14 Sunday February 19, 2006 ■ CatholicNews
FOCUS
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict
XVI thanked the members of the
world’s religious orders, saying
their total dedication to Christ
was a strong sign of faith in
modern society.
The pope, joined by several
thousand men and women
religious, celebrated a Mass to
mark World Day for Consecrated
Life, which was observed in
Rome on Feb 2, the feast of the
Presentation of the Lord.
As the liturgy opened,
religious priests,
sisters and brothers lit
candles in the
darkened basilica and
the pope, holding his
own candle, (photo)
processed to the main
altar. He
concelebrated the
Mass with priests of
17 religious orders.
In a sermon, the
pope said he wanted
to thank the nearly 1
million members of
religious orders for the many
different forms of service they
carry out. Their complete
dedication is an eloquent sign of
the presence of the kingdom of
God in the world, he said.
“Their way of living and of
working is capable of
demonstrating in a continuous
way their full belonging to the
one Lord,” the pope said. “Their
giving of themselves into the
hands of Christ and the church is
a strong and clear announcement
of the presence of God, in a
language that is understood by
our contemporaries.”
Earlier, at his Sunday blessing
on Jan 29, the pope, citing his
recent encyclical, said religious
orders through the centuries have
given the church and the world
models of Christian charity.
– The Consecrated Life, deeply
rooted in the example and
teaching of Christ the Lord, is a
gift of God the Father to his
church through the Holy Spirit.
By the profession of the
evangelical counsels the
characteristic features of Jesus –
the chaste, poor and obedient one
– are made constantly “visible” in
the midst of the world.
– In every age there have been
men and women who, obedient to
the Father’s call and to the
prompting of the Spirit, have
chosen this special way of
following Christ, in order to
devote themselves to him with an
“undivided” heart. Like the
Apostles, they too have left
everything behind in order to be
with Christ and to put
themselves, as he did, at the
The pope noted that in his
first encyclical, titled “Deus
Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), he
had written about the important
witness of charity given by the
saints, from the earliest days of
the church to modern times.
Many of the saints, he said,
were members of religious
orders, including figures like St.
Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican
theologian; St. John Bosco, the
Salesian who worked with young
people; and St. Angela Merici,
who founded the
Ursulines and
launched its
teaching mission.
Among the
saints devoted to
charity, the pope
named Blessed
Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, whose
Missionaries of
Charity work with
the poor around the
world.
“In truth, the
entire history of the church is a
history of holiness, animated by
the unique love that has its source
in God,” he said. “In fact, only
supernatural charity, like that
which flows continually from the
heart of Christ, can explain the
exceptional flowering down
through the centuries of male and
female religious orders and
institutes, and other forms of
consecrated life.”
He said it was important for
the modern church to remember
the importance of consecrated life
as “the expression and the school
of charity.”
Pope John Paul II inaugurated
the annual day for religious in
1997. It is one of the many
liturgical and commemorative
customs Pope Benedict has
chosen to maintain. ■ CNS
service of God and their brothers
and sisters. In this way, through
the many charisms of spiritual
and apostolic life bestowed on
them by the Holy Spirit, they
have helped to make the mystery
and mission of the church shine
forth, and in doing so have
contributed to the renewal of
society.
– The consecrated life has not
only proved a help and support
for the church in the past, but is
also a precious and necessary gift
for the present and future of the
People of God, since it is an
intimate part of her life, her
holiness and her mission.
(Excerpts from the apostolic letter
“Vita Consecrata” (“The
Consecrated Life”) by Pope John
Paul II) ■