Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on World Day for Consecrated Life, which is celebrated on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. As is customary, the celebration began in darkness, with the assembly holding small candles for light.
Pope Francis sat down as soon as he got to the celebrant's chair. In past years he would remain standing. The change was possibly due to his leg and back problems.
Hundreds of men and women religious were present. It was to them that the Pope dedicated his homily, prompting them to reflect on different aspects of their vocation.
POPE FRANCIS
We at times risk seeing our consecration only in terms of results, goals and success: we look for influence, for visibility, for numbers. It's a temptation. The Spirit, on the other hand, asks for none of this. He wants us to cultivate daily fidelity and to be attentive to the little things entrusted to our care.
He asked men and women religious to reflect on their own vision of consecrated life, which society often deems useless.
POPE FRANCIS
The world often sees [consecrated life] as a waste: “But look, such a great young man becoming a brother, such a great young woman becoming a nun, what a waste. If he were ugly, if she were ugly. But no, they're great, but what a waste.” That's how we think. We see [consecrated life] as a relic of the past, something useless. But we, the Christian community, men and women religious, what do we see?
The Liturgy of the Eucharist was especially significant, as Pope Francis and Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, celebrated it together.
In September of 2021, the Pope granted the Patriarch the ecclesiastical communion he requested. It is customary for newly elected patriarchs of Catholic Eastern Churches to ask the head of the Roman Catholic Church for this official recognition.
CT