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Pope
Benedict XVI - Homilies |
Homily
"A Life Dedicated to Listening and to Proclaiming His Word"
On the Day for Consecrated Life
H.H. Benedict XVI
February 2, 2011
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters!
In today's feast we contemplate the Lord Jesus whom Mary and Joseph take
to the Temple "to present him to the Lord" (Luke 2:22). Revealed in this
evangelical scene is the mystery of the Son of the Virgin, the
consecrated One of the Father, who came into the world to carry out his
will faithfully (cf. Hebrews 10:5-7).
Simeon points to him as "light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke
2:32), and proclaims with prophetic word his supreme offer to God and
his final victory (cf. Luke 2:32-35). It is the meeting of the two
Testaments, the Old and the New. Jesus enters the ancient Temple, He who
is the new Temple of God: He comes to visit his people, bringing to
fulfillment obedience to the Law and inaugurating the end times of
salvation.
It is interesting to observe close up this entrance of the Child Jesus
into the solemnity of the Temple, in the great "coming and going" of so
many people, seized by their endeavors: the priests and the Levites with
their turns of service, the numerous devotees and pilgrims, desirous of
encountering the Holy God of Israel. None of these, however, notice
anything. Jesus is a child like others, first born son of two very
simple parents. Even the priests are incapable of accepting the signs of
the new and particular presence of the Messiah and Savior. Only two
elderly people, Simeon and Anna, discover the great novelty. Led by the
Holy Spirit, they see in that Child the fulfillment of their long
expectation and vigilance. Both contemplate the light of God that comes
to illumine the world, with their prophetic gaze open to the future, as
proclamation of the Messiah: "Lumen ad revelationem gentium!" (Luke
2:32). In the prophetic attitude of two old people is the entire Ancient
Covenant, which expresses the joy of the encounter with the Redeemer. On
seeing the Child, Simeon and Anna intuit that it is in fact Him, the One
Awaited.
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total
donation of the life for all those men and women who are called to
reproduce in the Church and in the world, through the evangelical
counsels, the characteristic features of Jesus virgin, poor and
obedient" (postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Vita Consecrata," No. 1).
That is why today's feast was chosen by the Venerable John Paul II to
celebrate the annual Day of Consecrated Life. In this context, I address
a cordial and grateful greeting to Archbishop João Bráz de Aviz, whom I
recently appointed prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, with the secretary and
the collaborators. I greet affectionately the Superiors General present
and all consecrated persons.
I would like to propose three brief thoughts for reflection on this
feast. The first: the evangelical icon of the Presentation of Jesus in
the Temple contains the essential symbol of light; the light that,
coming from Christ, shines on Mary and Joseph, on Simeon and Anna and,
through them, on everyone. The Fathers of the Church linked this
radiation to the spiritual journey. Consecrated life expresses this
journey, in a special way as "philocalia," love of divine beauty,
reflection of the goodness of God (cf. ibid., No. 19). Resplendent on
Christ's face is this beauty. "The Church contemplates the transfigured
face of Christ, to be confirmed in the faith and not risk dismay before
his disfigured face on the Cross ... she is the Bride before her Spouse,
sharing his mystery, enveloped by his light, [from which] are gathered
all his children ... But a singular experience of the light that
emanates from the Word incarnate are certainly those called to the
consecrated life. In fact, the profession of the evangelical counsels
places them as sign and prophecy for the community of brothers and for
the world" (ibid., No. 15).
In the second place, the evangelical icon manifests the prophecy, gift
of the Holy Spirit. Simeon and Anna, contemplating the Child Jesus,
perceive his destiny of death and resurrection for the salvation of all
peoples and proclaim this mystery as universal salvation. Consecrated
life is called to this prophetic witness, linked to its twofold
attitude, contemplative and active. Given to consecrated men and women,
in fact, is to manifest the primacy of God, passion for the Gospel
practiced as a way of life and proclaimed to the poor and to the last of
the earth. "In the strength of such primacy nothing can be preferred to
personal love for Christ and for the poor in which He lives. True
prophecy is born from God, from friendship with Him, from attentive
listening to his Word in the different circumstances of history" (ibid.,
No. 84). In this way consecrated life, in its daily living on the paths
of humanity, manifests the Gospel and the Kingdom already present and
operative.
In the third place, the evangelical icon of the Presentation of Jesus in
the Temple manifests the wisdom of Simeon and Anna, the wisdom of a life
dedicated totally to the search of the face of God, of his signs, of his
will; a life dedicated to listening and to proclaiming his Word.
"'Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram': thy face, O Lord, do I seek" (Psalm
26:8). Hence, the consecrated person witnesses the joyful and laborious
commitment, the assiduous and wise search of the divine will" (cf.
Congress for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of
Apostolic Life, Instruction The Service of Authority and Obedience.
Faciem tuam Domine requiram [2008], No. 1).
Dear brothers and sisters, be assiduous listeners of the Word, because
every wisdom of life is born of the Word of the Lord! Be scrutinizers of
the Word, through Lectio Divina, because consecrated life "is born from
listening to the Word of God and accepting the Gospel as its norm of
life. To live following the chaste, poor and obedient Christ is in this
way a living "exegesis" of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit, in the
strength of which the Bible was written, is the same who illumines the
Word of God to men and women founders with new light. From it flows
every charism and every rule is an expression of it, giving origin to
itineraries of Christian life marked by evangelical radicalism" (postsynodal
apostolic exhortation "Verbum Domini," No. 83).
Today we live above all in the most developed societies, a condition
often marked by a radical pluralism, by the progressive marginalization
of religion from the public sphere, by a relativism that touches
fundamental values. This calls for our Christian witness to be luminous
and consistent and for our educational effort to be ever more attentive
and generous. In particular your apostolic action, dear brothers and
sisters, must become a life commitment, which accedes with persevering
passion, to wisdom as truth and beauty "splendor of the truth." Be able
to orient your life with wisdom, and with trust in the inexhaustible
possibilities of true education, and the intelligence and the heart of
men and women of our time to the "good life of the Gospel."
At this moment, my thought goes with special affection to all
consecrated men and women, in every part of the earth, and I entrust
them to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
O Mary, Mother of the Church,
I entrust to you consecrated life,
So that you will obtain for it the fullness of divine light:
That it may live in listening to the Word of God,
In the humility of the following of Jesus your Son and our Lord,
In the acceptance of the visit of the Holy Spirit,
In the daily joy of the Magnificat,
So that the Church is built by the holiness of life
Of these your sons and daughters,
In the commandment of love. Amen.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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