By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“United with Him, and in Him with one another, your small lights become like the path of a luminous trail in the great plan of peace and salvation that God has for humanity.”
Pope Leo XIV gave this comforting reminder to consecrated individuals on Friday morning in the Vatican who have been participating in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.
During the audience, the Holy Father urged them to stay rooted in Christ and to keep bringing the Lord to others through their witness and faith.
The Pope said he was pleased to be with them, observing they represent all consecrated men and women around the world. He said he welcomed them with an embrace from the heart, one that, he noted, wishes to reach “even the most remote corners of the earth—because I know that is where many of you can be found.”
Wonderful adventure of following Jesus
The Pope reiterated that the Church needs them and the full diversity and richness of the forms of consecrated life and ministry that you represent.
“With your vitality and the witness of a life where Christ is the center and the Lord, you can help to “wake up the world.”
“In this regard,” he underscored, “it is always important to emphasize how essential it is for all of you to be rooted in Christ.”
Only in this way, the Pope continued, can you carry out your mission fruitfully, “living your vocation as part of the wonderful adventure of following Jesus more closely.”
In this context, the Pope asked them to “return to the heart,” to “that place where you can rediscover the spark that animated the beginnings of your story,” as he reminded them of the need for cultivating a solid interior life, nurtured by prayer.”
He also stressed the deep need for hope and peace in the hearts of men and women of our time, adding, “You, consecrated men and women, want to be its bearers and witnesses through your lives: as messengers of harmony through your words and your example.”
Hidden daily gestures of immense value
The Pope recalled the great service to which consecrated life has always paid special attention throughout the centuries, “and to which, still today, your often-hidden daily actions give privileged witness.”
In this context, he told them to “continue to be guardians and promoters of this great tradition,” to pursue synodality, encouraging them “to remain faithful to the path we are all walking together in this direction,” as well as to have a “domestic dialogue” to be “lived out for the ongoing renewal of the Body of Christ in relationships, processes, and methods.”
Pope Leo XIV concluded by thanking the consecrated individuals for the great good they do in the Church and in the world. – Vatican News
