With the first Sunday of Advent on November 30, 2014, the universal Church began the Year of Consecrated Life. The observance will end on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple on February 2, 2016. Pope Francis issued a letter in which he underlined the aims of this special year, namely to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to embrace the future with hope.
The Pope desires that consecrated men and women be witnesses of communion, of joy and the Gospel, and go evermore to the peripheries and frontiers to proclaim the Good News. He says, "I am calling on you 'to wake up the world', since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy. This is the priority that is needed right now." He is inviting religious to live "in synergy" with other vocations in the Church, to work together in response to the cry of the poor.
Pope Francis is better placed to speak to consecrated men and women than most popes have been, precisely because he is a Jesuit who was involved intimately in our governance and knows the joys and struggles of religious life. The context for Pope Francis' proclamation of a special year is the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Lumen Gentium and Perfectae Caritatis, both of which speak of the renewal of religious life. He quotes from Saint John Paul II in issuing his challenge to us: "You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things."
Pope Francis divides his letter into three major sections. The first deals with the aims of the Year of Consecrated Life. The chief aim is to grow in gratitude for our rich history. He speaks of following in the footsteps of past generations in order to grasp the high ideals. Jesuits naturally call to mind Ignatius and the early Jesuits. Here in Canada, we are blessed with the powerful example of Jean de Brébeuf and his companions. In the Americas, we have been blessed with the example of the 1989 martyrs of San Salvador. I, personally, think of my friendship with Fr. Martin Royackers and the illustration of his life and death in Jamaica.
The second aim is to live the present with passion. How can we implement ever more fully the essential aspects of our consecrated life? Although he does not mention it by name, the Pope is challenging us to seek the magis, an Ignatian concept that calls us to always seek the greater good. There are many paths we can take. Where is God calling us? His final aim is to embrace the future with hope. There are many reasons why we can lose hope. But Pope Francis reminds us to "Be not afraid, for I am with you."
In the second section, the Pope turns his attention to the expectations for this year. It's in this section that he focuses on joy. Those who know the writings and speaking of Pope Francis shouldn't be surprised at his emphasis on joy. The fact that we have dark nights, troubles, disappointments and infirmities is no reason to be gloomy and dour. Remember that line from Evangelii Gaudium reminding us that Christians should not look as if we’ve just come back from a funeral. His point is that it is in joyfully accepting our trials that we will be conformed more closely to Christ.
Francis says that our consecrated life will be attractive to others when they witness "lives which radiate the joy and beauty of living the Gospel and following Christ to the full." It is then that we can "wake up the world," by our prophetic challenge to the culture in which we live. This involves being on the side of the poor and powerless, because we are not beholden to the powers that be. We are free and, therefore, available to be with those most in need.
"A whole world awaits us: men and women who have lost all hope, families in difficulty, abandoned children, young people without a future, the elderly, sick and abandoned, those who are rich in the world's goods but impoverished within, men and women looking for a purpose in life, thirsting for the divine …" That's the challenge. Our response as consecrated people should be to discern what is being asked of us.
In the final section of the letter, Pope Francis also addresses the laity, "who share with consecrated persons the same ideals, spirit and mission." He invites laity to grow in awareness of the gift they themselves have received. I'm reminded of what I have seen over my thirty-six years as a Jesuit. We used to speak of the spirituality of Ignatius as if we're for Jesuits. In recent decades, we've come to recognize how Ignatius and his spirituality is a gift for the entire church. We sometimes speak of the Ignatian family.
The challenge to his fellow bishops perhaps sums up what the Pope most hopes for in this year: Instruct the People of God "in the value of consecrated life, so that its beauty and holiness may shine forth in the Church." He entrusts this Year of Consecrated Life to Mary, the Virgin of listening and contemplation.