St. Peter's Basilica goes completely dark on two occasions each year. One is the Easter Vigil. The other is this feast, the Day for Consecrated Life, which the Church celebrates together with the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the purification of Mary.<\/p>\n
This suggestive procession began in the atrium of the basilica. The choir sang the words of God's praise spoken by Simeon upon seeing the infant Jesus: \u201cA light for revelation to the gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.\u201d It's a way to symbolize that religious men and women are a light for the world.<\/p>\n
The pope was very direct in his homily. He said in religious life, personal achievements don't matter, and neither does a lack of them, which he said can lead to discouragement. He says what counts is the amount of space allowed for God in one's soul.<\/p>\n
POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> Pope Francis said what counts in religious life is a personal relationship with God's love. It is a relationship which requires one's own weaknesses in order to accept forgiveness and feel loved.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> At the celebration were many different religious congregations. A Dominican and a Franciscan were in charge of the readings. A Benedictine and a Carmelite, among others, could be seen during the offertory. Pope Francis wore Paul VI's vestments. Among those present were the prefect and the secretary of the Congregation for Religious Life, Brazilian Jo\u00e3o Braz de Aviz and Spaniard Jos\u00e9 Rodriguez Carballo.<\/p>\n Javier Romero February 3, 2020. Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter's for World Day for Consecrated Life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":18677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/eXYA-1F5IjA","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bmessareligiosieng.mp4","international_url":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bmessareligiosiint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe tempter, the devil, focuses on our \u201cwant,\u201d our empty hands: \u201cIn all these years you haven\u2019t gotten any better, you haven\u2019t achieved what you could have, they haven\u2019t let you do what you were meant to do, you haven\u2019t always been faithful, you are not capable....\u201d Thus we risk losing our bearings, the gratuitous love of God.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI think it was Saint Jerome who offered much to the Lord, and the Lord asked him for more. He said to the Lord, \u201cBut Lord, I have given you everything, everything, what else is lacking?\u201d \u201cYour sins, your want, offer me your want.\u201d When we keep our gaze fixed on Him, we open ourselves to His forgiveness that renews us, and we are reassured by His faithfulness. We can ask ourselves today, \u201cTo whom do I turn my gaze: to the Lord, or to myself?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nTranslation: Claudia Torres<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"