love every day with joy and conviction. In the recollection of the cloistered monastery or beside the poor and marginalized, among young people or within the structures of the Church, in the various apostolic activities or in mission lands, God wants you to be faithful to his love and dedicated without reserve to the good of your brothers and sisters.
This is the precious contribution which you can make to the Church, so that the Gospel of hope may reach the men and women of our time.
5. Let us contemplate the Virgin while she offers her Son in the Temple of Jerusalem. She who unconditionally accepted God's will at the moment of the Annunciation in a certain way is repeating her words: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1: 38). This attitude of docile adherence to the divine designs was to mark her entire existence.
Thus, Our Lady is the first and most exalted model for every consecrated person. Dear brothers and sisters, let yourselves be guided by her. Turn to her for help with humble trust, especially in moments of trial.
And you, Mary, watch over these children of yours, lead them to Christ, "the Glory of Israel, the Light of the peoples". Virgo Virginum, Mater Salvatoris, ora pro nobis!
ON THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
EIGHTH WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Monday, 2 February 2004
1. "He had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb 2: 17).
These words from the Letter to the Hebrews express well the message of today's Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. They offer us the key to its interpretation, so to speak, putting it in the perspective of the Paschal Mystery.
The event we are celebrating today takes us back to what Mary and Joseph did when, 40 days after his birth, they presented Jesus to God as their firstborn son, complying with the law of Moses.
Their offering was later to find complete and perfect fulfilment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. Only then would he fulfil his mission as the "merciful and faithful High Priest", sharing in our human destiny to the very end.
At the presentation in the Temple, Mary, the faithful Virgin who takes part with him in the eternal plan of salvation, was with him as she was on Calvary.
2. Today's liturgy opens with the blessing of the candles and the procession to the altar to meet Christ and to recognize him "in the breaking of the bread" until he comes again in glory.
The Church celebrates the Day of Consecrated Life in this setting of light, faith and hope. All those who have offered their life to Christ for ever for the coming of the Kingdom of God are invited to renew their "yes" to the special vocation they have received. The entire Ecclesial Community, however, also rediscovers the riches of the prophetic witness of consecrated life in the variety of its charisms and apostolic commitments.
3. With sentiments of praise and gratitude to the Lord for this great gift, I would like first of all to greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at today's Celebration. With him, I extend my cordial good wishes to all who are participating in this evocative liturgical assembly.
My affectionate greeting goes especially to you, dear Men and Women Religious and Members of Secular Institutes, as well as to all the witnesses faithful to the values of consecrated life in every region of the world.
Christ is calling you to conform ever more closely to him, who out of love made himself obedient, poor and chaste. Continue to dedicate yourselves passionately to proclaiming and promoting his Kingdom. This is your mission, as necessary today as it was in the past!
4. Dear Men and Women Religious, what a favourable opportunity you are afforded on this day dedicated to you, to reaffirm your fidelity to God with the enthusiasm and generosity of the moment when you first pronounced your vows! Repeat your "yes" to the God of Love every day with joy and conviction. In the recollection of the cloistered monastery or beside the poor and marginalized, among young people or within the structures of the Church, in the various apostolic activities or in mission lands, God wants you to be faithful to his love and dedicated without reserve to the good of your brothers and sisters.
This is the precious contribution which you can make to the Church, so that the Gospel of hope may reach the men and women of our time.
5. Let us contemplate the Virgin while she offers her Son in the Temple of Jerusalem. She who unconditionally accepted God's will at the moment of the Annunciation in a certain way is repeating her words: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1: 38). This attitude of docile adherence to the divine designs was to mark her entire existence.
Thus, Our Lady is the first and most exalted model for every consecrated person. Dear brothers and sisters, let yourselves be guided by her. Turn to her for help with humble trust, especially in moments of trial.
And you, Mary, watch over these children of yours, lead them to Christ, "the Glory of Israel, the Light of the peoples". Virgo Virginum, Mater Salvatoris, ora pro nobis!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE VII WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
MASS FOR RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN
ON THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
SEVENTH WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Saturday, 1 February 2003
1. "When the time came for their purification ... they brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (Lk 2,22). The Infant Jesus entered the temple of Jerusalem in the arms of his Virgin Mother.
"Born of woman, born under the law" (Gal 4,4), he submitted to the destiny of every first-born male child of his people: according to the Law of the Lord he had to be "ransomed" with a sacrifice, 40 days after his birth (cf. Ex 13,2.12; Lv 12,1-8).
The newborn Child, in every way like all others outwardly, does not pass unnoticed. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of faith of the elderly Simeon who comes near, and, taking the Child in his arms, recognizes in him the Messiah and praises God (cf. Lk 2,25-32). This Child, he prophesies, will be "a light for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel" (cf. v. 32), but also a sign of contradiction (cf. v. 34) because according to the Scriptures he will realize the judgement of God. Moreover, the devout old man predicts to the astonished Mother that this will happen through a suffering in which she too will be a sharer (cf. v. 35).
2. Forty days after Christmas, the Church celebrates this stirring joyful mystery that, in a certain way, anticipates both the sorrow of Good Friday and the joy of Easter. In the Eastern Tradition this day is called the "Feast of the Meeting", because in the sacred space of the Temple of Jerusalem, the meeting takes place between God's graciousness and the expectation of the chosen people.
All this acquires in Christ an eschatological meaning and value: he is the Bridegroom who comes to accomplish the nuptial covenant with Israel. Many are called, but how many are effectively ready to receive him, with watchful minds and hearts (cf. Mt 22,14)? In today's liturgy we contemplate Mary, the model of those who wait and open their hearts in docility to the meeting with Lord.
3. In this light, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple is a very suitable day for the the appreciative praise of consecrated persons, and for some years the Day of Consecrated Life has rightly been observed on this day. The picture of Mary who in the temple offers the Son to God, speaks eloquently to the hearts of the men and women who have made a total offering of themselves to the Lord through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for the Kingdom of Heaven.
The theme of spiritual sacrifice is fused with that of light, introduced by Simeon's words. The Virgin appears as a candlestick bearing Christ, the "Light of the world". With Mary, thousands of men and women religious and consecrated lay people throughout the world gather to renew their consecration, holding lighted candles, the expression of their life, burning with faith and love.
4. Here too, in St Peter's Basilica this evening, we offer a solemn thanksgiving to God for the gift of the consecrated life in the Diocese of Rome and in the universal Church. I warmly greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apsotolic Life, and his collaborators. I affectionately greet all of you, brothers and sisters, men and women religious and consecrated lay people! With your large, devout and joyful presence, you impress upon the liturgical assembly the face of the Church-Bride, like Mary, doing her utmost to be in total conformity with the Divine Word.
High up in their niches along the walls of this basilica, the founders and foundresses of many of your institutes watch over you. They recall the mystery of the Communion of Saints through which, in the pilgrim Church, from age to age, many renew the choice of following Christ with a special consecration in accord with the many charisms kindled by the Spirit. At the same time, those venerable figures are an invitation to turn our gaze to the heavenly homeland where, in the gathering of saints, so many consecrated souls praise with full beatitude the Triune God whom they loved and served on earth with a free and undivided heart.
5. Poverty, chastity and obedience are distintive features of the redeemed person, inwardly set free from the slavery of egotism. Free to love, free to serve: this is the way the men and women are who renounce themselves for the Kingdom of Heaven. Following in the footsteps of the crucified and risen Christ, they live this freedom as solidarity, taking on the spiritual and material burdens of their brothers and sisters.
This is the multiform "service of charity" that is exercised in the cloister, in hospitals, parishes and schools, among the poor and immigrants, in the new meeting places of the mission. In thousands of ways consecrated life is a manifestation of God's love in the world (cf. Apostolic Exhortation, Vita consecrata, chapter III).
With grateful hearts, let us praise God today for each of them. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may the Lord increasingly enrich his Church with this great gift. To the praise and glory of his Name and for the spread of his Kingdom. Amen!
ON THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
SEVENTH WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Saturday, 1 February 2003
1. "When the time came for their purification ... they brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (Lk 2,22). The Infant Jesus entered the temple of Jerusalem in the arms of his Virgin Mother.
"Born of woman, born under the law" (Gal 4,4), he submitted to the destiny of every first-born male child of his people: according to the Law of the Lord he had to be "ransomed" with a sacrifice, 40 days after his birth (cf. Ex 13,2.12; Lv 12,1-8).
The newborn Child, in every way like all others outwardly, does not pass unnoticed. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of faith of the elderly Simeon who comes near, and, taking the Child in his arms, recognizes in him the Messiah and praises God (cf. Lk 2,25-32). This Child, he prophesies, will be "a light for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel" (cf. v. 32), but also a sign of contradiction (cf. v. 34) because according to the Scriptures he will realize the judgement of God. Moreover, the devout old man predicts to the astonished Mother that this will happen through a suffering in which she too will be a sharer (cf. v. 35).
2. Forty days after Christmas, the Church celebrates this stirring joyful mystery that, in a certain way, anticipates both the sorrow of Good Friday and the joy of Easter. In the Eastern Tradition this day is called the "Feast of the Meeting", because in the sacred space of the Temple of Jerusalem, the meeting takes place between God's graciousness and the expectation of the chosen people.
All this acquires in Christ an eschatological meaning and value: he is the Bridegroom who comes to accomplish the nuptial covenant with Israel. Many are called, but how many are effectively ready to receive him, with watchful minds and hearts (cf. Mt 22,14)? In today's liturgy we contemplate Mary, the model of those who wait and open their hearts in docility to the meeting with Lord.
3. In this light, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple is a very suitable day for the the appreciative praise of consecrated persons, and for some years the Day of Consecrated Life has rightly been observed on this day. The picture of Mary who in the temple offers the Son to God, speaks eloquently to the hearts of the men and women who have made a total offering of themselves to the Lord through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for the Kingdom of Heaven.
The theme of spiritual sacrifice is fused with that of light, introduced by Simeon's words. The Virgin appears as a candlestick bearing Christ, the "Light of the world". With Mary, thousands of men and women religious and consecrated lay people throughout the world gather to renew their consecration, holding lighted candles, the expression of their life, burning with faith and love.
4. Here too, in St Peter's Basilica this evening, we offer a solemn thanksgiving to God for the gift of the consecrated life in the Diocese of Rome and in the universal Church. I warmly greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apsotolic Life, and his collaborators. I affectionately greet all of you, brothers and sisters, men and women religious and consecrated lay people! With your large, devout and joyful presence, you impress upon the liturgical assembly the face of the Church-Bride, like Mary, doing her utmost to be in total conformity with the Divine Word.
High up in their niches along the walls of this basilica, the founders and foundresses of many of your institutes watch over you. They recall the mystery of the Communion of Saints through which, in the pilgrim Church, from age to age, many renew the choice of following Christ with a special consecration in accord with the many charisms kindled by the Spirit. At the same time, those venerable figures are an invitation to turn our gaze to the heavenly homeland where, in the gathering of saints, so many consecrated souls praise with full beatitude the Triune God whom they loved and served on earth with a free and undivided heart.
5. Poverty, chastity and obedience are distintive features of the redeemed person, inwardly set free from the slavery of egotism. Free to love, free to serve: this is the way the men and women are who renounce themselves for the Kingdom of Heaven. Following in the footsteps of the crucified and risen Christ, they live this freedom as solidarity, taking on the spiritual and material burdens of their brothers and sisters.
This is the multiform "service of charity" that is exercised in the cloister, in hospitals, parishes and schools, among the poor and immigrants, in the new meeting places of the mission. In thousands of ways consecrated life is a manifestation of God's love in the world (cf. Apostolic Exhortation, Vita consecrata, chapter III).
With grateful hearts, let us praise God today for each of them. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may the Lord increasingly enrich his Church with this great gift. To the praise and glory of his Name and for the spread of his Kingdom. Amen!
Friday, April 6, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE VI WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Saturday, 2 February 2002
VI Day of Consecrated Life
1. "They brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord...)" (Lk 2,22).
Today, forty days after Christmas, the Church relives the mystery of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. She relives it with the astonishment of the Holy Family of Nazareth, enlightened by the full revelation of that "child", who - as the first and second readings have reminded us - is the eschatological judge promised by the prophets (Ml 3,1-3), the "merciful and faithful high priest" who came to "expiate the sins of the people" (Heb 2,17). The Child, whom Mary and Joseph lovingly brought to the Temple, is the Word Incarnate, the Redeemer of man and of history!
Today, commemorating what took place on that day in Jerusalem, we are invited to enter the Temple, to meditate on the mystery of Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of the Father who, by means of his Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery, became the Firstborn of redeemed humanity.
This feast prolongs the mystery of Christ the Light, who shines upon us in the Solemnities of Christmas and Epiphany.
2. "Light of revelation for the nations and glory of your people Israel" (Lk 2,32). The venerable old Simeon pronounced these prophetic words, inspired by God, as he takes the Child Jesus in his arms. At the same time, he foretells that "the Messiah of the Lord" will carry out his mission as a "sign of contradiction" (Lk 2,34). As for Mary his Mother, she will personally participate in the Passion of her divine Son (cf. Lk 2,35).
In today's feast, therefore, we celebrate the mystery of consecration: consecration of Christ, consecration of Mary, consecration of all who follow Jesus for love of the Kingdom.
3. As I greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo who is presiding at this celebration, I am pleased to be able to be with you, dear brothers and sisters who one day, recently or long ago, made the total gift of yourselves to the Lord in the vocation of the consecrated life. While I cordially greet each one of you, I am thinking of the great things that God has worked and is working in you, "drawing to himself" your entire life.
I praise the Lord with you, because he is so great and beautiful a Love as to deserve the priceless gift of the whole person in the unfathomable depths of the heart, and in the concrete unfolding of daily duty through the various stages of life.
Your "Here I am!", modelled on that of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin, is symbolized by the candles that this evening light up the Vatican Basilica. Today's feast is especially dedicated to you who among the People of God re- present in an outstanding way the eschatological newness of Christian life. You are called to be lights of truth and of justice, witnesses of solidarity and peace.
4. How can I can forget the Day of Prayer for Peace, celebrated ten days ago in Assisi. For this extraordinary mobilization for peace in the world, I knew and I know, that I could count particularly on you, dear consecrated persons. On this occasion too, I express deep gratitude to you.
Thank you, first of all, for your prayer. How many contemplative communities, entirely devoted to prayer, knocking night and day at the heart of the God of peace, cooperate in Christ's victory over hatred, revenge and the structures of sin!
Besides prayer, many of you, dear brothers and sisters, build peace with the witness of brotherhood and communion, spreading the Gospel spirit in the world like yeast that makes humanity grow towards the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you for this!
On many frontiers men and women religious are offering their effective dedication to justice, working among those on the fringes of society, dealing with the root causes of conflicts to help build a substantial, lasting peace. Wherever the Church is at work in defending and promoting human persons and the common good, you are there, dear consecrated men and women, who to belong entirely to God belong entirely to your brothers and sisters. Every person of goodwill is grateful to you for this.
5. The icon of Mary that we contemplate as she offers Jesus in the temple prefigures that of the Crucifixion and also anticipates its true interpretation of Jesus, Son of God, sign of contradiction. Indeed, on Calvary, the sacrifice of the Son, and with it, that of his Mother, reach fulfillment. The same sword pierces both, the Mother and the Son (cf. Lk 2,35). The same sorrow, the same love.
On this road, the Mother of Jesus became the Mother of the Church. Her pilgrimage of faith and consecration is the archetype for that of every baptized person. This is particularly true for those who embrace the consecrated life.
How comforting it is to know that Mary is beside us, as Mother and Teacher, on our path of consecration! Not just on a simply emotional level, she is profoundly close to us at the level of supernatural efficacy, attested by the Scriptures, by Tradition and by the testimony of the saints, many of whom followed Christ on the demanding path of the evangelical counsels.
Mary, Mother of Christ and our Mother, we thank you for the tender care with which you guide us on the ways of life, and we ask you: present us today anew to God, our only Good, so that our lives, consumed by love, may be a sacrifice that is living, holy, and pleasing to him. Amen!
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Saturday, 2 February 2002
VI Day of Consecrated Life
1. "They brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord...)" (Lk 2,22).
Today, forty days after Christmas, the Church relives the mystery of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. She relives it with the astonishment of the Holy Family of Nazareth, enlightened by the full revelation of that "child", who - as the first and second readings have reminded us - is the eschatological judge promised by the prophets (Ml 3,1-3), the "merciful and faithful high priest" who came to "expiate the sins of the people" (Heb 2,17). The Child, whom Mary and Joseph lovingly brought to the Temple, is the Word Incarnate, the Redeemer of man and of history!
Today, commemorating what took place on that day in Jerusalem, we are invited to enter the Temple, to meditate on the mystery of Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of the Father who, by means of his Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery, became the Firstborn of redeemed humanity.
This feast prolongs the mystery of Christ the Light, who shines upon us in the Solemnities of Christmas and Epiphany.
2. "Light of revelation for the nations and glory of your people Israel" (Lk 2,32). The venerable old Simeon pronounced these prophetic words, inspired by God, as he takes the Child Jesus in his arms. At the same time, he foretells that "the Messiah of the Lord" will carry out his mission as a "sign of contradiction" (Lk 2,34). As for Mary his Mother, she will personally participate in the Passion of her divine Son (cf. Lk 2,35).
In today's feast, therefore, we celebrate the mystery of consecration: consecration of Christ, consecration of Mary, consecration of all who follow Jesus for love of the Kingdom.
3. As I greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo who is presiding at this celebration, I am pleased to be able to be with you, dear brothers and sisters who one day, recently or long ago, made the total gift of yourselves to the Lord in the vocation of the consecrated life. While I cordially greet each one of you, I am thinking of the great things that God has worked and is working in you, "drawing to himself" your entire life.
I praise the Lord with you, because he is so great and beautiful a Love as to deserve the priceless gift of the whole person in the unfathomable depths of the heart, and in the concrete unfolding of daily duty through the various stages of life.
Your "Here I am!", modelled on that of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin, is symbolized by the candles that this evening light up the Vatican Basilica. Today's feast is especially dedicated to you who among the People of God re- present in an outstanding way the eschatological newness of Christian life. You are called to be lights of truth and of justice, witnesses of solidarity and peace.
4. How can I can forget the Day of Prayer for Peace, celebrated ten days ago in Assisi. For this extraordinary mobilization for peace in the world, I knew and I know, that I could count particularly on you, dear consecrated persons. On this occasion too, I express deep gratitude to you.
Thank you, first of all, for your prayer. How many contemplative communities, entirely devoted to prayer, knocking night and day at the heart of the God of peace, cooperate in Christ's victory over hatred, revenge and the structures of sin!
Besides prayer, many of you, dear brothers and sisters, build peace with the witness of brotherhood and communion, spreading the Gospel spirit in the world like yeast that makes humanity grow towards the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you for this!
On many frontiers men and women religious are offering their effective dedication to justice, working among those on the fringes of society, dealing with the root causes of conflicts to help build a substantial, lasting peace. Wherever the Church is at work in defending and promoting human persons and the common good, you are there, dear consecrated men and women, who to belong entirely to God belong entirely to your brothers and sisters. Every person of goodwill is grateful to you for this.
5. The icon of Mary that we contemplate as she offers Jesus in the temple prefigures that of the Crucifixion and also anticipates its true interpretation of Jesus, Son of God, sign of contradiction. Indeed, on Calvary, the sacrifice of the Son, and with it, that of his Mother, reach fulfillment. The same sword pierces both, the Mother and the Son (cf. Lk 2,35). The same sorrow, the same love.
On this road, the Mother of Jesus became the Mother of the Church. Her pilgrimage of faith and consecration is the archetype for that of every baptized person. This is particularly true for those who embrace the consecrated life.
How comforting it is to know that Mary is beside us, as Mother and Teacher, on our path of consecration! Not just on a simply emotional level, she is profoundly close to us at the level of supernatural efficacy, attested by the Scriptures, by Tradition and by the testimony of the saints, many of whom followed Christ on the demanding path of the evangelical counsels.
Mary, Mother of Christ and our Mother, we thank you for the tender care with which you guide us on the ways of life, and we ask you: present us today anew to God, our only Good, so that our lives, consumed by love, may be a sacrifice that is living, holy, and pleasing to him. Amen!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE V WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Friday, 2 February 2001
V Day of Consecrated Life
1. "Come, Lord, to your holy temple" (Response of the Responsorial Psalm, Italian Lectionary).
With this invocation, which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm, the Church, on the day when she recalls the Presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, expresses the desire to be able to welcome him again at this present moment in her history. The Presentation is an evocative liturgical feast, fixed since ancient times on the 40th day after Christmas, following what Jewish law had prescribed for the birth of all first-born males (cf. Ex 13: 2). Mary and Joseph observed it faithfully, as the Gospel account tells us.
Christian traditions of the East and West have been interwoven, enriching the liturgy of this feast with a special procession in which the light of candles both large and small is a symbol of Christ, the true Light who came to illumine his people and all peoples. Today's feast is thus connected with the Nativity and Epiphany of the Lord. However, it also serves as a bridge to Easter by recalling the prophecy of the elderly Simeon, who on that occasion foretold the dramatic destiny of the Messiah and his Mother.
The Evangelist has even recorded the details of this event: Simeon and Anna, two elderly persons filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, received Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. They personify the "remnant of Israel", watchful in expectation and ready to meet the Lord, as the shepherds did on the night of his birth in Bethlehem.
2. In the opening prayer of today's liturgy, we asked that we too might be presented to the Lord with our hearts free from sin, following the example of Jesus, the first-born of many brethren. You, men and women religious and consecrated lay people, are called in a particular way to share in this mystery of the Saviour. It is a mystery of sacrifice, in which glory and the cross are indissolubly joined according to the paschal character of Christian life. It is a mystery of light and suffering; a Marian mystery, in which the martyrdom of her soul is foretold to the Mother, blessed along with her Son.
We could say that today a special "offertory" is celebrated throughout the Church, one in which consecrated men and women spiritually renew the gift of themselves. By doing so, they help the Ecclesial Communities to grow in the sacrificial dimension that constitutes them inwardly, builds them up and spurs them along the world's highways.
I greet you with great affection, dear brothers and sisters who belong to many families of consecrated life and gladden St Peter's Basilica with your presence. In particular I greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at today's Eucharistic celebration.
3. We are celebrating this feast with hearts still filled with the emotions we felt during the Jubilee period just ended. We have continued on our way, guided by Christ's words to Simon: "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep" (Lk 5: 4). The Church expects your contribution, too, dear consecrated brothers and sisters, in order to travel on this new stage of our journey according to the guidelines I gave in my Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte: to contemplate the face of Chist, to set out anew from him and to bear witness to his love. This is a contribution that you are called to make each day, above all through fidelity to your vocation as individuals who are totally consecrated to Christ.
Your first task, then, must be contemplation. Every reality of consecrated life is born and each day reborn in ceaseless contemplation of Christ's face. The Church herself draws her energy from daily beholding the immortal beauty of the face of Christ, her Bridegroom.
If every Christian is a believer who contemplates the face of God in Jesus Christ, you are so in a special way. You must never tire, then, of pausing to meditate on Sacred Scripture and on the holy Gospels in particular, so that the features of the Incarnate Word are impressed upon you.
4. Setting out anew from Christ, the centre of every personal and community project: this is your task! Meet him, dear friends, and contemplate him in a most special way in the Eucharist, celebrated and adored each day as the source and summit of life and apostolic action.
And walk with Christ: this is the way of Gospel perfection, the holiness to which every baptized person is called. Holiness is precisely one of the essential points - indeed, the first - in the programme I outlined for the beginning of the new millennium (cf. Novo millennio ineunte, nn. 30-31).
We have just heard the elderly Simeon's words: Christ "is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against ... that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2: 34). Like him, and to the extent that they are conformed to him, consecrated persons also become a "sign of contradiction"; that is, they become for others a salutary encouragement to take a position regarding Jesus, who - thanks to the engaging mediation of the "witness" - does not remain just a historical figure or abstract ideal, but presents himself as a living person to follow without compromise. Does this not seem to you an indispensabe service that the Church expects of you in this era, marked by profound social and cultural changes? Only if you persevere in faithfully following Christ will you be credible witnesses to his love.
5. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2: 32). The consecrated life is called to reflect Christ's light in an exceptional way. As I look at you, dear brothers and sisters, I think of the hosts of men and women of every nation, language and culture who are consecrated to Christ by vows of poverty, virginity and obedience. This thought fills me with consolation, for you are like a "leaven" of hope for humanity. You are "salt" and "light" for the men and women of today, who through your witness can glimpse the kingdom of God and the way of the Gospel "Beatitudes".
Like Simeon and Anna, take Jesus from the arms of his most holy Mother and, filled with joy for the gift of your vocation, bring him to everyone. Christ is salvation and hope for every person! Proclaim him by your life dedicated entirely to the kingdom of God and the world's salvation. Proclaim him with that uncompromising fidelity which, even recently, has led some of your brothers and sisters in various parts of the world to martyrdom.
Be light and comfort to everyone you meet. Like lighted candles, burn with the love of Christ. Spend yourselves for him, spreading the Gospel of his love everywhere. Through your witness the eyes of many men and women of our time will also be able to see the salvation prepared by God "in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel".
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Friday, 2 February 2001
V Day of Consecrated Life
1. "Come, Lord, to your holy temple" (Response of the Responsorial Psalm, Italian Lectionary).
With this invocation, which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm, the Church, on the day when she recalls the Presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, expresses the desire to be able to welcome him again at this present moment in her history. The Presentation is an evocative liturgical feast, fixed since ancient times on the 40th day after Christmas, following what Jewish law had prescribed for the birth of all first-born males (cf. Ex 13: 2). Mary and Joseph observed it faithfully, as the Gospel account tells us.
Christian traditions of the East and West have been interwoven, enriching the liturgy of this feast with a special procession in which the light of candles both large and small is a symbol of Christ, the true Light who came to illumine his people and all peoples. Today's feast is thus connected with the Nativity and Epiphany of the Lord. However, it also serves as a bridge to Easter by recalling the prophecy of the elderly Simeon, who on that occasion foretold the dramatic destiny of the Messiah and his Mother.
The Evangelist has even recorded the details of this event: Simeon and Anna, two elderly persons filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, received Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. They personify the "remnant of Israel", watchful in expectation and ready to meet the Lord, as the shepherds did on the night of his birth in Bethlehem.
2. In the opening prayer of today's liturgy, we asked that we too might be presented to the Lord with our hearts free from sin, following the example of Jesus, the first-born of many brethren. You, men and women religious and consecrated lay people, are called in a particular way to share in this mystery of the Saviour. It is a mystery of sacrifice, in which glory and the cross are indissolubly joined according to the paschal character of Christian life. It is a mystery of light and suffering; a Marian mystery, in which the martyrdom of her soul is foretold to the Mother, blessed along with her Son.
We could say that today a special "offertory" is celebrated throughout the Church, one in which consecrated men and women spiritually renew the gift of themselves. By doing so, they help the Ecclesial Communities to grow in the sacrificial dimension that constitutes them inwardly, builds them up and spurs them along the world's highways.
I greet you with great affection, dear brothers and sisters who belong to many families of consecrated life and gladden St Peter's Basilica with your presence. In particular I greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at today's Eucharistic celebration.
3. We are celebrating this feast with hearts still filled with the emotions we felt during the Jubilee period just ended. We have continued on our way, guided by Christ's words to Simon: "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep" (Lk 5: 4). The Church expects your contribution, too, dear consecrated brothers and sisters, in order to travel on this new stage of our journey according to the guidelines I gave in my Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte: to contemplate the face of Chist, to set out anew from him and to bear witness to his love. This is a contribution that you are called to make each day, above all through fidelity to your vocation as individuals who are totally consecrated to Christ.
Your first task, then, must be contemplation. Every reality of consecrated life is born and each day reborn in ceaseless contemplation of Christ's face. The Church herself draws her energy from daily beholding the immortal beauty of the face of Christ, her Bridegroom.
If every Christian is a believer who contemplates the face of God in Jesus Christ, you are so in a special way. You must never tire, then, of pausing to meditate on Sacred Scripture and on the holy Gospels in particular, so that the features of the Incarnate Word are impressed upon you.
4. Setting out anew from Christ, the centre of every personal and community project: this is your task! Meet him, dear friends, and contemplate him in a most special way in the Eucharist, celebrated and adored each day as the source and summit of life and apostolic action.
And walk with Christ: this is the way of Gospel perfection, the holiness to which every baptized person is called. Holiness is precisely one of the essential points - indeed, the first - in the programme I outlined for the beginning of the new millennium (cf. Novo millennio ineunte, nn. 30-31).
We have just heard the elderly Simeon's words: Christ "is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against ... that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2: 34). Like him, and to the extent that they are conformed to him, consecrated persons also become a "sign of contradiction"; that is, they become for others a salutary encouragement to take a position regarding Jesus, who - thanks to the engaging mediation of the "witness" - does not remain just a historical figure or abstract ideal, but presents himself as a living person to follow without compromise. Does this not seem to you an indispensabe service that the Church expects of you in this era, marked by profound social and cultural changes? Only if you persevere in faithfully following Christ will you be credible witnesses to his love.
5. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2: 32). The consecrated life is called to reflect Christ's light in an exceptional way. As I look at you, dear brothers and sisters, I think of the hosts of men and women of every nation, language and culture who are consecrated to Christ by vows of poverty, virginity and obedience. This thought fills me with consolation, for you are like a "leaven" of hope for humanity. You are "salt" and "light" for the men and women of today, who through your witness can glimpse the kingdom of God and the way of the Gospel "Beatitudes".
Like Simeon and Anna, take Jesus from the arms of his most holy Mother and, filled with joy for the gift of your vocation, bring him to everyone. Christ is salvation and hope for every person! Proclaim him by your life dedicated entirely to the kingdom of God and the world's salvation. Proclaim him with that uncompromising fidelity which, even recently, has led some of your brothers and sisters in various parts of the world to martyrdom.
Be light and comfort to everyone you meet. Like lighted candles, burn with the love of Christ. Spend yourselves for him, spreading the Gospel of his love everywhere. Through your witness the eyes of many men and women of our time will also be able to see the salvation prepared by God "in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel".
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
JOHN PAUL II WAS A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD
VATICAN CITY, APR 3, 2007 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI presided at a Eucharistic concelebration with cardinals in commemoration of John Paul II. More than 30,000 people were present at the event, many of them having come from Poland to attend.The aim of the celebration, said the Pope in his homily, is to give thanks to God for John Paul II, "for 27 years ... father and sure guide in the faith, zealous pastor and courageous prophet of hope, tireless witness and passionate servant of God's love."
Having addressed a special greeting to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who for more than 40 years was the late pontiff's private secretary, the Holy Father turned to comment on the day's Gospel reading recounting the supper at Bethany during which Mary, sister of Lazarus, taking "a pound of costly perfume, made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair."
The Pope said: "Mary of Bethany's gesture has rich spiritual echoes and significance. It evokes the shining testimony that John Paul II gave of an unreserved and selfless love for Christ. The 'fragrance' of his love filled the house, in other words the Church. ... Are not the esteem, respect and affection that believers and non-believers expressed when he died an eloquent testimony?"
"The intense and fruitful pastoral ministry, and even more so the Calvary of agony and the serene death of our beloved Pope, brought the men and women of our time to understand that Jesus Christ truly was his 'all.'
"We know," the Holy Father added, "that the fruitfulness of his testimony depended upon the Cross. In the life of Karol Wojtyla the word 'cross' was not just a word. Ever since his infancy and youth, he had experienced pain and death." And, "particularly with the slow but implacable progress of his illness which little by little deprived him of everything, his existence became a complete offering to Christ."
"His pontificate was marked by his 'prodigality,' by his generous and unreserved giving of self. What moved him if not his mystical love for Christ? ... 'Magister adest et vocat te' - the Master is here and He calls you. On April 2, 2005, the Master returned ... to call him and take him home, to the house of the Father. And he, again, responded readily with his intrepid heart and whispered: 'Let me go to the Lord'."
"For a long time he had been preparing for this final meeting with Jesus, as evinced by the various drafts of his will. ... He died praying. He truly fell asleep in the Lord. ... The fragrance of the faith, the hope and the charity of the Pope filled his house, it filled St. Peter's Square, it filled the Church and spread over the whole world."
"Servant of God," Benedict XVI exclaimed, "this is what he was and this is what we call him now in the Church, while the process of his beatification continues apace. ... Servant of God, a particularly appropriate title for him. The Lord called him to His service on the path of the priesthood and little by little opened ever vaster horizons before him: from his diocese to the Universal Church. This universal dimension reached its greatest extent at the moment of his death, an event that the entire world experienced with a level of participation never before seen in history."
"May the 'Totus tuus' of the beloved Pontiff encourage us along the path of giving ourselves to Christ by the intercession of Mary," the Holy Father concluded. "To her maternal hands we entrust this our father, brother and friend that in God he may find peaceful repose and happiness."
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE IV WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER
JUBILEE OF CONSECRATED LIFE
Wednesday, 2 February 2000
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. "There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.... And there was a prophetess Anna" (Lk 2: 25-26, 36).
These two figures, Simeon and Anna, witnessed the presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. The Evangelist stresses that each of them, in his or her way, is a precursor of the event. Both express the longing for the Messiah's coming. Both in some way bear within them the mystery of the temple in Jerusalem. Thus they are both present there - in a way that can be called providential - when Jesus' parents take him to the temple, 40 days after his birth, to offer him to the Lord.
Simeon and Anna represent the expectation of all Israel. It is granted to them to meet the One whom the prophets had foretold for centuries. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the two elderly people see the long-awaited Messiah in the Child that Mary and Joseph have brought to the temple as prescribed by the law of the Lord.
Simeon's words have a prophetic tone: the old man looks at the past and foretells the future.
He says: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for mine eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2: 29-32). Simeon expresses the fulfilment of the expectation that was his reason for living. The same thing occurs with the prophetess Anna, who rejoices at the sight of the Child and speaks of him "to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Lk 2: 38).
2. Every year a vast throng of consecrated persons assembles at the Tomb of Peter for today's liturgical feast. Today, this throng has become a multitude, because consecrated persons have come here from every part of the world. Dear brothers and sisters, today you are celebrating your Jubilee, the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. I welcome you with the Gospel embrace of peace!
I greet the men and women Superiors of the various congregations and institutes, and I greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, who have wished to experience the Jubilee by crossing the threshold of the Holy Door in the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica. In you I see all your brothers and sisters throughout the world: my affectionate greeting also goes to them.
Assembled at the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles in this Jubilee Year, you wish to express with special emphasis the deep bond that links consecrated life to the Successor of Peter. You are here to place upon the altar of the Lord the hopes and problems of your respective institutes. In the spirit of the Jubilee, you give thanks to God for the good he has wrought and, at the same time, you ask his forgiveness for the failings that may have marked the life of your religious families. You are asking yourselves at the beginning of a new millennium about the most effective ways to contribute, while respecting your foundational charism, to the new evangelization by reaching out to the many people who still do not know Christ. With this in mind, your fervent prayer rises to the Lord of the harvest that he will awaken in the hearts of many young men and women the desire to give themselves totally to the cause of Christ and the Gospel.
I gladly join in your prayer. Having been a pilgrim in so many parts of the world, I have been able to appreciate the prophetic value of your presence for all Christian people. Men and women of this generation have a great need to meet the Lord and his liberating message of salvation. On this occasion I am also pleased to note the example of generous Gospel dedication offered by your countless brothers and sisters, who often work in difficult situations. In Christ's name they devote themselves unreservedly to serving the poor, the outcast and the lowly.
Many of them, even in recent years, have paid with the supreme witness of blood for their choice of fidelity to Christ and to man, without surrender or compromise. They deserve the tribute of our admiration and gratitude!
3. Jesus' presentation in the temple sheds particular light on the choice you have made, dear brothers and sisters. Do you too not live the mystery of the expectation of Christ's coming, expressed and as it were personified by Simeon and Anna? Do not your vows express with particular intensity that expectation of meeting the Messiah which these elderly Israelites cherished in their hearts? Old Testament figures standing on the threshold of the New, they reveal an inner attitude that is never out-of-date. You have made it your own, as you look with expectation for the second coming of the Bridegroom.
Eschatological witness is part of your vocation. The vows of poverty, obedience and chastity for the kingdom of God are a message that you proclaim to the world about man's ultimate destiny. It is a valuable message: "Those who vigilantly await the fulfilment of Christ's promises are able to bring hope to their brothers and sisters who are often discouraged and pessimistic about the future" (Vita consecrata, n. 27).
4. "It had been revealed to him by the Spirit" (Lk 2: 26). What the Evangelist said of Simeon can easily be applied to you whom the Spirit leads towards a special experience of Christ. By the renewing power of his love, he wants to make you effective witnesses to conversion, penance and new life.
To have your heart, affections, interests and feelings centred on Jesus is the most important aspect of the gift that the Spirit works within you. He conforms you to the chaste, poor and obedient Jesus. And the evangelical counsels, far from being an impoverishing renunciation, are a choice that frees a person for a fuller realization of his potential.
The Evangelist notes that the prophetess Anna "did not depart from the temple" (Lk 2: 37). The first vocation of those who endeavour to follow Jesus with an undivided heart is "to be with him" (Mk 3: 14), to be in communion with him, listening to his words in constant praise of God (cf. Lk 2: 38). I am thinking at this moment of prayer, particularly liturgical prayer, which rises from so many monasteries and communities of consecrated life in every corner of the earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, make your praise resound in the Church with humility and constancy, and the hymn of your life will echo deeply in the heart of the world.
5. The joyful experience of meeting Jesus, the exultation and praise which flow from the heart, cannot remain hidden. The service given to the Gospel by institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, in the variety of forms which the Holy Spirit has stirred up in the Church, is always born of an experience of love and a living encounter with Christ. It arises from sharing his efforts and his ceaseless offering to the Father.
Invited to leave everything to follow Christ, you, consecrated men and women, no longer define your life by family, by profession or by earthly interests, and you choose the Lord as your only identifying mark. Thus you acquire a new family identity. The divine Teacher's words apply particularly to you: "Here are my mother and my brethren" (cf. Mk 3: 35). The invitation to renunciation, as you know well, is not meant to leave you "without a family" but to make you the first and distinctive members of the "new family", a witness and prophetic example for all whom God wishes to call and bring into his house.
6. Dear friends, at every moment of your life may the Virgin Mary be close to you as an example and support. Simeon disclosed to her the mystery of the Son and the sword that would "pierce through your own soul also" (Lk 2: 35). Today I entrust to her those of you here and all consecrated persons who are celebrating their Jubilee.
Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ
and of the Church,
look upon the men and women
whom your Son has called to follow
him in total consecration to his love:
may they always let the Spirit
guide them;
may they be tireless in giving of
themselves and in serving the Lord,
so as to be faithful witnesses to
the joy that flows from the Gospel,
and preachers of the Truth
that leads human beings
to the springs of immortal life.
Amen!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy Father's greetings at end of Mass
I greet the consecrated persons present on this Jubilee day. I also extend my cordial greetings to the French-speaking pilgrims. May everyone give thanks for the grace of consecrated life! I bless you all.
I warmly welcome the consecrated men and women, and the pilgrims and visitors from the English-speaking countries. I invoke almighty God's blessings and grace upon you so that you may grow in friendship with God, who alone can fulfil the deepest aspirations of the human heart.
I very cordially greet the consecrated men and women who have come to Rome from German-speaking countries to celebrate the Great Jubilee and to renew their vows. May this gathering become a source of inner joy and enthusiasm for their life according to the evangelical counsels.
I extend a heartfelt greeting to the consecrated persons as well as to the Spanish-speaking pilgrims who have taken part in this celebration. With the grace of the Jubilee may you proclaim Christ by your witness of life and your apostolic zeal.
I cordially greet all the orders, congregations, societies of apostolic life and institutes present for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in Rome. I thank God with you for the gift of your vocation to the consecrated life, which is bearing abundant fruits of holiness and apostolic zeal in our homeland and beyond its borders.
I also greet all the pilgrims who have come to the Eternal City.
JUBILEE OF CONSECRATED LIFE
Wednesday, 2 February 2000
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. "There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.... And there was a prophetess Anna" (Lk 2: 25-26, 36).
These two figures, Simeon and Anna, witnessed the presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. The Evangelist stresses that each of them, in his or her way, is a precursor of the event. Both express the longing for the Messiah's coming. Both in some way bear within them the mystery of the temple in Jerusalem. Thus they are both present there - in a way that can be called providential - when Jesus' parents take him to the temple, 40 days after his birth, to offer him to the Lord.
Simeon and Anna represent the expectation of all Israel. It is granted to them to meet the One whom the prophets had foretold for centuries. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the two elderly people see the long-awaited Messiah in the Child that Mary and Joseph have brought to the temple as prescribed by the law of the Lord.
Simeon's words have a prophetic tone: the old man looks at the past and foretells the future.
He says: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for mine eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2: 29-32). Simeon expresses the fulfilment of the expectation that was his reason for living. The same thing occurs with the prophetess Anna, who rejoices at the sight of the Child and speaks of him "to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Lk 2: 38).
2. Every year a vast throng of consecrated persons assembles at the Tomb of Peter for today's liturgical feast. Today, this throng has become a multitude, because consecrated persons have come here from every part of the world. Dear brothers and sisters, today you are celebrating your Jubilee, the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. I welcome you with the Gospel embrace of peace!
I greet the men and women Superiors of the various congregations and institutes, and I greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, who have wished to experience the Jubilee by crossing the threshold of the Holy Door in the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica. In you I see all your brothers and sisters throughout the world: my affectionate greeting also goes to them.
Assembled at the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles in this Jubilee Year, you wish to express with special emphasis the deep bond that links consecrated life to the Successor of Peter. You are here to place upon the altar of the Lord the hopes and problems of your respective institutes. In the spirit of the Jubilee, you give thanks to God for the good he has wrought and, at the same time, you ask his forgiveness for the failings that may have marked the life of your religious families. You are asking yourselves at the beginning of a new millennium about the most effective ways to contribute, while respecting your foundational charism, to the new evangelization by reaching out to the many people who still do not know Christ. With this in mind, your fervent prayer rises to the Lord of the harvest that he will awaken in the hearts of many young men and women the desire to give themselves totally to the cause of Christ and the Gospel.
I gladly join in your prayer. Having been a pilgrim in so many parts of the world, I have been able to appreciate the prophetic value of your presence for all Christian people. Men and women of this generation have a great need to meet the Lord and his liberating message of salvation. On this occasion I am also pleased to note the example of generous Gospel dedication offered by your countless brothers and sisters, who often work in difficult situations. In Christ's name they devote themselves unreservedly to serving the poor, the outcast and the lowly.
Many of them, even in recent years, have paid with the supreme witness of blood for their choice of fidelity to Christ and to man, without surrender or compromise. They deserve the tribute of our admiration and gratitude!
3. Jesus' presentation in the temple sheds particular light on the choice you have made, dear brothers and sisters. Do you too not live the mystery of the expectation of Christ's coming, expressed and as it were personified by Simeon and Anna? Do not your vows express with particular intensity that expectation of meeting the Messiah which these elderly Israelites cherished in their hearts? Old Testament figures standing on the threshold of the New, they reveal an inner attitude that is never out-of-date. You have made it your own, as you look with expectation for the second coming of the Bridegroom.
Eschatological witness is part of your vocation. The vows of poverty, obedience and chastity for the kingdom of God are a message that you proclaim to the world about man's ultimate destiny. It is a valuable message: "Those who vigilantly await the fulfilment of Christ's promises are able to bring hope to their brothers and sisters who are often discouraged and pessimistic about the future" (Vita consecrata, n. 27).
4. "It had been revealed to him by the Spirit" (Lk 2: 26). What the Evangelist said of Simeon can easily be applied to you whom the Spirit leads towards a special experience of Christ. By the renewing power of his love, he wants to make you effective witnesses to conversion, penance and new life.
To have your heart, affections, interests and feelings centred on Jesus is the most important aspect of the gift that the Spirit works within you. He conforms you to the chaste, poor and obedient Jesus. And the evangelical counsels, far from being an impoverishing renunciation, are a choice that frees a person for a fuller realization of his potential.
The Evangelist notes that the prophetess Anna "did not depart from the temple" (Lk 2: 37). The first vocation of those who endeavour to follow Jesus with an undivided heart is "to be with him" (Mk 3: 14), to be in communion with him, listening to his words in constant praise of God (cf. Lk 2: 38). I am thinking at this moment of prayer, particularly liturgical prayer, which rises from so many monasteries and communities of consecrated life in every corner of the earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, make your praise resound in the Church with humility and constancy, and the hymn of your life will echo deeply in the heart of the world.
5. The joyful experience of meeting Jesus, the exultation and praise which flow from the heart, cannot remain hidden. The service given to the Gospel by institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, in the variety of forms which the Holy Spirit has stirred up in the Church, is always born of an experience of love and a living encounter with Christ. It arises from sharing his efforts and his ceaseless offering to the Father.
Invited to leave everything to follow Christ, you, consecrated men and women, no longer define your life by family, by profession or by earthly interests, and you choose the Lord as your only identifying mark. Thus you acquire a new family identity. The divine Teacher's words apply particularly to you: "Here are my mother and my brethren" (cf. Mk 3: 35). The invitation to renunciation, as you know well, is not meant to leave you "without a family" but to make you the first and distinctive members of the "new family", a witness and prophetic example for all whom God wishes to call and bring into his house.
6. Dear friends, at every moment of your life may the Virgin Mary be close to you as an example and support. Simeon disclosed to her the mystery of the Son and the sword that would "pierce through your own soul also" (Lk 2: 35). Today I entrust to her those of you here and all consecrated persons who are celebrating their Jubilee.
Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ
and of the Church,
look upon the men and women
whom your Son has called to follow
him in total consecration to his love:
may they always let the Spirit
guide them;
may they be tireless in giving of
themselves and in serving the Lord,
so as to be faithful witnesses to
the joy that flows from the Gospel,
and preachers of the Truth
that leads human beings
to the springs of immortal life.
Amen!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy Father's greetings at end of Mass
I greet the consecrated persons present on this Jubilee day. I also extend my cordial greetings to the French-speaking pilgrims. May everyone give thanks for the grace of consecrated life! I bless you all.
I warmly welcome the consecrated men and women, and the pilgrims and visitors from the English-speaking countries. I invoke almighty God's blessings and grace upon you so that you may grow in friendship with God, who alone can fulfil the deepest aspirations of the human heart.
I very cordially greet the consecrated men and women who have come to Rome from German-speaking countries to celebrate the Great Jubilee and to renew their vows. May this gathering become a source of inner joy and enthusiasm for their life according to the evangelical counsels.
I extend a heartfelt greeting to the consecrated persons as well as to the Spanish-speaking pilgrims who have taken part in this celebration. With the grace of the Jubilee may you proclaim Christ by your witness of life and your apostolic zeal.
I cordially greet all the orders, congregations, societies of apostolic life and institutes present for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in Rome. I thank God with you for the gift of your vocation to the consecrated life, which is bearing abundant fruits of holiness and apostolic zeal in our homeland and beyond its borders.
I also greet all the pilgrims who have come to the Eternal City.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE III WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
READ BY CARDINAL EDUARDO MARTÍNEZ SOMALO
Tuesday, 2 February 1999
1. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32).
The Gospel passage we have just heard, taken from St Luke's account, recalls the event that took place in Jerusalem on the 40th day after the birth of Jesus: his presentation in the temple. This is one of the occasions when the liturgical season reflects historical time: today, in fact, 40 days have passed since 25 December, the Solemnity of the Lord's Birth.
This fact is not without significance. It means that the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple creates a sort of "hinge" which separates and joins the initial phase of his life on earth, his birth, and its fulfilment, which is his death and resurrection. Today we leave the Christmas season behind and move towards the season of Lent, which begins in 15 days with Ash Wednesday.
The prophetic words spoken by the aged Simeon shed light on the mission of the Child brought to the temple by his parents: "Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against ... that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35). To Mary Simeon said: "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Lk 2:35). The hymns of Bethlehem have now faded and the cross of Golgotha can already be glimpsed; this happens in the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered. The event we are commemorating today is thus a bridge as it were, linking the two most important seasons of the Church's year.
2. The second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, offers an interesting commentary on this event. The author makes an observation which leads us to reflect: commenting on Christ's priesthood, he points out how the Son of God "is concerned ... with the descendants of Abraham" (2:16). Abraham is the father of believers, so all believers are in someway included in this phrase "descendants of Abraham" for whom the Child, in Mary's arms, is presented in the temple. The event that occurs before the eyes of those few privileged witnesses is an early prediction of the sacrifice of the Cross.
The biblical text states that the Son of God, in solidarity with mankind, shares their condition of weakness and frailty to the end, that is, until his death, in order to bring about a radical liberation of humanity by once and for all defeating the adversary, the devil, whose power over human beings and every creature lies in death itself (cf. Heb 2:14-15).
With this wonderful synthesis, the inspired author expresses the whole truth about the world's redemption. He highlights the importance of the priestly sacrifice of Christ, who "had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people" (Heb 2:17).
Precisely because it shows the profound link uniting the mystery of the Incarnation with that of the Redemption, the Letter to the Hebrews is an appropriate commentary on the liturgical event we are celebrating today. It highlights Christ's redemptive mission, in which the whole People of the New Covenant take part.
Dear consecrated persons who fill the Vatican Basilica and whom I greet with great affection, you share in this mission in a particular way. This Feast of the Presentation is in a special way your feast: in fact, we are celebrating the Third Day for Consecrated Life.
3. I am grateful to Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at this Eucharist. Through him, I greet and thank those who in Rome and throughout the world are working at the service of consecrated life.
At this time my thoughts turn with special affection to all consecrated persons in every part of the world: they are the men and women who have chosen to follow Christ in a radical way, in poverty, chastity and obedience. I am thinking of the hospitals, the schools, the recreation centres where they work with total dedication to the service of their brethren for the sake of God's kingdom. I am thinking of the thousands of monasteries in which communion with God is lived in an intense rhythm of prayer and work. I am thinking of the consecrated lay persons, discreet witnesses in the world, and of so many who are in the front lines among the poor and the marginalized.
How can we not remember here the men and women religious who, even recently, have shed their blood while performing an apostolic service that was often difficult and uncomfortable? Faithful to their spiritual and charitable mission, they offered their lives in union with Christ's sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. Today, the Church's prayer is dedicated to every consecrated person, but especially to them. She gives thanks for the gift of this vocation and ardently invokes it: indeed, consecrated persons make a crucial contribution to the work of evangelization, bringing to it the prophetic power which comes from the radicalness of their evangelical choice.
4. The Church lives on event and mystery. Today she draws life from the event of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, seeking to understand the mystery it holds. In a way, though, the Church draws each day from this event in Christ's life, meditating on its spiritual meaning. In fact, every evening the elderly Simeon's words which have just been proclaimed echo in churches and monasteries, chapels and homes throughout the world:
"Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2:29-32).
So prayed Simeon, who in his old age had been granted to see the promises of the Old Covenant fulfilled. So prays the Church, which, sparing no effort, does all she can to bring the gift of the New Covenant to all peoples.
In the mysterious encounter between Simeon and Mary, the Old and New Testaments are joined. Together the ageing prophet and the young mother give thanks for this Light which has kept the darkness from prevailing. It is the Light which shines in the heart of human life: Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, "a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of his people Israel".
Amen!
READ BY CARDINAL EDUARDO MARTÍNEZ SOMALO
Tuesday, 2 February 1999
1. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32).
The Gospel passage we have just heard, taken from St Luke's account, recalls the event that took place in Jerusalem on the 40th day after the birth of Jesus: his presentation in the temple. This is one of the occasions when the liturgical season reflects historical time: today, in fact, 40 days have passed since 25 December, the Solemnity of the Lord's Birth.
This fact is not without significance. It means that the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple creates a sort of "hinge" which separates and joins the initial phase of his life on earth, his birth, and its fulfilment, which is his death and resurrection. Today we leave the Christmas season behind and move towards the season of Lent, which begins in 15 days with Ash Wednesday.
The prophetic words spoken by the aged Simeon shed light on the mission of the Child brought to the temple by his parents: "Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against ... that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35). To Mary Simeon said: "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Lk 2:35). The hymns of Bethlehem have now faded and the cross of Golgotha can already be glimpsed; this happens in the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered. The event we are commemorating today is thus a bridge as it were, linking the two most important seasons of the Church's year.
2. The second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, offers an interesting commentary on this event. The author makes an observation which leads us to reflect: commenting on Christ's priesthood, he points out how the Son of God "is concerned ... with the descendants of Abraham" (2:16). Abraham is the father of believers, so all believers are in someway included in this phrase "descendants of Abraham" for whom the Child, in Mary's arms, is presented in the temple. The event that occurs before the eyes of those few privileged witnesses is an early prediction of the sacrifice of the Cross.
The biblical text states that the Son of God, in solidarity with mankind, shares their condition of weakness and frailty to the end, that is, until his death, in order to bring about a radical liberation of humanity by once and for all defeating the adversary, the devil, whose power over human beings and every creature lies in death itself (cf. Heb 2:14-15).
With this wonderful synthesis, the inspired author expresses the whole truth about the world's redemption. He highlights the importance of the priestly sacrifice of Christ, who "had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people" (Heb 2:17).
Precisely because it shows the profound link uniting the mystery of the Incarnation with that of the Redemption, the Letter to the Hebrews is an appropriate commentary on the liturgical event we are celebrating today. It highlights Christ's redemptive mission, in which the whole People of the New Covenant take part.
Dear consecrated persons who fill the Vatican Basilica and whom I greet with great affection, you share in this mission in a particular way. This Feast of the Presentation is in a special way your feast: in fact, we are celebrating the Third Day for Consecrated Life.
3. I am grateful to Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding at this Eucharist. Through him, I greet and thank those who in Rome and throughout the world are working at the service of consecrated life.
At this time my thoughts turn with special affection to all consecrated persons in every part of the world: they are the men and women who have chosen to follow Christ in a radical way, in poverty, chastity and obedience. I am thinking of the hospitals, the schools, the recreation centres where they work with total dedication to the service of their brethren for the sake of God's kingdom. I am thinking of the thousands of monasteries in which communion with God is lived in an intense rhythm of prayer and work. I am thinking of the consecrated lay persons, discreet witnesses in the world, and of so many who are in the front lines among the poor and the marginalized.
How can we not remember here the men and women religious who, even recently, have shed their blood while performing an apostolic service that was often difficult and uncomfortable? Faithful to their spiritual and charitable mission, they offered their lives in union with Christ's sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. Today, the Church's prayer is dedicated to every consecrated person, but especially to them. She gives thanks for the gift of this vocation and ardently invokes it: indeed, consecrated persons make a crucial contribution to the work of evangelization, bringing to it the prophetic power which comes from the radicalness of their evangelical choice.
4. The Church lives on event and mystery. Today she draws life from the event of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, seeking to understand the mystery it holds. In a way, though, the Church draws each day from this event in Christ's life, meditating on its spiritual meaning. In fact, every evening the elderly Simeon's words which have just been proclaimed echo in churches and monasteries, chapels and homes throughout the world:
"Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2:29-32).
So prayed Simeon, who in his old age had been granted to see the promises of the Old Covenant fulfilled. So prays the Church, which, sparing no effort, does all she can to bring the gift of the New Covenant to all peoples.
In the mysterious encounter between Simeon and Mary, the Old and New Testaments are joined. Together the ageing prophet and the young mother give thanks for this Light which has kept the darkness from prevailing. It is the Light which shines in the heart of human life: Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, "a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of his people Israel".
Amen!
Monday, April 2, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE II WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Monday, 2 February 1998
1. Lumen ad revelationem gentium! “Light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32).
These words resound in the temple of Jerusalem, as 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph prepare to “present him to the Lord” (Lk 2:22). By emphasizing the contrast between the modest, humble action of the two parents and the glory of the event as perceived by Simeon and Anna, the Evangelist Luke apparently wants to suggest that the temple itself is waiting for the Child’s coming. In fact, in the prophetic attitude of the two elderly people, the entire Old Covenant expresses the joy of the meeting with the Redeemer.
Simeon and Anna go to the temple both longing for the Messiah, both inspired by the Holy Spirit, as Mary and Joseph take Jesus there in obedience to the precepts of the law. At the sight of the Child, they sense that it is truly he, the Awaited One, and Simeon, as if in ecstasy, proclaims: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which your have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32).
2. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
With his inspired words, Simeon, a man of the Old Covenant, a man of the temple of Jerusalem, expresses his conviction that this Light is meant not only for Israel, but also for pagans and all the peoples of the earth. With him, the “aged” world receives in its arms the splendour of God’s eternal “youth”. However, the shadow of the Cross already looms in the background, because the darkness will reject that Light. Indeed, turning to Mary, Simeon prophesies: “This child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35).
3. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
The words of Simeon’s canticle ring out in many temples of the New Covenant, where every evening Christ’s disciples finish the Liturgy of the Hours by praying Compline. In this way the Church, the people of the New Covenant, takes as it were the last word of the Old Covenant and proclaims the fulfilment of the divine promise, announcing that the “light for revelation to the Gentiles” has spread over all the earth and is present everywhere in Christ’s redemptive work.
Together with the Canticle of Simeon, the Liturgy of the Hours has us repeat Christ’s last words on the Cross: In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum — “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (cf. Lk 23:46). It also invites us to contemplate with wonder and gratitude the saving action of Christ, “light for revelation to the Gentiles”, for the sake of mankind: Redemisti nos, Domine, Deus veritatis — “You have redeemed us, Lord, God of truth”.
In this way the Church proclaims the fulfilment of the world’s Redemption, awaited by the prophets and announced by Simeon in the temple of Jerusalem.
4. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
Today, with our lighted candles, we too go to meet him who is “the Light of the world” and we welcome him in his Church with the full enthusiasm of our baptismal faith. Everyone who sincerely professes this faith is promised the final, definitive “meeting” with the Lord in his kingdom. In Polish tradition, as well in that of other nations, these blessed candles have a special meaning because, after they have been brought home, they are lit in times of danger, during storms and disasters, as a sign of entrusting oneself, one’s family and all one possesses to God’s protection. This is the reason why these candles are called gromnice in Polish, that is, candles which avert lightning and protect against evil, and why this feast is called Candlemas (literally: St Mary of the Candles [“gromnice”]).
Even more eloquent is the custom of putting the candle blessed on this day in the hands of a Christian on his deathbed, that it may illumine his last steps on the way to eternity. This practice is meant to show that, by following the light of faith, the dying person is waiting to enter the eternal dwelling place, where there is no longer “need of light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light” (cf. Rv 22:5).
Today’s responsorial psalm also refers to this entry into the kingdom of light: “Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the Lord of glory may come in” (Ps 23 [24]:7).
These words refer directly to Jesus Christ, who enters the temple of the Old Covenant in his parents’ arms, but we can also apply them to every believer who crosses the threshold of eternity, carried in the arms of the Church. Believers accompany his last journey by praying: “Let perpetual light shine on him!”, so that the angels and saints may welcome him, and Christ, Redeemer of man, may surround him with his eternal light.
5. Dear brothers and sisters, today we celebrate the Second Day of Consecrated Life, which is meant to arouse renewed concern in the Church for the gift of vocations to the consecrated life. Dear men and women religious, dear members of secular institutes and societies of apostolic life, the Lord has called you to follow him in a closer and more exceptional way! In our times, dominated by secularism and materialism, by your total and definitive gift of self to Christ you are a sign of an alternative life to the logic of the world, because it is radically inspired by the Gospel and oriented to future eschatological realities. Always remain faithful to this special vocation!
Today I would like once again to express my esteem and affection to you. I first greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding over this Eucharistic celebration. Together with him I greet the members of that dicastery and everyone who actively serves consecrated life. I am thinking especially of you, young aspirants to the consecrated life, of you, men and women already professed in various religious congregations and secular institutes, of you who because of advanced age or illness are called to offer the valuable contribution of your sufferings to the cause of evangelization. To you all, I repeat in the words of the Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata: “You know the one in whom you have put your trust (cf. 2 Tm 1:12): give him everything! ... Live faithfully your commitment to God, in mutual edification and mutual support.... Do not forget that you, in a very special way, can and must say that you not only belong to Christ but that ‘you have become Christ’” (n. 109).
The lighted candles carried by each person in the first part of this solemn liturgy show the watchful expectation of the Lord which should mark every believer’s life, and particularly the life of those whom the Lord calls to a special mission in the Church. They are a strong reminder to bear witness in the world to Christ, the light that never fades: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:16).
Dear brothers and sisters, may your total fidelity to the poor, chaste and obedient Christ be a source of light and hope for everyone you meet.
6. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
May Mary, who was prompt in obedience, courageous in poverty and receptive in fruitful virginity as she fulfilled the Father’s will, obtain from Jesus that “all who have received the gift of following him in the consecrated life may be enabled to bear witness to that gift by their transfigured lives, as they joyfully make their way with all their brothers and sisters towards our heavenly homeland and the light that will never grow dim” (Vita consecrata, n. 112).
Praised be Jesus Christ!
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Monday, 2 February 1998
1. Lumen ad revelationem gentium! “Light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32).
These words resound in the temple of Jerusalem, as 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph prepare to “present him to the Lord” (Lk 2:22). By emphasizing the contrast between the modest, humble action of the two parents and the glory of the event as perceived by Simeon and Anna, the Evangelist Luke apparently wants to suggest that the temple itself is waiting for the Child’s coming. In fact, in the prophetic attitude of the two elderly people, the entire Old Covenant expresses the joy of the meeting with the Redeemer.
Simeon and Anna go to the temple both longing for the Messiah, both inspired by the Holy Spirit, as Mary and Joseph take Jesus there in obedience to the precepts of the law. At the sight of the Child, they sense that it is truly he, the Awaited One, and Simeon, as if in ecstasy, proclaims: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which your have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32).
2. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
With his inspired words, Simeon, a man of the Old Covenant, a man of the temple of Jerusalem, expresses his conviction that this Light is meant not only for Israel, but also for pagans and all the peoples of the earth. With him, the “aged” world receives in its arms the splendour of God’s eternal “youth”. However, the shadow of the Cross already looms in the background, because the darkness will reject that Light. Indeed, turning to Mary, Simeon prophesies: “This child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35).
3. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
The words of Simeon’s canticle ring out in many temples of the New Covenant, where every evening Christ’s disciples finish the Liturgy of the Hours by praying Compline. In this way the Church, the people of the New Covenant, takes as it were the last word of the Old Covenant and proclaims the fulfilment of the divine promise, announcing that the “light for revelation to the Gentiles” has spread over all the earth and is present everywhere in Christ’s redemptive work.
Together with the Canticle of Simeon, the Liturgy of the Hours has us repeat Christ’s last words on the Cross: In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum — “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (cf. Lk 23:46). It also invites us to contemplate with wonder and gratitude the saving action of Christ, “light for revelation to the Gentiles”, for the sake of mankind: Redemisti nos, Domine, Deus veritatis — “You have redeemed us, Lord, God of truth”.
In this way the Church proclaims the fulfilment of the world’s Redemption, awaited by the prophets and announced by Simeon in the temple of Jerusalem.
4. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
Today, with our lighted candles, we too go to meet him who is “the Light of the world” and we welcome him in his Church with the full enthusiasm of our baptismal faith. Everyone who sincerely professes this faith is promised the final, definitive “meeting” with the Lord in his kingdom. In Polish tradition, as well in that of other nations, these blessed candles have a special meaning because, after they have been brought home, they are lit in times of danger, during storms and disasters, as a sign of entrusting oneself, one’s family and all one possesses to God’s protection. This is the reason why these candles are called gromnice in Polish, that is, candles which avert lightning and protect against evil, and why this feast is called Candlemas (literally: St Mary of the Candles [“gromnice”]).
Even more eloquent is the custom of putting the candle blessed on this day in the hands of a Christian on his deathbed, that it may illumine his last steps on the way to eternity. This practice is meant to show that, by following the light of faith, the dying person is waiting to enter the eternal dwelling place, where there is no longer “need of light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light” (cf. Rv 22:5).
Today’s responsorial psalm also refers to this entry into the kingdom of light: “Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the Lord of glory may come in” (Ps 23 [24]:7).
These words refer directly to Jesus Christ, who enters the temple of the Old Covenant in his parents’ arms, but we can also apply them to every believer who crosses the threshold of eternity, carried in the arms of the Church. Believers accompany his last journey by praying: “Let perpetual light shine on him!”, so that the angels and saints may welcome him, and Christ, Redeemer of man, may surround him with his eternal light.
5. Dear brothers and sisters, today we celebrate the Second Day of Consecrated Life, which is meant to arouse renewed concern in the Church for the gift of vocations to the consecrated life. Dear men and women religious, dear members of secular institutes and societies of apostolic life, the Lord has called you to follow him in a closer and more exceptional way! In our times, dominated by secularism and materialism, by your total and definitive gift of self to Christ you are a sign of an alternative life to the logic of the world, because it is radically inspired by the Gospel and oriented to future eschatological realities. Always remain faithful to this special vocation!
Today I would like once again to express my esteem and affection to you. I first greet Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who is presiding over this Eucharistic celebration. Together with him I greet the members of that dicastery and everyone who actively serves consecrated life. I am thinking especially of you, young aspirants to the consecrated life, of you, men and women already professed in various religious congregations and secular institutes, of you who because of advanced age or illness are called to offer the valuable contribution of your sufferings to the cause of evangelization. To you all, I repeat in the words of the Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata: “You know the one in whom you have put your trust (cf. 2 Tm 1:12): give him everything! ... Live faithfully your commitment to God, in mutual edification and mutual support.... Do not forget that you, in a very special way, can and must say that you not only belong to Christ but that ‘you have become Christ’” (n. 109).
The lighted candles carried by each person in the first part of this solemn liturgy show the watchful expectation of the Lord which should mark every believer’s life, and particularly the life of those whom the Lord calls to a special mission in the Church. They are a strong reminder to bear witness in the world to Christ, the light that never fades: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:16).
Dear brothers and sisters, may your total fidelity to the poor, chaste and obedient Christ be a source of light and hope for everyone you meet.
6. Lumen ad revelationem gentium!
May Mary, who was prompt in obedience, courageous in poverty and receptive in fruitful virginity as she fulfilled the Father’s will, obtain from Jesus that “all who have received the gift of following him in the consecrated life may be enabled to bear witness to that gift by their transfigured lives, as they joyfully make their way with all their brothers and sisters towards our heavenly homeland and the light that will never grow dim” (Vita consecrata, n. 112).
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE I WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE I WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear consecrated persons!
1. The celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, which will be observed for the first time on 2 February, is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels and, at the same time, is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervor which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord.
The mission of the consecrated life in the present and in the future of the Church, now at the threshold of the third millenium, concerns not merely those who have received this special charism, but the entire Christian community. In the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata issued last year, I wrote: "In effect, the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission, since it 'manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling' and the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her one Spouse" (VC 3). Thus, I would like to renew the invitation to consecrated persons to look to the future with confidence, relying on the fidelity of God and the power of his grace, who is always able to accomplish new wonders: "You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things" (VC 110).
The reasons for the World Day for Consecrated Life
2. The purpose of such a day is threefold: in the first place, it answers the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the cause of the Kingdom. We should never forget that consecrated life, before being a commitment of men and women, is a gift which comes from on high, an initiative of the Father "who draws his creatures to himself with a special love and for a special mission" (VC 17). This look of special love profoundly touches the heart of the one called, who is urged by the Holy Spirit to place himself or herself in the footsteps of Christ, in a particular way of following him, by means of assuming the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. A stupendous gift!
"What would become of the world if there were no religious?" St. Teresa rightly asked herself (Autobiography, ch. 32, n. 11). This is a question which brings us to give unceasing thanks to the Lord, who by this singular gift of the Spirit continues to enliven and sustain the Church in its demanding journey through this world.
3. In the second place, this day is intended to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God.
As the Council underlined (LG 44) and as I have had occasion to emphasize in the above-mentioned Apostolic Exhortation, consecrated life "'constitutes a closer imitation and an abiding re-enactment in the Church' of the way of life which Jesus, the supreme Consecrated One and missionary of the Father for the sake of his Kingdom, embraced and proposed to his disciples" (VC 22). It is thus a special and living memory of his being Son, who makes of his Father his only love -- his virginity; who finds in him his exclusive richness -- his poverty; and who has, in the will of his Father, the "food" by which he is nourished (cf. Jn 4:34) -- his obedience.
This form of life, embraced by Christ and made present particularly by consecrated persons, is of great importance for the Church, called in every member to live the same upward striving toward God who is All, following Christ in the light and power of the Holy Spirit.
The life of special consecration, in its many forms, is thus at the service of the baptismal consecration of all the faithful. In contemplating the gift of consecrated life, the Church contemplates her own intimate vocation of belonging only to her Lord, desirous of being in his eyes "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:27).
The fittingness of dedicating a special World Day is evident, then, for it assures that the doctrine about consecrated life will be more widely and deeply meditated and assimilated by all members of the People of God.
4. The third reason regards consecrated persons directly. They are invited to celebrate together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.
Immersed in a world which is often agitated and distracted, taken up sometimes by the press of responsibilities, consecrated persons also will be helped by the celebration of this annual World Day to return to the sources of their vocation, to take stock of their own lives, to confirm the commitment of their own consecration. In this way, they will be able to give witness with joy to the men and women of our time, in diverse situations, that the Lord is the Love who is able to fill the heart of the human person.
Truly there is great urgency that the consecrated life show itself ever more "full of joy and of the Holy Spirit," that it forge ahead dynamically in the paths of mission, that it be backed up by the strength of lived witness, because "modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi 41).
On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple
5. The World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on the feast which commemorates the presentation which Mary and Joseph made of Jesus in the temple "to present him to the Lord" (Lk 2:22).
This Gospel scene reveals the mystery of Jesus, the One consecrated by the Father, come into the world to carry out his will faithfully (cf. Heb 10:5-7). Simeon points to Jesus as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32) and by a prophetic word foretells the supreme offering of Jesus to the Father and his final victory (Lk 2:32-35).
In this way the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total offering of one's life for all those who are called to show forth in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels "the characteristic features of Jesus -- the chaste, poor and obedient one" (VC 1).
Mary is associated with the presentation of Christ.
The Virgin Mother who carries Jesus to the temple so that he can be offered to the Father expresses very well the figure of the Church who continues to offer her sons and daughters to the heavenly Father, associating them with the one oblation of Christ, cause and model of all consecration in the Church.
For some years now, in the Church of Rome and in other dioceses, the feast of 2 February has almost spontaneously brought numerous members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life around the Pope and diocesan pastors in order to demonstrate together, in communion with the entire People of God, the gift and commitment of their call, the variety of charisms of consecrated life, and their special place within the community of believers.
It is my wish that this experience be extended to the whole Church, so that the celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life may gather consecrated persons together with other faithful in order to sing with the Virgin Mary the marvels which the Lord accomplishes in so many of his sons and daughters, and to manifest to all that being a "people consecrated to himself" (cf. Deut 28:9) is the condition of all those who are redeemed by Christ.
Fruits hoped for the mission of the whole Church
6. Dear brothers and sisters, as I entrust to the maternal protection of Mary the institution of this World Day, I deeply hope that it bear abundant fruits for the holiness and the mission of the Church. May it help, in a special way, to heighten in the Christian community an esteem for vocations of special consecration, to stimulate ever more intense prayer for obtaining them from the Lord, in this way helping to mature in young people and families a generous willingness to receive them as gift. The life of the Church as a whole will draw benefit from this and so will the new evangelization.
I trust that this World Day of prayer and reflection will help the particular Churches to treasure ever more the gift of consecrated life and to be measured by its message, to find the proper and fruitful balance between action and contemplation, between prayer and charity, and between commitment in the present time and eschatological hope.
May the Virgin Mary, who had the sublime privilege of presenting to the Father his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a pure and holy oblation, obtain for us that we may constantly be open and welcoming in face of the great works which He does not cease to accomplish for the good of the Church and of all of humanity.
With these sentiments, and with the prayer that consecrated persons may persevere with joy in their vocation, I impart to all the Apostolic Blessing.
Vatican City, 6 January 1997.
OF THE HOLY FATHER
JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE I WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear consecrated persons!
1. The celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, which will be observed for the first time on 2 February, is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels and, at the same time, is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervor which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord.
The mission of the consecrated life in the present and in the future of the Church, now at the threshold of the third millenium, concerns not merely those who have received this special charism, but the entire Christian community. In the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata issued last year, I wrote: "In effect, the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission, since it 'manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling' and the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her one Spouse" (VC 3). Thus, I would like to renew the invitation to consecrated persons to look to the future with confidence, relying on the fidelity of God and the power of his grace, who is always able to accomplish new wonders: "You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things" (VC 110).
The reasons for the World Day for Consecrated Life
2. The purpose of such a day is threefold: in the first place, it answers the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the cause of the Kingdom. We should never forget that consecrated life, before being a commitment of men and women, is a gift which comes from on high, an initiative of the Father "who draws his creatures to himself with a special love and for a special mission" (VC 17). This look of special love profoundly touches the heart of the one called, who is urged by the Holy Spirit to place himself or herself in the footsteps of Christ, in a particular way of following him, by means of assuming the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. A stupendous gift!
"What would become of the world if there were no religious?" St. Teresa rightly asked herself (Autobiography, ch. 32, n. 11). This is a question which brings us to give unceasing thanks to the Lord, who by this singular gift of the Spirit continues to enliven and sustain the Church in its demanding journey through this world.
3. In the second place, this day is intended to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God.
As the Council underlined (LG 44) and as I have had occasion to emphasize in the above-mentioned Apostolic Exhortation, consecrated life "'constitutes a closer imitation and an abiding re-enactment in the Church' of the way of life which Jesus, the supreme Consecrated One and missionary of the Father for the sake of his Kingdom, embraced and proposed to his disciples" (VC 22). It is thus a special and living memory of his being Son, who makes of his Father his only love -- his virginity; who finds in him his exclusive richness -- his poverty; and who has, in the will of his Father, the "food" by which he is nourished (cf. Jn 4:34) -- his obedience.
This form of life, embraced by Christ and made present particularly by consecrated persons, is of great importance for the Church, called in every member to live the same upward striving toward God who is All, following Christ in the light and power of the Holy Spirit.
The life of special consecration, in its many forms, is thus at the service of the baptismal consecration of all the faithful. In contemplating the gift of consecrated life, the Church contemplates her own intimate vocation of belonging only to her Lord, desirous of being in his eyes "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:27).
The fittingness of dedicating a special World Day is evident, then, for it assures that the doctrine about consecrated life will be more widely and deeply meditated and assimilated by all members of the People of God.
4. The third reason regards consecrated persons directly. They are invited to celebrate together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.
Immersed in a world which is often agitated and distracted, taken up sometimes by the press of responsibilities, consecrated persons also will be helped by the celebration of this annual World Day to return to the sources of their vocation, to take stock of their own lives, to confirm the commitment of their own consecration. In this way, they will be able to give witness with joy to the men and women of our time, in diverse situations, that the Lord is the Love who is able to fill the heart of the human person.
Truly there is great urgency that the consecrated life show itself ever more "full of joy and of the Holy Spirit," that it forge ahead dynamically in the paths of mission, that it be backed up by the strength of lived witness, because "modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi 41).
On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple
5. The World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on the feast which commemorates the presentation which Mary and Joseph made of Jesus in the temple "to present him to the Lord" (Lk 2:22).
This Gospel scene reveals the mystery of Jesus, the One consecrated by the Father, come into the world to carry out his will faithfully (cf. Heb 10:5-7). Simeon points to Jesus as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32) and by a prophetic word foretells the supreme offering of Jesus to the Father and his final victory (Lk 2:32-35).
In this way the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total offering of one's life for all those who are called to show forth in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels "the characteristic features of Jesus -- the chaste, poor and obedient one" (VC 1).
Mary is associated with the presentation of Christ.
The Virgin Mother who carries Jesus to the temple so that he can be offered to the Father expresses very well the figure of the Church who continues to offer her sons and daughters to the heavenly Father, associating them with the one oblation of Christ, cause and model of all consecration in the Church.
For some years now, in the Church of Rome and in other dioceses, the feast of 2 February has almost spontaneously brought numerous members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life around the Pope and diocesan pastors in order to demonstrate together, in communion with the entire People of God, the gift and commitment of their call, the variety of charisms of consecrated life, and their special place within the community of believers.
It is my wish that this experience be extended to the whole Church, so that the celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life may gather consecrated persons together with other faithful in order to sing with the Virgin Mary the marvels which the Lord accomplishes in so many of his sons and daughters, and to manifest to all that being a "people consecrated to himself" (cf. Deut 28:9) is the condition of all those who are redeemed by Christ.
Fruits hoped for the mission of the whole Church
6. Dear brothers and sisters, as I entrust to the maternal protection of Mary the institution of this World Day, I deeply hope that it bear abundant fruits for the holiness and the mission of the Church. May it help, in a special way, to heighten in the Christian community an esteem for vocations of special consecration, to stimulate ever more intense prayer for obtaining them from the Lord, in this way helping to mature in young people and families a generous willingness to receive them as gift. The life of the Church as a whole will draw benefit from this and so will the new evangelization.
I trust that this World Day of prayer and reflection will help the particular Churches to treasure ever more the gift of consecrated life and to be measured by its message, to find the proper and fruitful balance between action and contemplation, between prayer and charity, and between commitment in the present time and eschatological hope.
May the Virgin Mary, who had the sublime privilege of presenting to the Father his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a pure and holy oblation, obtain for us that we may constantly be open and welcoming in face of the great works which He does not cease to accomplish for the good of the Church and of all of humanity.
With these sentiments, and with the prayer that consecrated persons may persevere with joy in their vocation, I impart to all the Apostolic Blessing.
Vatican City, 6 January 1997.
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