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Pope Benedict XVI- Address- World Day of Consecrated Life |
 Papal
Address on World Day for Consecrated Life
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
"Nourish Your Day With Prayer, Meditation and Listening to the Word
of God"
February 2, 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
I am very pleased to meet you on the occasion of the World Day
of Consecrated Life, a traditional gathering whose significance
is enhanced by the liturgical context of the Feast of the
Presentation of the Lord. I thank Cardinal Franc Rodé, who has
celebrated the Eucharist for you, and with him the Secretary and
the other collaborators of the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. With great
affection I greet the Superiors General present and all of you
who form this unique assembly, an expression of the varied
richness of the Consecrated Life in the Church.
In his account of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, at
least three times the Evangelist Luke emphasizes that Mary and
Joseph acted in accordance with "the Law of the Lord" (cf. Lk 2:
22, 23, 39), moreover they always appear to be listening
attentively to the Word of God. This attitude is an eloquent
example for you, men and women religious; and for you, members
of Secular Institutes and of other forms of Consecrated Life.
The next Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will be
dedicated to The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the
Church: dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to make your
contribution to this ecclesial commitment, witnessing to the
importance, especially for those who like you, the Lord calls to
a more intimate "sequela", of placing the Word of God at the
centre of all things. In fact, the Consecrated Life is rooted in
the Gospel. Down the centuries, the Gospel - as it were, its
supreme rule - has continued to inspire it and the Consecrated
Life is called to refer constantly to the Gospel, to remain
alive and fertile, bearing fruit for the salvation of souls.
At the root of the different expressions of Consecrated Life
there is always a strong Gospel inspiration. I think of St
Anthony Abbot who was moved by listening to Christ's words: "If
you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me"
(Mt 19: 21) (cf. Vita Antonii, 2, 4). Anthony listened to these
words as if they were addressed to him personally by the Lord.
St Francis of Assisi in his turn affirmed that it was God who
revealed to him that he should live according to the form of the
holy Gospel (Testament, 17; Franciscan Omnibus 116). "Francis",
wrote Thomas of Celano, "who heard that Christ's disciples were
supposed to possess neither gold, nor silver, nor money, nor
purse; were to have neither bread nor staff, were to have
neither shoes nor two tunics... rejoicing in the Holy Spirit
said: "This is what I want! This is what I ask! This is what I
want to do from the bottom of my heart!'" (I Celano 83;
Franciscan Omnibus 670, 672).
The Instruction Starting Afresh from Christ recalls: "It was the
Holy Spirit who sparked the Word of God with new light for the
Founders and Foundresses. Every charism and every Rule springs
from it and seeks to be an expression of it" (n. 24). And
indeed, the Holy Spirit attracts some people to live the Gospel
in a radical way and translate it into a style of more generous
following. So it is that a work, a religious family, is born
which with its very presence becomes in turn a living "exegisis"
of the Word of God. The Second Vatican Council says that the
succession of charisms in the Consecrated Life can therefore be
read as an unfolding of Christ down the ages, as a living Gospel
that is actualized in ever new forms (cf. Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen Gentium, n. 46). The mystery of Christ is reflected in the
works of Foundresses and Founders, a word of his, an
illuminating ray of his radiant Face, the splendour of the
Father (cf. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata,
n. 16).
In the course of the centuries the proposal of the following of
Christ without compromise, as it is presented to us in the
Gospel, has therefore constituted the ultimate and supreme rule
for religious life (cf. Perfectae Caritatis, n. 2). In his Rule
St Benedict refers to Scripture as the "most exact rule of human
life" (n. 73: 2-5). St Dominic, whose words and works proclaimed
him a man of the Gospel at all times (cf. Libellus de Principiis
Ordinis Praedicatorum, 104: in P. Lippini, San Domenico visto
dai suoi contemporanei, Ed. Studio Dom., Bologna, 1982, 110)
desired his brother preachers also to be "men of the Gospel"
(First Constitutions or Consuetudines, 31). St Clare of Assisi
imitated Francis' experience to the full: "The form of life of
the Order of the Poor Sisters", she wrote, "is this: to observe
the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rule, I, 1-2;
Franciscan Omnibus, n. 2750). St Vincent Pallotti said: "Since
the life of Jesus Christ is the fundamental rule of our small
Congregation... we must aim at what is most perfect always and
in everything" (cf. Complete Works, II, 541-546; VIII, 63, 67,
253, 254, 466). And St Luigi Orione wrote: "Our first Rule and
life is to observe the holy Gospel, in great humility and in
loving sweetness and on fire with God" (Letters of Don Orione,
Rome, 1969, Vol. II, 278).
This rich tradition attests that Consecrated Life is "deeply
rooted in the example and teaching of Christ the Lord" (Vita
Consecrata, n. 1) and can be compared to "a plant with many
branches which sinks its roots into the Gospel and brings forth
abundant fruit in every season of the Church's life" (ibid., n.
5). Its mission is to recall that all Christians are brought
together by the Word, to live of the Word and to remain under
its lordship. It is therefore the special duty of men and women
religious "to remind the baptized of the fundamental values of
the Gospel" (Vita Consecrata, n. 33). By so doing their witness
imbues the Church with "a much-needed incentive towards ever
greater fidelity to the Gospel" (ibid., n. 3) and indeed, we
might say, is an "eloquent, albeit often silent, proclamation of
the Gospel" (ibid., n. 25). This is why, in my two Encyclicals
as on other occasions, I have not failed to cite the example set
by Saints and Blesseds belonging to Institutes of Consecrated
Life.
Dear brothers and sisters, nourish your day with prayer,
meditation and listening to the Word of God. May you, who are
familiar with the ancient practice of lectio divina, help the
faithful to appreciate it in their daily lives too. And may you
know how to express what the Word suggests, letting yourself be
formed by it so that you bring forth abundant fruit, like a seed
that has fallen into good soil. Thus, you will be ever docile to
the Spirit and you will grow in union with God, you will
cultivate fraternal communion among yourselves and will be ready
to serve your brethren generously, especially those in need. May
people see your good works, a fruit of the Word of God that
lives in you, and glorify your Heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5: 16)!
In entrusting these reflections to you, I thank you for the
precious service you render to the Church and, as I invoke the
protection of Mary and of the Saints and Blesseds, Founders of
your Institutes, I wholeheartedly impart the Apostolic Blessing
to you and to your respective religious families, with a special
thought for the young men and women in formation and for your
brothers and sisters who are sick, elderly or in difficulty. To
all, I assure you of my remembrance in prayer.
© Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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