Consecrated Life within the Church, a Testimony to Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever
by Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life
JUBILEE OF THE CONSECRATED LIFE FEBRUARY 2, 2000 Celebrative Booklet for the Triduum of Preparation TABLE OF CONTENTS January 30: Magnificat - Day dedicated to vocation-consecration. February 1: Eucharist - Day dedicated to mission-witness-martyrdom. Appendix II-- A prophetic gesture of communion and solidarity On the night between December 24 and 25, 1999, before celebrating the Mass of the Nativity of Our Lord, the Holy Father, John Paul II will open the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica thus initiating the celebration of the bi-millenial Great Jubilee of the birth of Christ, our Redeemer. The consecrated life, which in the Church represents "a living tradition of life and of the message of our Saviour" (Vita consecrata, 22) wishes to unite itself to every great celebration of the Jubilee Year. However, it wishes to be one with both the universal church and the particular churches in a special way on a day which itself is important to this calling: February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. For reasons that are particular to the mystery being celebrated, beginning in 1997, John Paul II has wanted the Church to dedicate this as a day of thanksgiving for the gift of the consecrated life. He has particularly invited all consecrated persons to participate, with the people of God, in this act of thanksgiving. Thus, in the calendar for the Holy Year 2000, the 2nd of February will be dedicated, both at Rome and in the particular churches, to the celebration of the Jubilee of consecrated life. In order that all consecrated persons might prepare themselves in a worthy and unified manner for this celebration, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of the Apostolic Life, has considered it timely to offer an indicative booklet in anticipation of the 2nd of February, with the celebration of three distinct and articulated moments of prayer which surround key concepts proposed by the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vita consecrata: Vocation-consecration (App. I.A); Communion-ecumenism (App. I.B); Mission-witness-martyrdom (App. I.C). These are three moments of preparation that can be used as a triduum or as a suggested liturgy in individual locations. Whatever is selected, the triduum can be celebrated during the days immediately preceding the 2nd of February: from the 30th of January until the 1st of February. It should contain: The preparation culminates on February 2nd with the EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION The three texts of meditation, which are on the themes of vocation-consecration, communion-ecumenism, and mission-witness-martyrdom, may be inserted into the proposed celebrations. With suitable adaptations, the celebration of these moments may be lived in communities of consecrated life, in diverse institutes, in the diocese and at the national level. The proposed indications are not binding but are offered as a help with a view towards community celebration. Suitable commemorations will be prepared and celebrated by consecrated persons, with booklets which are adapted to their own culture and language. The Conferences of Major Superiors of men and of women at the national level or the Commission for Consecrated Life in the various dioceses may help with these. It is appropriate that these moments of preparation be lived by all consecrated persons, in communion with the local church and in the presence of the Bishop or his delegates, or with the Parish Priests and the Superiors of the various Institutes. The celebrations should also include the presence of the faithful, in such a way that the meaning of the consecrated life within the People of God be manifested. In Rome, the Jubilee of February 2nd will be preceded by three days of preparation. Sunday evening, January 30th, the individual communities are invited to live the Vespers celebration as a preparation for the gift of grace in which the Church calls them to participate through the experience of the Jubilee. On the afternoon of January 31st, in the Paul VI Hall, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in collaboration with the Union of Superiors General (USG), the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), and the World Conference of Secular Institutes (CMIS), will organise a great act of prayer and of testimony as a "Path of Light" , " Walking in the Light" (cfr VC, 40) in the pasqual mystery, lived in the Church by the consecrated life. At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the First of February will be totally dedicated to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in thanksgiving for the great gift given to the church and the world in the Incarnation of the Word. "He, who became incarnate in the womb of Mary twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to humanity as a spring of divine life" (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 55). The 2nd of February, as they surround the Holy Father, consecrated persons will solemnly celebrate the Jubilee in St Peter's Basilica. The offerings from the communities of the world will also be presented by the Presidents of the Conferences of Consecrated Life at that time (cfr App. II). Rome, 8 September 1999, on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary. MartInez Somalo Piergiorgio Silvano Nesti, C.P. January 30th - February 1st January 30, 2000 III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE B Day dedicated to vocation-consecration Evening Liturgy of praise as a thanksgiving for the gift of the consecrated life 1. The solemn and community celebration of the Vespers for Sunday, January 30, 2000 is proposed as the first encounter in preparation for the Jubilee of the Consecrated Life. 2. Where possible, it is advisable that the community celebration, with the participation of both consecrated persons and the faithful, be held in the Cathedral or an important Sanctuary. 3. The celebration of the Sung Vespers will follow the normal rubrics. To add solemnity to the communal choral prayer, some elements are proposed that can be used "ad libitum" , following indications that are included in the "Principles and Rules of the Liturgy of the Hours" . 4. After the celebration of Vespers, it might be appropriate to have a moment of communal "agape" , thus encouraging acquaintance and encounter between the various participants so that they can share the grace and the joy of vocation and consecration within the Church. I. Initial Rites After the processional entrance, which should be accompanied by the organ, the person who presides at the Vespers, intones the initial verse: O God, come to my assistance... The President greets those present with these or similar words: May God, who is rich in mercy, be blessed. He has done great things for us and for the whole church. In everything we thank God the Father who, through Christ, has given everything to us. Over us, his sons and daughters, he has poured the richness of his grace, He has made us participants in his project of love, witnesses of his love for all mankind, the epiphany of the love of the Trinity who desires to be in communion with all people. " The consecrated life reflects the splendour of this love because, by its fidelity to the mystery of the Cross, it confesses that it believes and lives by the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (VC, 24). God, freeing us from the power of darkness, has transferred us into the reign of the Son of his love, the reign of light. After having heard in this Sunday's Gospel, the story of the vocation of the disciples (Mk 1:14-20) we are now reunited, at the end of this day of Our Lord, to thank the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit, with the Vespers hymn, for the gifts of vocation and consecration. We do this in communion with all the Church that in this hour is glorifying the Father, in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. II. Psalmody The psalms and the canticle of the III Sunday of the Psalter are sung. Before the antiphon of each psalm and of the canticle it is possible to give a brief admonition. Following each psalm and canticle with its antiphon, all rise and the celebrant proclaims the psalm prayer. These examples are proposed: Admonition: The Risen Christ who is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, is the Priest and King forever. He has called the Church to follow his footsteps and to glorify the Father with our lives. Psalm 109:1-5,7: The Messiah King is priest Psalm Collect Let us pray: Admonition: The Church, the people of God, gives continuous thanks to our Lord for his gifts. Gifts of beauty, of grace and of holiness. The consecrated life is also a gift from God for His people, through which He continually renews his alliance of fidelity and love with the various charisms. Psalm 110: Great are the works of the Lord Psalm Collect Let us pray: Admonition: The pilgrim Church on earth unites itself with the heavenly Church singing together the new canticle of Alleluia. In the Holy Spirit it praises the Father for the work of redemption in Christ, the Lamb without stain, who calls the Church, his bride, to the eternal joy of his Kingdom. Canticle Rev. 19:1-7: The Marriage of the Lamb Collect after the Canticle Let us pray: III. Brief Reading, Homily, Responsorial Psalm The brief reading of the Day (1 Pt 1:3-5) may be elongated so as to read 1 Pt 3-7,13-23. After the reading the President of the Assembly or another priest may deliver a brief homily. This may be inspired by what has just been read. All or part of the proposed text, "; Vocation-Consecration, may also be read. (App. I.A). After the homily and a short silence, the brief response of the Vespers or another hymn adapted to the Word that has just been heard, may be sung. IV. The Magnificat, Intercessions The solemn Magnificat is now sung with the proper antiphon of Sunday. During the singing of the Magnificat the altar and the assembly are incensed. The day's intercessions follow. Before the last intercession for the dead it is possible to add some prayers of thanks and intercession for the gift of the consecrated life. These should follow the outline of the other Vespers intentions. The singing of the Lord's prayer and the collect of the day should come after this. V. Benediction and dismissal Before the final benediction, the President addresses this or a similar word of exhortation to those present: Brothers and sisters, I exhort you in the name of our Lord: through the power of His Spirit be witnesses of his love in the midst of his people. Harmonise your life with the dignity of your vocation. Be in name and in deed servants of our Lord and imitators of the Mother of God. Be whole in faith, firm in hope, fervent in charity. Be prudent and vigilant, hold in the humility of your heart the great treasure that has been entrusted to you. Nourish your life with the body of Christ, fortifying it with fasting and penance, nurturing it with meditation on the Word, with assiduous prayer and with works of mercy. Occupy yourselves with the things of our Lord, hide your life with Christ in God, have in your heart constant intercession for the propagation of the faith and the unity of Christians. Remember those who, forgetting the love of the Father, have gone away from Him, that they may be saved by his mercy. Remember that you are at the service of the Church and the brethren, love everyone, particularly the poor, succour them according to your strength; care for the infirm, teach the ignorant, give to all the charity of the truth, protect the children, support the youths, help the old, console the afflicted, let your light shine before men. Do the will of God as and with Jesus his Son, co-operating with love in the advent of his Kingdom into the world. Christ shall be your joy and crown upon the earth, until he conducts you to the eternal wedding where, singing the new song, you will follow the Lamb wherever he goes. The celebrant blesses the assembly with the solemn blessing that is found in the Roman Missal I (Num 6:24-26): The Lord bless you and keep you. Glorify God with your life and go in peace. A hymn to Mary may be sung as the final moment of the prayer. "KOINONIA" The day dedicated to communion Penitential liturgy of personal and community renewal 1. The celebration of a community penitential liturgy is proposed which should include individual confession and absolution, in a way so as to offer to all the consecrated persons an opportunity to prepare themselves worthily for the celebration of the Jubilee. For this reason it is appropriate to have an adequate number of confessors on hand and these should be placed in locations that are clearly marked. 2. Some indications from the Penitential Rite, with other complementary suggestions, are now offered. 3. Depending upon the community, a day of fasting might be considered opportune so that the fruits of this renunciation, accompanied by other contributions of money or produce, can be offered to the poor and needy. The Jubilee, for which we are preparing, will in this way be marked by prayer, fasting, and alms-giving. These are signs of communion with God, reconciliation with one-self, and charity towards our neighbour. 4. The liturgy should be sober. The Cross and a symbol of Holy Water should be prominently displayed in the midst of the assembly. I. Initial Rite As the President and the other ministers proceed towards the altar, the assembly sings a penitential hymn. Greeting: Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord. The president of the celebration addresses the assembly with these or similar words: Brothers and Sisters, Today our Lord invites us to live a sacramental encounter with him, having in mind the mystery of the communion to which He has called us.
"By constantly promoting fraternal love", the Pope writes, " the consecrated life has shown that sharing in the Trinitarian communion can change human relationships and create a new type of solidarity. In this way it speaks to people both of the beauty of fraternal community and of the ways which actually lead to it. Consecrated persons live 'for' God and 'from' God, and precisely for this reason they are able to bear witness to the reconciling power of grace, which overcomes the divisive tendencies present in the human heart and in society" (VC, 41). In this penitential liturgy we want to ask pardon for ourselves and for everyone, in order that the link of communion with God, between us and between everyone, is reinforced through the gift of the Holy Spirit that will be given with the remission of our sins through Christ Jesus our Brother and Redeemer. The Father has manifested his great mercy by reconciling Himself with the world through Christ, who re-established peace with his precious blood. Jesus not only calls us to penitence, but he also welcomed sinners and reconciled them with the Father. " Let us draw near, therefore, to the mighty throne of grace, to receive mercy and find grace and be helped at the suitable moment" (He 4:16). Silent prayer. The celebrant says one of the prayers from the Rite. II. Liturgy of the Word Suggested readings: 1st Reading: Romans 12. The life of charity in fraternal communion. Homily For the homily one might use the prepared text: Communion-Ecumenism (App. I.B). Examination of conscience If the opportunity exists, a reader might suggest some considerations for a brief examination of conscience. III. Rite of Reconciliation The priest invites everyone to kneel. He, standing before the cross, invites all to penitence with these words: Brothers and sisters, God calls us once again to conversion. Let us pray to obtain the grace of a new life in Christ our Lord. Let us pray together to the Lord. Kyrie eleison. Lord Jesus, who healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind, you who absolved the sinful woman and confirmed Peter in your love, pardon our sins and give us a new heart so that we may live in perfect communion. Kyrie eleison. Lord Jesus, who wanted to be called the friend of sinners, through the mystery of your death and resurrection, free us from our sins and give us your peace, so that we can bring forth the fruits of charity, justice and truth. Kyrie eleison. Lord Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give us reconciliation with the Father in the grace of the Holy Spirit, and make of us new creatures for the praise of your glory. Kyrie eleison. Lord Jesus Christ, have pity on us in your great mercy, do not look on our sins and cancel all of our guilt; create in us a pure heart and renew in us a spirit of strength and sanctity. Kyrie eleison. Lord Jesus Christ, you who have commanded us to love one another even unto the giving up our life, infuse in us your Spirit of charity and unity, of communion and mercy, in order that we may always love and pardon ourselves as you love and pardon us. Kyrie eleison. All stand and sing, in preparation for confession, the prayer of Our Lord: Our Father... In silence the President sprinkles holy water over the whole assembly as a sign of purification and a remembrance of Baptism. Individual Confessions Adequate time for confessions should be reserved. Thanksgiving Prayer At the conclusion of the confession period, the President invites the assembly to thank our Lord for the gift of graces received, by singing the Magnificat. At the conclusion of this song, the President concludes the celebration with this prayer: Father of mercy and God of every consolation, you who do not want the death but the conversion of sinners, help your people, so that they can return to you and live. Grant that we may always hear your voice, let ourselves be guided by your Holy Spirit in the way of life, and, thankful for your pardon, progress in all ways and always adhere to Christ your Son who has called us to follow him in the way of the evangelical counsels. He Who is God and lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. All: Amen. The President invites the assembly to exchange the sign of peace, while singing an appropriate hymn. IV. Final Rite Concluding Benediction and dismissal The celebrating priest blesses the assembly with one of the formulas from the Ritual and dismisses the people. FINAL HYMN The assembly leaves praising God with an appropriate hymn. "THE EUCHARIST " Day dedicated to mission-witness-martyrdom Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament From the Eucharist to mission 1. During this third day of preparation, attention is turned to the adoration of Christ our Lord, present in the Eucharist, which is the model of consecration, and the sign of communion and of fraternity. In this year which is eminently Eucharistic, consecrated persons are invited to express, in the way they think best, a meaningful and communitarian sign of their faith in the Eucharist (cf. TMA, 55). 2. Community adoration should develop in an atmosphere of contemplation and praise. The altar for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament should be ornamented with flowers and light. 3. A lectern should be prepared that will enthrone the Word of God in such a way that the rapport between the Word and the Eucharist will be highlighted. 4. To underline the gift and the task of mission, after the adoration of the Eucharist, it would be well to perform a collective gesture of missionary announcement or service to the poor as a public testimony of the call to preach the Gospel to the needy of the whole world. I. Initial Rite: Exposition While the organ is played or an opening hymn is sung, the procession enters from a side chapel and moves towards the altar. The Book of the Gospel and the Eucharist for the Exposition should be carried in. The Gospel is placed on the lectern and the host placed in the monstrance which should be clearly visible and illuminated. The priest incenses the Blessed Sacrament while the assembly sings a eucharistic hymn. After a brief silence, the reader invites everyone to live in communion the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a confession of faith and love in the presence of Christ who has placed his tent in the midst of us. He is present with us in the Eucharist as a teacher and model of the Consecrated Life. There follows a prolonged period of silence. II. The Eucharist: listening to the Word, contemplation of the Mystery, call to Mission With Jesus on Mount Tabor A reader introduces the reading of the Gospel of the Transfiguration with the words of the third paragraph of n. 14 of Vita consecrata continuing on until the end: "In the Gospel... the way of the Cross". At the conclusion all arise and listen to the proclamation of the Gospel, Mt 17:1-9. At the end they acclaim the Word of the Lord. A suitable hymn and a moment of silence reserved for contemplating the mystery and icon of Mount Tabor which gives meaning to the consecrated life may follow this. Contemplation and Confession of Faith Acclamations to Christ follow that are inspired by n. 24 of VC and a cited text of St. Augustine. The assembly responds with an invocation: Kyrie eleison or Adoramus Te, Domine. Let us pray: You who upon the holy mountain revealed yourself as the beloved Son of the Father, surrounded with the light of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Remain for some moments in silence. III. In prayer with the Eucharist Prayer of thanksgiving and supplication There follows a time of prayer. This is inspired by the style of the Eucharistic prayer. Some consecrated persons may express four or five prayer intentions, of thanksgiving or supplication for the gift of the consecrated life, before the Blessed Sacrament. Or: The priest rises and recites a prayer of thanksgiving or supplication for the consecrated life, using the text of the Prayer of Benediction of the Professed, n. 1, of the Ritual of Perpetual Profession. This text, in the context of this prayer celebration, is a solemn benediction by God and a supplication for the perserverance and faithfulness of the consecrated. Prayer and offering gestures There follows a Eucharistic gesture of offering that symbolises the consecration for mission. Each of the gestures - which are made in silence by diverse representatives of the consecrated life - may be announced aloud by a reader:
and for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord
(January 30th - February 2nd)
Evening Liturgy of praise as a thanksgiving for the gift of the consecrated life
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. From Eucharist to mission
of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple
and of Thanksgiving for the gift of consecrated life
Prefect
Secretary
God, merciful and holy Father,
Look upon your Church gathered for the evening prayer;
You who called to follow your Son,
A multitude of faithful, participants in your
Priestly, prophetic and regal dignity,
Pour out upon them the gift of your Spirit
So that they may be always faithful in your service.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
O God you who are the fountain of all good,
We thank you with all our heart
In this sacred assembly of prayer and praise;
You who have done great things in the church,
Through the multiple charisms of the consecrated life,
Give us the grace to always conform ourselves to your gifts
With a faithful and grateful heart.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Give us, O Father, the grace to make of our lives,
Consecrated to the glory of your name and the service of our brethren,
A continuous hymn of praise to your glory,
In order that, grateful for the gift of vocation and
Faithful to the consecrated alliance,
We can always offer to your our lives
In an everlasting giving of thanks.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Amen.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you his mercy.
Amen.
The Lord look on you and give you his peace.
Amen.
And the blessing...
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Responsorial psalm: From Psalm 50.
Alleluia.
Gospel: Jn 13:34-35 and 15:10-13. I give you a new commandment.
During this time some psalms or penitential hymns may be sung.
During this time of confession, the people may lay the gifts of money or produce that they intend to offer for the needy at the foot of the Cross. These should be placed in appropriate containers.
You who are the Transfigured of Tabor and the Disfigured without beauty of Calvary.
You who are the splendour of the divine beauty and attract us to follow you in the way of the Gospel.
You who are the Word Incarnate, beautiful near God in heaven and on earth.
You who are beautiful in the womb of the Virgin, in the arms of the Mother, hand in hand with Joseph.
You who are beautiful in words and in miracles, in the company of the disciples, in the friendship at Bethany, in the love of the poor.
You who are beautiful in torment, on the wood of the cross, laid out and wrapped in the grave.
You who are the splendour of beauty in the resurrection, in the sign of peace given to the disciples, on the way to Emmaus, in the glory of your Ascension.
You who are the splendour of hidden beauty in the Eucharist, a friendly presence, food for our journey, grant that we may be always attracted by you, towards the Father, in the Holy Spirit, together with all our brothers and sisters in the world who have hunger and thirst for the divine beauty.
_ The offering of a lighted lamp as a sign of love for God and neighbour that is lived in its fullness through consecrated chastity.
_ The offering of a tray with bread and wine as a sign of life that is given in poverty and sharing.
_ The offering of oneself through obedience - a person advances to the altar with hands open as a symbol of offering. He or she makes a profound sign of adoration that symbolises the Fiat of Christ and Mary to do the will of God.
_ The offering of a palm or olive branch as an offering of a life that is dedicated even unto death, in memory of all the consecrated persons who have given their lives for Christ.
_ The offering of a bouquet of multi-coloured flowers which is placed at the foot of the altar as an expression of the diverse charisms contained within the consecrated life.
IV. From Mount Tabor to the apostolic mission
The reading of VC, 40 follows; this is the invitation to the consecrated life. Soft music should be played as this is read. Or, as a method of exhortation the meditation III. Mission - Witness - Martyrdom may be read (App. I.C).
V. Eucharistic Benediction
After some instants of silence, the eucharistic benediction is given in the usual manner.
As the Eucharist is being reposed, the hymn "Ave verum, corpus natum de Maria Virgine " should be sung.
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD
Jubilee of the Consecrated Life
February 2
Introductory note to the celebration
Today, together with Simeon and Anna, we contemplate the Divine child, the Word made flesh, who is brought to the Temple: the Temple of our heart.
This singular day in this particular year, finds us still more faithful, with a life completely given to God (VC, 2) responding with a total and exclusive dedication (VC, 17).
Let there be today the fiat of our task of obedience to the Gospel, to the voice of the Church, to our rule of life.
With joy let us reconfirm our purpose of sober and austere living in order to defeat the anxiety of possessing through the grace of giving and use the goods of the world for the cause of the Gospel and human promotion.
Preserving with love both chastity of body and purity of mind; living our lives with an undivided heart for the Glory of God and the salvation of mankind.
Mary, the Virgin Mother, the Most Sacred Temple, accompanies us on this path. Above all, she helps us in the time of trial; she who was pierced by the sword of the Spirit and preserved in her heart that which she had contemplated.
"By your disposition,
one love joined the Son and the Mother,
one pain welded them
one will drove them:
to give pleasure to you, the unique and supreme good"
( Preface to the Mass of The Virgin Mary in the Presentation of Our Lord).
In fact, " The contemplative life begins here, to reach its fulfilment in the heavenly home; because the fire of love that here begins to burn, when it sees Him whom it loves, will burn more strongly with love for him. Therefore the contemplative life will not be taken away because, having less light from this present world, it will reach perfection" (Gregory the Great: Hom. in Ez II 2,9 in CCL 142,231).
"For this reason let us stir up the fervor of our souls, oh brothers, strengthen the faith in that in which we have believed and enkindle in ourselves a yearning towards the celestial realities. This love flames as though we were already on the pathway. No adversity will take us away from the joy of the intimate celebration, because if one wishes to arrive at the coveted goal there will be no impediment on the journey that will be enough to change your desire... Thus the spirit yearns, in fullness of desire, towards the celestial homeland" (Gregory the Great: Hom in Ev. 14,6 in PL 76, 1130C).
February 2 is the culminating moment of our Jubilee celebration. Each consecrated person has prepared him or herself through meditation on the gift of the vocation to a total consecration to Christ, in an experience of sincere repentance for failings and of a renewed love for living a true rapport with God and neighbour. Now in the Eucharistic Celebration - with Christ, in Christ and through Christ - and guided by the Spirit, we want to offer to the Father our lives which have been renewed through faith, hope and charity.
It is suggested that in every location - whether at the diocesan or the national level - the Eucharistic Celebration be presided over by the Pastors and participated in amply, not only by other consecrated persons, but also by the people of God.
The Presentation of Our Lord is the feast of Christ "light of the people" and of the encounter of the Messiah with his people in the Temple at Jerusalem.
The gesture of obedience to the law and offering, performed by Mary and Joseph who bring the child Jesus to offer him in the Temple, inspires the presence at this celebration of many consecrated men and women. These represent those who have chosen the way of the evangelical counsels in the rich variety of charisms that beautifies the Church with the gifts of the Spirit and prepares it to develop the universal mission of the Gospel. Moreover these consecrated persons have come to renew the pledge to their consecration and mission.
The celebration will develop in three moments:
- The Liturgy of the Light will begin with the lighting and blessing of candles and continue on with the procession.
- The Liturgy of the Word will culminate in the homily, the prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of the consecrated life and the pledge of fidelity in following Christ and in the apostolic mission.
- The Eucharistic liturgy will seal this encounter with Christ and this offering, with him, of the consecrated life until He is "the light to illumine the people" .
INTRODUCTORY RITE
Hymn of preparation.
While we await the arrival of the Celebrant, the candles are lighted and a hymn is sung.
Blessing of the candles
The celebrant:
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
R . Amen.
Greeting of the assembly:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The love of God the Father
And the communion of the Holy Spirit
Be with all of you.
R. And with your spirit.
Introduction of the celebration:
Brothers and sisters,
Forty days have passed since the solemnity of Christmas.
Today the Church once again prepares to celebrate the day
In which Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple.
With that ceremony our Lord
Submitted himself to the prescriptions of the old law
And came to his people, who waited for him with faith.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, the old, holy people
Simeon and Anna came to the temple;
Illumined by the same Spirit, they recognised the Lord
And full of joy gave witness to him.
We who also are here united by the Holy Spirit
Go towards an encounter with Christ whom we find
And recognise in the breaking of the bread,
While we wait for him to come and manifest himself in his glory.
The Celebrant blesses the candles:
Let us pray
O God, fountain and principle of every light,
Who today revealed to the holy and ancient Simeon
The Christ true light of all people,
Bless these candles
And hear the prayer of your people
Who come to you with these luminous signs
And hymns of praise;
Guide them along the road of good,
Until they reach the light without end.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
He then blesses them with Holy Water.
Procession
At the same time this hymn is sung:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
1. Now let your servant go in peace according to your word.
2. For my eyes have seen your salvation, prepared by you before all people.
3. A light to illumine the people and the glory of your people Israel.
4. Glory be the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
5. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be, world without end. Amen.
Kyrie and Gloria
Collect Oration
Let us pray.
Omnipotent and Eternal God, look on your faithful here united
On this feast of the Presentation in the Temple of your only Son made man,
and grant that we also may be presented to you
fully renewed in spirit.
Through Jesus Christ, your Son who is God and lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
R. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First reading
From the Letter to the Hebrews 2:14-18
In everything he made himself the same as his brothers
Intimately united to men as to brothers, Jesus has become the pontefice misericordioso. Faithful in service to God, he expiated our sins and liberated us from the power of Satan and of death. His suffering is able to help us in our own trials, because he himself was tried.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23
Come Lord into your temple.
Acclamation at the Gospel
Alleluia. Now let your servant go in peace according to your word (Lc 2:29). Allelluia.
Gospel
From the Gospel according to Luke 2:22-40
My eyes have seen your salvation
To Jesus who was presented in the Temple and offered to God as the first son - the synthesis and image of all the messianic hope of Israel - came a just man who had been moved by the Spirit. Simeon's wait is finished, and now he can die. In his expectation of redemption, is all of the Old Testament, the old law that is now satisfied as salvation opens and the light for all people is lighted. But not without judgement and crisis. The child will be the discriminating reference, the point of comparison, a sign of contradiction. He must be either accepted or refused. This test will be reflected also in Mary. In the Presentation at the Temple, the Cross, the Crucifixion and Our Lady of Sorrows are outlined and reflected. The prophetess, Anna, also perceives the redemption in that child and this gives her a reason for thanksgiving and proclaiming.
Homily
Thanksgiving to God for the Gift of the Consecrated Life
Celebrant:
Brothers and sisters,
On this feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
I invite you all to join with me in thanking the Lord
For the gift of the consecrated life
That the Holy Spirit has raised up in the Church.
You, here present, who are consecrated to the service of God,
In a stupendous form of ecclesial vocation
Renew the pledge to follow the
Obedient, poor and chaste Christ,
Until, through your evangelical witness,
Christ the Lord, light of the people,
Shines in the church and illuminates the world.
(All pray in silence for some seconds)
Celebrant:
May you Lord, holy Father, be blessed
Because in your infinite goodness,
With the voice of the Spirit
In every age you have called men and women,
Already consecrated to you in Baptism,
That they may be within the Church
A sign of the radical following of Christ,
Living witness of the Gospel,
Proclamation of the values of the Kingdom,
Prophecy of the ultimate and new City.
All:
Glory and praise to you, Lord.
Reader:
We glorify you, Father and we bless you,
Because in Jesus Christ, your Son
You have given us the perfect image of the obedient servant:
He made your will his food,
Service, the rule of life,
Love, the supreme law of the Kingdom.
Reader:
Thank you, Father, for the gift of Christ,
Son of your Handmaid,
A servant obedient unto death.
Today, with joy we reconfirm our pledge
Of obedience to the Gospel,
To the voice of the Church
To our rule of life.
All:
Glory and praise to you, Lord.
Reader:
We glorify you, Father, and we bless you
Because in Jesus Christ, our brother,
You have given us the highest example of the gift of self:
He, who was rich,
Became poor for us,
He proclaimed as blessed the poor in spirit
And opened to the small the treasury of the Kingdom.
Reader:
Thank you, Father, for the gift of Christ,
Son of man, mild, humble, poor,
Who had no place to lay his head.
Today we happily reconfirm our pledge
To live soberly and with austerity,
To conquer the anxiety of possession with the joy of giving
To use the goods of this world
For the cause of the Gospel and human promotion.
All :
Glory and praise to you, Lord.
Reader:
We glorify you, Father, and we bless you,
Because in Jesus Christ, son of the Virgin Mother
You have given us the supreme model of consecrated love;
He, Lamb without stain, lived loving you and others,
Died forgiving and opening the doors of the Kingdom.
Reader:
Thank you, Father, for the gift of Christ,
Virgin bridegroom of the virgin Church.
Today, with joy, we reconfirm our pledge
To keep our bodies chaste and our hearts pure,
To live with undivided love
For your glory and the salvation of mankind.
All:
Glory and praise to you, Lord.
Celebrant:
Look benignly Lord on
These your sons and daughters
Firm in faith and happy in hope.
Let them be, through your grace,
A reflection of your light,
An instrument of your Spirit of peace,
An extension among men of the presence of Christ.
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.
All acclaim by singing:
Amen.
EUCHARISTIC LITURGY
Oration over the gifts
Accept, O Father, our gifts and look upon your Church,
That through your will, offers you with joy the sacrifice of your only Son,
The Lamb without stain, for the life of the world.
Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
The celebration continues on in the usual manner.
Oration after communion
Let us pray,
O God, who satisfied the ardent wait of the saintly Simeon,
Complete in us the work of your mercy;
You who gave to him the joy of holding in his arms,
Before dying, Christ your Son,
Grant also to us, with the power of the Eucharistic bread,
To walk towards our Lord, in order to possess life eternal.
Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
CONCLUDING RITE
Benediction
Celebrant:
The Lord be with you.
R . And with your Spirit.
May God, who from darkness, called you to his admirable light,
Pour out his blessing upon you
That you may be rendered firm in faith, in hope, and in love.
R. Amen.
May God make you witnesses of his truth to the brethren,
As true disciples of Christ
A light that shines in the darkness.
R. Amen.
As Simeon and Anna waited for and found Christ,
The light of the world, so may you find, at the end of your pathway,
With immense joy, Christ, the light of the world.
R. Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Descend on you and remain with you forever.
R. Amen.
CONSECRATION - VOCATION
To live means to be desired and loved by God, moment after moment. If this is true of all of life, how much more so should consecrated persons be aware of the meaning of life as a gift from God, called to live according to the logic of the divine Love revealed to us in Christ! "In the different forms of life inspired by the Spirit throughout history, consecrated persons discover that the more they stand at the foot of the Cross of Christ, the more immediately and profoundly they experience the truth of God who is love" (VC, 24). By virtue of their baptism, and even more so by their radical self-giving to God and neighbour, consecrated persons are a manifestation of the Love of the triune God who wants to be in communion with men and women: "The consecrated life reflects the splendour of this love because, by its fidelity to the mystery of the Cross, it confesses that it believes and lives by the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Ibid.).
1. The Great Jubilee that we are celebrating finds in the consecrated life a wonderful concrete historical and existential expression of the mystery of the Love of God made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ. The Great Jubilee, in fact, represents a solemn celebration of the 2000 years of the Incarnation of the Word of the Father and of his Paschal Mystery, bringing it to fulfilment anew through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a question of the greatest concentration of the Mystery of God-communion, God-Love: the Father, who proceeds from himself creating, enters into communion with his creatures through the Son Jesus Christ, who, as an event in history, represents full communion between God and the human person. This manifestation-communion of the Father through his Son Jesus throughout history, is completed through the progressive outpouring of the Spirit, an indispensable prerequisite for the intimate realisation of communion between God and people.
God's eternal plan is to make people sharers in his trinitarian life through Jesus Christ; in the Holy Spirit they have access to the Father. God's Fatherhood does not represent some sentimental fact; rather, it is a reality that transfigures the person, inserting him or her into the intimacy of the trinitarian family. Christians " share in the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4) because, as the Letter to the Ephesians says, "Through [Christ] we have access to the Father in the one Spirit" (Eph 2:18). Being holy means sharing in the nature of God the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Thus Christians become "fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God" (cf. Eph 2:19). God's eternal plan, therefore, is to "sum up in Christ all things" ; from all eternity "he has called" men and women to be in communion with him, incorporating them into the mystery of his incarnate Son: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favour of his will... He has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favour that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth" (Eph 1:3-6. 9-10).
2. We have been called from all eternity "in" and " through" Christ to be "holy", that is, to share in the " holy life" of God, in his infinite transcendence. This is the "consecration" of every baptised person; indeed, one can say that in God's plan every person has this vocation. Consecration is identified with the divinisation of the person and the latter in turn with his or her "Christification", which takes place through the outpouring of the Spirit.
The vocation of the consecrated person is to make this "consecration" even more visible. The consecrated life is a "Christ-like existence" that can be achieved "only on the basis of a special vocation and in virtue of a particular gift of the Spirit. For in such a life baptismal consecration develops into a radical response in the following of Christ through acceptance of the evangelical counsels" (VC, 14). In this way the consecrated person is called to become, even in his frail humanity, a living, transparent image of the Jubilee mystery of Christ. In fact, "in the consecrated life, then, it is not only a matter of following Christ with one's whole heart, of loving him more than father or mother, more than son or daughter (cf. Mt 10:37) - for this is required of every disciple - but of living and expressing this by conforming one's whole existence to Christ in an all-encompassing commitment which foreshadows the eschatological perfection, to the extent that this is possible in time and in accordance with the different charisms" (VC, 16).
Christ is the " image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), and the human person in turn is the image of Christ: "We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified" (Rom 8:28-30).
In a radical and even more evident way consecrated persons are called to become living icons of Christ: their "special consecration" (VC, 30) is nothing other than the call to becoming progressively like Christ, to be like a living sacrament of Christ's presence in the midst of men. Indeed, "by allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit on an endless journey of purification, [consecrated persons] become, day after day, conformed to Christ, the prolongation in history of a special presence of the Risen Lord" (VC, 19).
3. The Jubilee is not a mere commemoration of some past event. It is a reality that, in a certain sense, recurs every day because Jesus of Nazareth is truly risen and is alive among us and within us. Rather, the man Christ Jesus, who lived twenty centuries ago, died and is risen, is the "Beginning and the End" (Rev 21:6), "the Alpha and the Omega" (Rev 1:8; 21,6) of all of creation; everything was made through him and for him and in him all things hold together (Col 1:16). He is the watershed of history, the figure of cosmic magnetism, the fulfilment and the sense of every event, and of the whole universe.
The consecrated person is humbly aware of being called to make this mystery of Christ visible today. If " the religion founded upon Jesus Christ is a religion of glory; it is a newness of life for the praise of the glory of God (cf. Eph 1:12)", and if "man (vivens homo) is the epiphany of God's glory, man who is called to live by the fullness of life in God"> (TMA, 6), all the more so is the consecrated person who is called to bear witness more radically in the midst of the world to the mystery of Christ.
If the Holy Year is to be " one unceasing hymn of praise to the Trinity, the Most High God" (Incarnationis mysterium, 3), consecrated persons have even greater reason to praise and thank God: they have been called by God, through their religious consecration, to help the men and women of today experience this ineffable mystery of God who, in the person of Christ, has entered into our history.
Contemporary man and woman need to see that God's promises, fulfilled in the person of Christ 2000 years ago, are still being fulfilled today. The contemporary person, swamped by thousands of messages, by an infinite amount of words, is in greater need than ever of the " Good News", of the " Word" that has become flesh of his flesh. The man and woman of today are tired of false promises of happiness; they need the fulfilment of these promises, they are in desperate need of Salvation. Today's man and woman thirst and hunger for Love, friendship, understanding; they need someone who will help them to overcome their anxieties, fears, uncertainty; they need someone who can give meaning to the apparent absurdity that surrounds them.
Rediscovering the face of Christ: this is the first scope of the Jubilee. It depends on the consecrated persons too if this goal is to be achieved.
COMMUNION - ECUMENISM
In this jubilee year marking the beginning of the third Christian millennium and commemorating the incarnation of the Lord, the Church is called to discover anew her role as the mystery of communion. The predetermined plan of the Father for the world is that men and women are, and are to live as, sons in the one Son (cf. Eph 1:4,f.) and " that God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:28). The mystery of communion, founded in Christ the Word who became flesh, died and is risen, and made possible for us by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is the very mystery of the Church itself. The consecrated life, that special gift of the Spirit, has the task of making communion visible among the people of God by means of a genuine, lasting fraternal life, in such a way that the world can find in communion the response to its deep desire for an authentic relationship with God and others.
1. Before giving himself up for the salvation of the world, Jesus prayed to the Father that all may be one, indicating as a paradigm of this unity his eternal filial relationship: " that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me" (Jn 17:21.23). All of God's involvement in the world ultimately has this goal: that men and women may share in the divine life that is perfect love, the perfect reciprocal dedication between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. The Father created every person, sent his only-begotten Son and has poured out the Spirit so that every person may be introduced into the divine life and live in communion with everyone.
The Church, which is born of Christ's sacrifice and of the outpouring of the Spirit, has no other purpose than of making possible "communion" among people, opening the trinitarian life to all humanity and, since divine life is trinitarian (communal) life, the Church is the "sacrament" wherein it becomes possible for people to be saved as members of the one family of God.
St. Paul writes: " For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body" (1 Cor 12:13; cf. Eph 4:4). Indeed, the Spirit is the principle of communion because he is the personified expression of the divine Agapé (Love) that by its very nature unites: "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). He is the principle of unity and communion because the unity of the Church is a grace and gift of God: becoming one with Christ, the Church is constituted, the Church that is the fulfilment of God's eternal plan. Jesus became man, died and rose so that this unity may be brought about, in order to to restore humanity, wounded by sin, to unity with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph 2:11-22).
2. If this is the mystery of the Church as communion, consecrated persons are called to a special radicality in the following of Christ and to a special visibility of conformity to him; they are also called to make visible to the world the Church as a mystery of communion. The communal life that should characterise consecrated persons, according to their own spirituality, becomes the "locus" in which the ecclesial mystery is offered in the visibility of persons who recognise that they are all members in Christ. If the consecrated person is to fulfil the radicality of his or her baptismal vocation, that means that his or her vocation as a consecrated person is a vocation to ecclesiality, to communion. From this point of view the theological justification of the consecrated life is found in becoming increasingly, within the Church, an element fostering life in communion. A person is consecrated to the Lord in order to live as radically as possible his or her own ecclesiality, that is, the nature of communion, whose origin, model and end is the Trinity: "A great task also belongs to the consecrated life in the light of the teaching about the Church as communion, so strongly proposed by the Second Vatican Council. Consecrated persons are asked to be true experts of communion and to practise the spirituality of communion" (VC, 46).
The fraternal life in which consecrated persons are called to live out their own vocation becomes the expressive form of an authentically ecclesial life: "The Church is essentially a mystery of communion, 'a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit' (S. Cyprian, De oratione Dominica, 23: PL 4, 553). The fraternal life seeks to reflect the depth and richness of this mystery, taking shape as a human community in which the Trinity dwells, in order to extend in history the gifts of communion proper to the three divine Persons" (VC, 41).
The communion in which consecrated persons live out their belonging to the Lord cannot be reduced to a purely sociological or psychological dynamic: it must ultimately be rediscovered and understood in its theological nature as a gift and mystery: " In community life, then, it should in some way be evident that, more than an instrument for carrying out a specific mission, fraternal communion is a God-enlightened space in which to experience the hidden presence of the Risen Lord (cf. Mt 18:20)" (VC, 42).
In the celebration of the great Jubilee it is more meaningful than ever to recall how throughout two thousand years of Church history, consecrated persons have been a prophetic and inspirational sign of communion for the whole ecclesial community: " The consecrated life can certainly be credited with having effectively helped to keep alive in the Church the obligation of fraternity as a form of witness to the Trinity" (VC, 41). This prophetic thrust of consecrated persons must not be lost; rather, it is necessary to continually nourish and restore it in this third Christian millennium.
3. Through this special vocation to " ecclesiality" that is proper to consecrated persons, the community life in common must be nourished every day through faithful personal and communal prayer, through a constant listening to the Word of God, a sincere "review of life" that draws from the sacrament of Reconciliation the strength for a continuous rebirth; through persevering prayer for unity, "a special gift of the Spirit for those who place themselves in an attitude of obediently listening to the Gospel" . In fact, "it is the Spirit himself who leads the soul to the experience of communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (cfr. 1 Jn 1:3)" (VC, 42). Only if the Spirit takes possession of our humanity, of our heart, of our need for love and tenderness, will religious communities be the "churches in miniature" , a sign of the Spirit's presence.
In this dynamic of fraternal life that expresses for the Church and for the world a sign of authentic communion with God and with others, an absolutely central place must be given to the sacrament of communion par excellence, the Eucharist: " This is the heart of the Church's life, and also of the consecrated life. How can those who are called, through the profession of the evangelical counsels, to choose Christ as the only meaning of their lives, not desire to establish an ever more profound communion with him by sharing daily in the Sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualises the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God's pilgrim people?"letter-spacing: -.15pt"> (VC, 95). It is impossible for consecrated persons to be witnesses of communion unless their own life finds its centre in the Memorial of Christ's Paschal Mystery: " By its very nature the Eucharist is at the centre of the consecrated life, both for individuals and for communities. [...] By means of the Eucharist all consecrated persons are called to live Christ's Paschal Mystery, uniting themselves to him by offering their own lives to the Father through the Holy Spirit" (VC, 95).
4. In this great jubilee celebration the consecrated life, rediscovering its role as a sign of life in communion, shows the contemporary world the response that God himself gives to the person who yearns for an authentic relationship with him and others. In fact, the human person needs communion and total happiness. In Christ alone is a person open to the grace of fulfilment.
In our age, so painfully marked by extremes of individualism that pit one person against another and, at the same time, by forms of collectivism in which the person is sacrificed for the assertion of one ethnic group or nation over another, the great Jubilee recalls to everyone the mystery of the communion revealed to us in Christ and offered to all, a mystery that flows out of the very depths of the Triune God. Here, in the image of the ineffable divine mystery, persons are called to forget themselves in order to find their own true identity in giving themselves to others. Hence the life in communion lived by consecrated persons assumes a particularly urgent role: "By constantly promoting fraternal love, also in the form of common life, the consecrated life has shown that sharing in the Trinitarian communion can change human relationships and create a new type of solidarity. In this way it speaks to people both of the beauty of fraternal communion and of the ways which actually lead to it. Consecrated persons live 'for' God and ' from' God, and precisely for this reason they are able to bear witness to the reconciling power of grace, which overcomes the divisive tendencies present in the human heart and in society" (VC, 41).
At this beginning of the third millennium the consecrated life, with its two-thousand-year experience of fraternal life, is called more than ever to bear witness to communion as a reality in which persons truly find themselves, letting themselves be loved and learning to make a genuine gift of themselves, with respect for and appreciation of all the differences that, in the mystery of communion, become riches and factors of unity and no longer of division: "Placed as they are within the world's different societies - societies frequently marked by conflicting passions and interests, seeking unity but uncertain about the ways to attain it - communities of consecrated life, where persons of different ages, languages and cultures meet as brothers and sisters, are signs that dialogue is always possible and that communion can bring differences into harmony" (VC, 51).
Therefore all those whom God has called to a special conformity to Christ should be aware that " the Church entrusts to communities of consecrated life the particular task of spreading the spirituality of communion, first of all in their internal life and then in the ecclesial community, and even beyond its boundaries, by opening or continuing a dialogue in charity, especially where today's world is torn apart by ethnic hatred or senseless violence" (VC, 51).
However, precisely in the face of this task of being promoters of unity among all humankind, how can we not feel anew the pain of the internal divisions within the People of God and, therefore, the urgent need for full communion among all Christians? For this reason, in the whole of the consecrated life pride of place should be given to yearning and engagement for unity among all who believe in Christ. This means first and foremost making one's own the prayer of Christ himself: " may they be perfect in unity" (Jn 17:23) This unity, we must be well aware, "after all, is a gift of the Holy Spirit (TMA, 34), because the whole Church is imploring the Lord "that unity among all Christians of the various confessions will increase until they reach full communion" (TMA, 16). As a result we can see the urgency of the task of consecrated persons in this regard: " Since the soul of ecumenism is prayer and conversion, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life certainly have a special duty to foster this commitment. There is an urgent need for consecrated persons to give more space in their lives to ecumenical prayer and genuine evangelical witness, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit the walls of division and prejudice between Christians can be broken down" (VC, 100).
MISSION - WITNESS - MARTYRDOM
The sole purpose of the Great Jubilee, "the year of favour", is to create the most favourable conditions for the Church, the body of Christ, so that the Spirit may once again renew and purify it, completing anew in the Jubilee period the work of liberation and healing that he accomplished in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth twenty centuries ago: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" ("a year of Jubilee" ) (Lk 4:18-19).
1. If the charism of the consecrated life consists mainly in being more closely conformed to Christ, then the religious too, in a certain way, has been anointed by the Spirit in order to be sent into the world. The religious life as a charism is given for the good of the Body of Christ, that is the Church. The document Vita Consecrata states: "The same Spirit, far from removing from the life of humanity those whom the Father has called, puts them at the service of their brothers and sisters in accordance with their particular state of life, and inspires them to undertake special tasks in response to the needs of the Church and the world, by means of the charisms proper to the various Institutes. Hence many different forms of the consecrated life have arisen, whereby the Church is 'adorned by the various gifts of her children... like a bride made beautiful for her spouse (cf. Rev 21:2)' and is enriched by the means necessary for carrying out her mission in the world" (VC, 19).
In this jubilee year consecrated persons, in that they are made Christ-like ("anointed" by baptism and their religious consecration), will let themselves be penetrated even more by the power of the Spirit in order to effectively fulfil their mission in the world: "In the image of Jesus, the beloved Son 'whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world' (Jn 10:36), those whom God calls to follow him are also consecrated and sent into the world to imitate his example and to continue his mission. Basically, this is true of every disciple. In a special way, however, it is true of those who, in the manner that characterises the consecrated life, are called to follow Christ 'more closely', and to make him the 'all' of their lives. The task of devoting themselves wholly to 'mission' is therefore included in their call; indeed, by the action of the Holy Spirit who is at the origin of every vocation and charism, consecrated life itself is a mission, as was the whole of Jesus' life" (VC, 72).
Indeed, Jesus Christ, the one upon whom the Spirit descends and rests, lived his whole life as a mission from the Father: he is the one whom the Father has sent; he does not come of his own accord but he is sent by the Father (Jn 8:42) to do his will; his will is that none of those given to him should be lost, but that they should all be raised up on the last day (Jn 6:38-39). Thus consecrated men and women, called to be visibly conformed to Christ, should live their own life as a mission and particularly make their own the expression of the Risen Christ": "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21)! The concrete existence of consecrated persons, therefore, with all its specific gifts, is called to be expressed totally in the mission for the salvation of the world.
2. Today in the Church there is an increasing sense of the urgent demand to unite to the work of evangelisation that of the "new evangelisation" and there is also an awareness of the decisive role that consecrated men and women will have to play in the latter. This extremely important demand requires, before any organisational or strategic effort, a greater docility to the action of the Holy Spirit, without which there is a risk of "labouring in vain". In fact, "evangelisation will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit", said Paul VI (EN, 75) and John Paul II, taking up the teaching of his predecessor, emphasises: "In our own day too, the Spirit is the principal agent of the new evangelisation. Hence it will be important to gain a renewed appreciation of the Spirit as the one who builds the Kingdom of God within the course of history and prepares its full manifestation in Jesus Christ, stirring people's hearts and quickening in our world the seeds of the full salvation which will come at the end of time" (TMA, 45).
In regard to the consecrated persons called to evangelise, the document Vita Consecrata states: "The specific contribution of consecrated persons, both men and women, to evangelisation is first of all the witness of a life given totally to God and to their brothers and sisters, in imitation of the Saviour who, out of love for humanity, made himself a servant. In the work of salvation, in fact, everything comes from sharing in the divine agape. Consecrated persons make visible, in their consecration and total dedication, the loving and saving presence of Christ, the One consecrated by the Father, sent in mission. Allowing themselves to be won over by him (cf. Phil 3:12), they prepare to become, in a certain way, a prolongation of his humanity. The consecrated life eloquently shows that the more one lives in Christ, the better one can serve him in others, going even to the furthest missionary outposts and facing the greatest dangers" (VC, 76).
Evangelisation, therefore, is nothing other than the consecrated person's spreading among others that life of Christ which he or she first experiences in the Holy Spirit. The greatest work of evangelisation that the consecrated person can give is that of living seriously his or her being Church, his or her "being-in-communion", a reality that constitutes the definitive proof of the presence and action of the Spirit within the person.
If we really want to see our own consecrated communities renewed and vocations flourish, it is necessary for the Spirit to truly become the agent, at the personal and community level, of the consecrated life in an authentic missionary dynamism. The consecrated life must truly become "life in the Spirit". That means conversion from the "I" (including the "I" of one's own congregation or province) to the "we" of communion and ecclesial mission: it means overcoming the forces that lead to death and an openness to life, it means overcoming a false attachment to the past and a prophetic openness, nourished by authentic Tradition, towards the future in seeking God's will; it means overcoming our petty provincialism and an openness to the horizons of universality; it means overcoming the logic of the world and an openness to the logic of the Gospel and the paschal mystery, which is a logic of the cross and resurrection. Ultimately it means continuously renewing our option for God, who is loved above all else, in the following of Christ, comforted and guided by the power of the Spirit.
3. The mission of consecrated persons must always be, but especially in this "year of grace", like that of Christ: "proclaim the good news to the poor". Our brothers and sisters today are suffering not only from material poverty (hunger, uprooting from their own land, persecution, war, unemployment, sickness, abandonment...), but also from spiritual poverty (loneliness, despair, moral degradation, loss of values, exploitation...). To all of these, consecrated persons are sent to proclaim the "good news" of salvation, of liberation. Monks and contemplative nuns and the various men and women religious of the active life will proclaim to those who suffer that one can still hope, one can still love. Those who have experienced Christ's liberating action in their own life can bear witness to all people of the fruits of redemption. Those who, by their vocation, have entered into the "year of favour", will proclaim by their life, by their words and works, that the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus Christ twenty centuries ago is powerful and efficacious for all, that it can and must penetrate into the fabric of our society, that it can and must change the hearts of people and social structures; that it can change injustice into justice, despair into hope, and hatred into love.
In consecrated persons Christ will continue today as well to go about "doing good to all", he will continue to dry tears, to console the afflicted, to give the hungry something to eat, to caress children, to free prisoners. It remains, however, profoundly true for all religious that "more than in external works, the mission consists in making Christ present to the world through personal witness. This is the challenge, this is the primary task of the consecrated life! The more consecrated persons allow themselves to be conformed to Christ, the more Christ is made present and active in the world for the salvation of all" (VC, 72).
At the dawn of the third Christian millennium, recalling our task as consecrated persons to make Christ's mission our own, it is our duty, last of all, to call to mind those who, consecrated to God, remained faithful to the Gospel to the point of pouring out their blood.
Christ, the "faithful witness" (Rev 1:5), fulfilled his mission, loving "to the end" (Jn 13:1) in obedience, even to death on the cross; in the Church, his Body and his Bride, consecrated persons are called to give the same witness of the truth of God, ready to give an explanation of the reason for their hope (1 Pt 3:15).
How much, then, should we give thanks to God for the gift of so many consecrated persons who have given their life to witness to Christ's love for every person! In this regard the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, recalling the more recent situations, states: "Consecrated men and women have borne witness to Christ the Lord with the gift of their own lives. Thousands of them have been forced into the catacombs by the persecution of totalitarian regimes or of violent groups, or have been harassed while engaged in missionary activity, in action on behalf of the poor, in assisting the sick and the marginalised; yet they lived and continue to live their consecration in prolonged and heroic suffering, and often with the shedding of their blood, being perfectly configured to the Crucified Lord. The Church has already officially recognised the holiness of some of these men and women, honouring them as martyrs for Christ. They enlighten us by their example, they intercede that we may be faithful, and they await us in glory" (VC, 86).
A PROPHETIC GESTURE OF COMMUNION AND SOLIDARITY
The Commission, which was formed by the USG (The Union of General Superiors), the UISG (the International Union of General Superiors) and the World Conference of Secular Institutes (CMSI), collaborated with the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CIVCSVA) in the preparation of the way in which the Consecrated Life is called to live the Jubilee. The Commission has thought it both positive and effective to respond to the desire expressed by many to underscore the aspect of forgiveness, of solidarity and of reciprocal hospitality, as is suggested by the spirit of the Jubilee. This can be done by performing a prophetic gesture of communion on the part of all consecrated persons in aid of those who are particularly needy. The Commission is now studying the various proposals which it has received.
Moved by this desire for communion, therefore, we are asking every community - even the poorest - to make a contribution, according to their possibility, which will demonstrate on the part of consecrated life, an awareness of the poverty which, under every form, wounds humanity.
We wish to make this gesture of love during the time of Advent, a time of waiting and supplication so that commemorating - after 2000 years - the birth of Jesus, Savior and Redeemer, our hearts may be renewed by His love and by a new strength of charity, the necessary requisite for obtaining the gift of peace between people and nations.
The collection will be presented to the Holy Father by the Presidents of the Unions, during the Eucharistic Celebration which will take place in St Peter's Basilica on February 2, 2000. All of the Institutes of Consecrated Life resident in Rome will be present, and through the gift which is offered, every community in the world. The gift is intended to manifest the communion lived in faith and hope and sustained by sacrifice which we all wish to strengthen in ourselves, in our communities, in our countries and in the entire world.
Every community may send its offering through the Conference of their country or through the superior general of their own institute. These, in turn, will forward them to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which will see that they are turned over to the Presidents of the Unions for presentation to the Holy Father.
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