Pope’s Morning Homily: Uneasy? Alone? Turn to Mary, Your Mother... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Thursday, 15 September 2016

Pope’s Morning Homily: Uneasy? Alone? Turn to Mary, Your Mother... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Thursday, 15 September 2016
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Pope’s Morning Homily: Uneasy? Alone? Turn to Mary, Your Mother by Deborah Castellano Lubov

In the midst of spiritual turbulence and feeling abandoned by the world, faithful always have a refuge: their mother, Mary.
According to Vatican Radio, the Pontiff gave this advice during his daily morning Mass, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, at Casa Santa Marta, as he stressed that in a “world that suffers the crisis of a great orphanhood,” we have a Mother that accompanies and defends us.
Today’s Gospel, the Jesuit Pope stressed, brings us to Calvary, when all the Lord’s disciples fled, except for St. John and a few women.
As Mary, Mother of Jesus, is at the foot of the Cross, Francis observes, “Everyone is looking at her, saying, ‘That’s the mother of this delinquent! That is the mother of this subversive!’”
Never Denies
“And Mary heard these things. She suffered terrible humiliation. And she also heard the dignitaries, even some priests, whom she respected, because they were priests, saying “You who are so good, come down! Come down!” With her Son, naked, there on the Cross. And Mary had such great suffering, but she didn’t go away. She didn’t deny her Son! He was her flesh.”
The Argentine Pontiff recalled the poor women, who waited in Buenos Aires, to visit prisoners in the jails.
“They were moms. But they were not ashamed: their flesh was there inside. And these women suffered not only the shame of being there – “Look at her! What did her son do?” — but they also suffer the ugly humiliation of the searches they had to undergo before entering. But they were mothers, and they went to find their own flesh. And so it was with Mary: she was there, with her Son, with that very great suffering.”
Not to Be Left Orphans
Jesus, the Pope said, has promised not to leave us orphans, and on the Cross he gives us His Mother as our Mother, who cares for and defends us.
“We Christians have a Mother, Jesus’ [Mother]; we have a Father, Jesus’ [Father]. We are not orphans! And she gives birth to us in that moment with such great sorrow: She is truly a martyr. With a pierced heart, she accepts giving birth to all of us in that moment of sorrow. And from that moment she becomes our Mother, from that moment she is our Mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us.”
Francis recalled how the mystics of the early centuries counsel us to take refuge under the mantle of the Mother of God in moments of spiritual turbulence: “The devil can’t enter there.” Under her protection, we are safe, he underscored.
“In a world we could call an orphan, in this world that suffers the crisis” of a great experience of being orphaned,” Francis said, “perhaps our help lies in saying ‘Look to your Mother!’”
“We have a mother “who defends us, teaches us, accompanies us; who is not ashamed of our sins. She is not ashamed, because she is our Mother,” Pope Francis concluded, praying, “May the Holy Spirit, this friend, this companion along the way, this Paraclete or advocate Whom the Lord has sent, make us understand this very great mystery of the maternity of Mary.”
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Irish Pilgrims Accompanying Our Lady of Sorrows Today in Jerusalem by ZENIT Staff

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, is leading an eight-day pilgrimage of solidarity to the Holy Land accompanied by 177 pilgrims from all around Ireland.
He gave an address today to Bishop William Hanna Shomali, auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, telling the bishop that the Irish pilgrims have become “more and more conscious during our visit that Jerusalem is not only a holy city for Christians, Jews and Muslims, but it is also a wounded city. Conflict and injustice have taken a toll on this city and on its residents.”
Here is the text of the archbishop’s address:
Your Excellency Bishop Shomali,
It is a great joy for our pilgrims to come here to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Thank you for your kind invitation. Please convey our good wishes to Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa on his episcopal ordination last weekend in Bergamo by Cardinal Sandri in the presence of your Patriarch emeritus, His Beatitude Fouad Twal. We wish Archbishop Pizzaballa well in his challenging new ministry.
We are honoured today to be visiting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem which is the visible face of the Church in the Holy Land. We have already heard a lot this week about the ministry of the Patriarchate in ensuring that the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues to shine forth in and from the Holy Land today.
To spend time in Jerusalem has been the goal of our pilgrimage. In the early hours of this morning we walked the streets of the old city along the Via Dolorosa, reflecting on that sorrowful journey of Our Lord and Saviour to Calvary. Our Way of the Cross was made all the more poignant given that today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. This helped us to reflect on the bitter sword which must have pierced Mary’s heart to see her dear Son insulted, scourged, beaten, nailed to the Cross and laid lifeless in her arms. We meditated on how much suffering there is in the world and on the particular pain of mothers who witness violence against their children nowadays.
They say that Jerusalem is the only city that exists twice: the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem. Our Way of the Cross and celebration of the Eucharist at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre this morning have been deeply moving experiences for our pilgrims – which have given us a glimpse of both the earthly and the heavenly Jerusalem!
Bishop Shomali, you know that an important focus of our visit here has been to offer solidarity with the Christian community – those who are descended from the first people to hear the message of Jesus.
We have become more and more conscious during our visit that Jerusalem is not only a holy city for Christians, Jews and Muslims, but it is also a wounded city. Conflict and injustice have taken a toll on this city and on its residents. We want to join our voices as people of Ireland to those speaking up and working for peace. We encourage you to keep on hoping, keep on working for reconciliation and we thank you and all in the Catholic Church of the Holy Land for your tireless efforts and pleas for peace, justice and mutual understanding.
It was very moving to read some of Archbishop Pizzaballa’s first words after his ordination last weekend when he longed for the “peace of Jerusalem” saying:
“I want to be a bishop for all, for those who are entrusted to me, first and foremost, but also for those who share love and concern for the Middle East, Jews and Muslims, for the poorest, for the whole Church”.
Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land has been much more than simply a visit to holy places; it has been an opportunity for us to have a personal encounter with Our Lord in the places where he was born, lived, taught, healed, suffered, died, rose again and ascended into heaven. We have been able to encounter Him especially in the celebration of the Eucharist at Magdala, Nazareth, Gethsemane and other churches here in Jerusalem. We have heard God speaking to us in His Word which has been coming alive to us in new ways as we read it in its original setting. We have also met the Lord in the people of these Holy Places – the ‘Living Stones’. To meet with you and your people, to hear about your joys, your struggles and your pain stories, and then to communicate these messages back to our parishes, communities and families in Ireland, that is what makes this a pilgrimage of Christian solidarity.
We wish to express that solidarity with you today, Bishop Shomali, and with all at the Latin Patriarchate, and through you to the People of God you serve. You are courageously taking up the challenge to witness to the Gospel values of justice and peace. We had the privilege while in Bethlehem of meeting with representatives the Saint Yves Catholic Center for Human Rights. They shared with us some of the ways in which they are concretely putting in to practice the Church’s social teaching by working on behalf of the vulnerable and the marginalised.
This outreach is just one of many good works operating under the patronage of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Perhaps you can tell us more about your work in parishes, schools and universities and suggest ways in which we might be able to help promote awareness and practical outreach when we return home to Ireland in a few days time.
We will leave Jerusalem physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed and renewed, especially for the remainder of this Jubilee Year of Mercy and beyond. We are conscious that our pilgrimage does not end when we return home. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us during his own pilgrimage to the Holy Land “no individual, family, community or nation is exempt from the duty to live in justice and to work for peace.”
That is our challenge! We look forward to hearing more about this from you Bishop Shomali and we thank you once more for your gracious welcome to Jerusalem.
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Nuncios in Rome to Talk Gender Theory, Islam, the Church Today by ZENIT Staff

On the occasion of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis has called papal representatives to Rome for three days of meetings, beginning today.
The event is being attended by 106 of the 108 papal representatives currently in service; only two were unable to travel to Rome.
Among the 108 papal representatives in service, 103 are apostolic nuncios with episcopal rank, and five are prelates who perform the mission of Permanent Observer at various international bodies.
The meeting began this morning with Mass in the Chapel of the Choir in the Vatican Basilica, presided at by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. Throughout the day two conferences for professional development will take place in the Synod Hall of the Paul VI Hall. The first, entitled “The World Today – The Church today – Pope Francis”, will be chaired by the dean of the University of Sophia, Msgr. Piero Coda.
The second, “Genesis and the case of gender culture: approaches”, will be presented by Rev. Robert A. Ghal, associate professor of fundamental ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In the evening a dinner will be held, in the presence of the Holy Father, in the Casina di Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens.
The morning of Friday 16 September will be dedicated to a work meeting with the Superiors of the Secretariat of State, whereas in the afternoon there will be a third professional development conference chaired by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, entitled “Interreligious Dialogue, relationships with Islam”.
In the evening, a convivial meeting with the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and with ambassadors accredited at the Holy See resident in Rome will take place on the Terrace of the Vatican Picture Gallery in the Vatican Museums.
Saturday 17 will have a markedly spiritual character, and the forty apostolic nuncios emeritus have been invited, although some are unable to attend for health reasons or on account of the distance from their current residence.
At 7.30 a.m., in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae , the papal representatives will concelebrate a Holy Mass at which the Holy Father will preside, and will then gather in the same Chapel for spiritual reflection with Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, dean of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.
At 10 a.m., the papal representatives will pass through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and will be received at 11.15 by the Holy Father in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. The meeting of the papal representatives will conclude at 1 p.m. with an informal lunch in the presence of the Holy Father in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Again within the context of the celebrations of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Holy Father has invited to the Vatican, on 18 November, all 163 collaborators employed by the papal representations – advisors, secretaries and other staff – for the celebration of a jubilee day.
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Catholic-Orthodox Commission Begins Next Meeting by ZENIT Staff

The International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is to meet in plenary session from 15 to 22 September in Chieti, Italy, hosted by the archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto and the Italian Episcopal Conference. The session will be chaired by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, and by the archbishop of Telmessos Job (Getcha) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
It will also be attended, as on previous occasions in similar circumstances, by two representatives of each of the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox Churches and an equal number of Catholic representatives.
The plenary session will be dedicated to the examination of a draft document entitled “Towards a common understanding of Synodality and Primacy in service to the Unity of the Church,” drawn up during the previous plenary session of the Commission held in Amman, Jordan, in 2014, and was completed by the Commission’s coordinating Committee during the meeting in Rome in 2015.
In Chieti, the members of the Commission are required to evaluate whether this draft adequately reflects the currently existing consensus on the delicate question of the theological and ecclesiological relationship between primacy and synodality in the life of the Church or if it will be necessary to explore the theme further.
The plenary session will also offer the participants the opportunity to share moments of prayer with the local Christian communities. OnSaturday 17 September, the members of the Commission will be present at Mass to be celebrated in the Cathedral of San Giustino in Chieti; on Sunday 18 September they will participate in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Shrine of the Holy Face at Manoppello, Chieti. Finally, the Commission is expected to visit the city of Vasto and the Abbey of St. John in Venus at Fossacesia.
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Vatican Official Explains Need to Harmonize Eastern, Latin Canon Law by ZENIT Staff

Here is an explanation from Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, about the central points of the Motu Proprio “De Concordia Inter Codices”, published today. The document harmonizes divergent codes in the Code of Canon Law and the the Code of Canons of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
“From a reading of the Motu Proprio”, writes Bishop Arrieta, “it immediately comes to our attention that the motivation for these reforms responds to the desire to facilitate pastoral attention to the faithful, especially in the so-called places of the diaspora, where in areas with a Latin majority, there live thousands of Oriental faithful have left their land of origin.
Indeed, to this there may be added the conviction that, wishing to harmonise the two Codes in the pastoral matters most in need of clarification, it was enough to limit the modifications to some texts of the Latin Code, without the need to touch the Oriental one. It is precisely this that is established by Pope Francis’ recent Motu Proprio, accepting the proposal to modify the canons approved in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts of 31 May 2012.
A first line along which there develop the amendments now incorporated in the Latin Code is that of giving certainty with regard to the sui iuris Church to which the faithful belong, beginning with newly-baptised children. In this sense, it reaffirms the criterion that the child belongs to the sui iuris Church of the Catholic parent, and introduces the obligation to indicate the Church to which the child belongs on the parish register of baptisms.
With regard to the possible transfer to another sui iuris Church, the new canon 112 § 3 CIC, which previously did not exist, inspired substantially by canons 36 and 37 CCEO, demands that other than by specific dispensation, in these cases a formal act of transfer be provided for, before the competent authority, and that the so-called change be recorded also in the book of baptismal registers, consequently modifying canon 535 § 2 CIC that indicates the issues to be recorded in the aforementioned register.
A second line followed by these amendments, intended to clarify definitively the two problems regarding the celebration of marriage between Oriental faithful. The first relates to canon 834 § 2 CCEO, which requires ad validitatem the blessing of such unions by a priest, while in the Latin discipline, since the Motu Proprio Sacrum diaconatum ordinem , of 18 June 1967, deacons are also permitted to act as qualified witnesses to marriage.
Above all, after the promulgation of the two Codes, attempts have been made on various occasions to resolve this discrepancy, without ever achieving concrete results. In this opportunity it is hoped that the matter may be faced by establishing a positive disciplinary legislation that resolves the question, adding a new § 3 to canon 1108 CIC: “Only the priest may validly assist at marriage between oriental parties or between a Latin party and an oriental, Catholic or non-Catholic party”.
Alongside this, the Latin Code poses the question of jurisdictional legitimacy for the assistance of the parish at the marriage of subjects. The drafting of canon 1109 CIC could lead one to think – and it is thus interpreted in some places – that the priest could not assist at the marriage of two Oriental faithful, even if they were his subjects, if neither of the two belonged to the Latin Church. The wording was unclear and the conclusion not entirely consistent. Instead, the text of canon 829 § 1 CCEO was far more precise, and so it was therefore decided to adopt the same wording and to correct the final text by removing the less clear phrases of canon 1109 CIC.
A third area of reform regards the legitimate participation of Latin ministers in the celebration of the sacraments of Orthodox faithful, in the case of both baptisms and marriages. Here there also lacked the provisions of the Latin discipline regarding these contingencies that, instead, were present in the Oriental text. The migratory flow of recent decades has made it essential that it be adopted also in the Latin Church.
A point of discrepancy also relates to the relatively frequent request to Latin priests to administer baptism to the children of non-Catholic Oriental Christians. While a strict reading of canon 868 § 1 CIC suggests that baptism in this case would not be legitimate, canon 681 § CCEO considered that the Oriental priest may legitimately perform the rite. This latter text is the one that now constitutes the new § 3 added to the Latin canon, along with the appropriate modifications inserted in other places throughout the text.
A similar question is posed by the celebration of marriage. Canon 833 CCEO provides that the Hierarch of the place may confer to a Catholic priest the possibility of blessing the marriage of two Orthodox faithful, upon informing, if possible, the competent authority. In the Latin discipline there lacked, however, a provision of this type, since it was an issue that emerged far more frequently in countries where there Orthodox hierarchy of the rite concerned was not present. Also in this case it appeared appropriate to introduce into canon 116 CIC a new § 3, with the same requirements as the Oriental discipline, so that also Latin priests with the faculty of their Ordinary and the remaining conditions are able to bless marriages between Orthodox faithful who request it spontaneously.
To these changes, limited to strictly necessary points, very slight modifications have been added elsewhere to clarify some concepts or remissions, to guarantee compliance with the amendments in other normative contexts. Overall, as can be seen from the papal measure, the variations affect eleven canons of the Code of Canon Law”.
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Pope Unifes Conflicting Codes in Eastern, Latin Canon Law by ZENIT Staff

Today an apostolic letter issued “Motu Proprio” by Pope Francis, “De Concordia inter Codices”, dated 31 May, was published. The letter modifies a number of provisions of the Code of Canon Law, to bring it in harmony with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
The two Codes possess, on the one hand, common norms, and on the other, their own special features, that render them mutually autonomous. It is however necessary that even in the particular norms there is sufficient concordance. Indeed, discrepancies would have a negative impact on pastoral practise, especially in cases in which it is necessary to regulate relations between subjects that belong respectively to the Latin Church and an Oriental Church.
The Pope remarked that this is particularly evident in our times, in which the mobility of the population has resulted in the presence of a significant number of Oriental faithful in Latin territories. This new situation generates numerous pastoral and juridical questions, which demand to be resolved by means of appropriate norms.
For example, it should be recalled that Oriental faithful are obliged to observe their own rite wherever they may be and, as a consequence, the competent ecclesiastical authority has the grave responsibility of offering them adequate means to comply with such an obligation. Legislative harmonisation is certainly one of the means able to contribute to promoting the development of the venerable Oriental rites, permitting the sui iuris Churches the most effective pastoral action.
However, it is necessary to keep in mind the need to recognise the disciplinary particularities of the territorial context in which the inter-ecclesial relations occur. In the west, prevalently Latin, the correct balance must be found between the protection of the rights of the Oriental minority and respect for the historical canonical tradition of the Latin majority, so as to avoid undue interference and conflicts and to promote fruitful collaboration between all the Catholic communities present in a given territory.
A further reason for integrating the legislation of the Code of Canon Law with explicit provisions parallel to those existing in the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches is the need to clarify relations with faithful belonging to the non-Catholic Oriental Churches, now present in a more significant number in the Latin territories.
Finally, it should be shown that also canonical doctrine has allowed some discrepancies between the two Codes to be noted, indicating with substantial convergence the problematic points and how to make them concordant.
The aim of the provisions introduced by the present Motu Proprio is to arrive at a harmonious discipline that offers certainty in the method of pastoral action in concrete cases.
The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, by means of a Commission of experts in oriental and Latin canon law, has identified the issues most in need of normative adjustment, and has drawn up a text sent to around thirty Consultors and experts throughout the world, as well as to the Authorities of the Latin Ordinariates for oriental faithful. Following an appraisal of the observations thus gathered, the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts approved a new text.
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Pope’s Address to Italian Biblical Association by ZENIT Staff

Today Pope Francis received in audience the Italian Biblical Association, on the occasion of the “National Biblical Week.”
Here is a translation of the Pope’s address:
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Dear Friends,
I am happy to meet with you on the occasion of the “National Biblical Week,” organized by the Italian Biblical Association. I thank the President for his kind words and I give a warm greeting to all those present, in particular to Cardinal Bassetti, Cardinal Betori and Cardinal Ravasi.
The subject on which you worked is “Let us Fashion the Human Being … Masculine and Feminine: Declensions of the Man-Woman Polarity in the Scriptures.” To do so, you reflected on some aspects of the relation between man and woman, beginning from some basic biblical texts. Saint John Paul II reflected at length on this argument, in a memorable series of Catecheses in the first part of his Pontificate. Commenting on the first account of Creation, during a Catechesis last year I also was able to stress how “after creating the universe and all living beings, God created His masterpiece, namely, the human being, whom He made in His own image: in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27)” (General Audience, April 15, 2015).
It is essential to reflect on how we were created, formed in the image and likeness of the Creator, our difference from other creatures and from the whole of Creation. This helps us to understand the dignity we all, men and women, have; a dignity that has its root in the Creator Himself. It has always struck me that our dignity is in fact that of being children of God, and in the course of Scripture this relation is manifested in the fact that He guides us as a Father does his child. In the second account of Creation, it appears that God made us in a “craftsman-like” way, moulding us from the mud of the earth, that is, God’s hands were committed in our life. He created us not only with His word, but also with His hands and His vital breath, almost as if to say that God’s whole being was involved in giving life to the human being.
However, the possibility exists that this dignity, conferred on us by God, can be degraded. To say it in soccer words, man has the capacity to make an “own goal.” This happens when we negotiate our dignity, when we embrace idolatry, when we make a place in our heart for the experience of idols. During the exodus from Egypt, when the people were tired because Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they were tempted by the devil and made an idol for themselves (cf.Exodus 32). And gold was the idol. All idols have something of gold! This makes us think of the attractive force of riches, of the fact that man loses his dignity when riches take God’s place in his heart.
Instead, God has given us the dignity of being His children. A question stems from this: how can I share this dignity, so that it develops in a positive reciprocity? How can I make the other feel worthy? How can I “infect” dignity? When someone scorns, segregates, discriminates, he does not infect with dignity, but with the opposite. It will do us good to ask ourselves often: how do I assume my dignity? How do I make it grow? And it will also do us good to examine ourselves to discover if and when we do not infect our neighbour with dignity.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you for the precious work you do and I assure you of my prayer. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
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Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Visits Pope Francis by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis has received the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, in audience this morning, reported Vatican Radio.
Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates.
Toward the end of the audience, the Prince gave Pope Francis an Afghan tapestry, which arrived from Afghanistan as part of a charitable project his daughter runs.
The Holy Father, on the other hand, gave the Prince a medallion depicting the ‘Tree of Peace,’ telling him “peace is our vocation.”
After meeting with Pope Francis, the delegation met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The office of Prince Mohamed bin Zayed said, in tweets published after the audience, that the UAE “values Pope Francis’s efforts to confront violence and extremism,” and said he and the Pope discussed “enhancing bilateral ties, and issues of common interest.”
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Forum: ‘The Renaissance of Consecrated Life’ by Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Below is a reflection of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, entitled ‘The Renaissance of Consecrated Life.’ Published on Sept. 14th, it is from Cardinal Wuerl’s blog:
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There is a renewed youthfulness and vibrancy in consecrated religious life today. The signs are all around us.
At the recent Mass of Canonization for Saint Mother Teresa, there was a sea of young faces in the many Missionaries of Charity assembled in Saint Peter’s Square. Likewise, those attending World Youth Day this summer were joined by many religious sisters and brothers of their generation, as there are at all of these international gatherings. In our corner of the world, thousands of young novices and postulants for religious life from around the country came to spend some time with Pope Francis, the Successor of Peter, when he visited last year.
Whenever I look around and see all these young consecrated women and men who serve others in diverse ministries, I am always heartened in my realization that they are the future of the Church. It is one of the blessings of my ministry to work with our sisters and brothers in consecrated life since they speak with such happiness of the life they have found in Christ.
Earlier today, on this feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I was similarly blessed and honored to celebrate Mass where five sisters of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará religious community made their perpetual vows. What characterizes these young newly-professed brides of Christ, or any of their sisters in this order, is immense joy and love. They radiate with enthusiasm and vitality. And thanks be to God, they are not alone – they are only a representative sample of the vibrancy and renewal being seen in many other religious communities.
During his visit last year, Pope Francis expressed a special esteem and gratitude to the women religious of the United States. “What would the Church be without you? Women of strength, fighters, with that spirit of courage which puts you in the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel,” he said. “To you, religious women, sisters and mothers of this people, I wish to say ‘thank you,’ a big thank you, and to tell you that I love you very much.”
On the flight home, the Holy Father further remarked, “People in the United States love the sisters.” He is right. Many of us in older generations remember growing up with “the nuns” (and religious brothers) playing a significant role in our lives. They taught us, cared for us, prayed for us, nurtured us and helped prepare us for adulthood and to figure out what God had planned for us in our lives. Many children who grew up in later years, however, missed out on that wonderful experience when, in the wake of social change beginning in the 1960s and 70s, there was a decline in religious vocations. Then with youths having fewer examples of the beauty of consecrated life, fewer entered into it.
In wintertime, it seems that the field is desolate and bereft of life. But now we are seeing a new springtime for consecrated religious, with new sprouts beginning to emerge. As they grow and bear fruit, they are providing the seeds for more sprouts and growth. Seeing their contemporaries in religious life, more young people today can envision themselves as a religious sister (or brother) and are actively considering and entering this life consecrated to the Lord, whereas before, the idea would have never even occurred to them.
The more young people are exposed to young religious, simply seeing them present in the world and meeting them and getting to know them personally, the more these encounters will blossom into new religious vocations. For example, one young woman said of her exposure to them in college, “The sisters made me almost envious of what they had. I was attracted by their ‘normalness’ and their joy. They were all amazing! Now I am a member of that congregation and I know that they were a deciding factor.”
A religious community is not simply an association of people like some secular society. The religious vocation is primarily a call to generosity of spirit, and these orders share in the life and mission of the Church as they help weave into the fabric of our society the threads of an encounter with Jesus Christ and his transformative love. This is indispensable in our culture today which can leave people empty and impoverished. And as we see in other areas of the Church, young people are attracted to a strong Catholic identity that is confidently and enthusiastically lived.
As you come to better know our consecrated sisters and brothers and the vibrant lives they lead, maybe you too might be called. If you would like to learn more and perhaps participate in a discernment meeting or retreat, or maybe even visit acongregation – there are nearly 70communities of women religious and more than 40 men’s communities present in the Archdiocese of Washington – please contact Sister Gilmary Kay, RSM, in our archdiocesan Office for Consecrated Life at this linkand she will be delighted to talk with you.
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On the NET:
To the original post on Cardinal Wuerl’s blog: http://cardinalsblog.adw.org/
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