Religious: infect others with contagious joy

Pope Francis urges consecrated people to 'head for the margins'

This is an excerpt from a homily given at Holy Name of Jesus Parish Feb. 2 for the World Day of Consecrated Life.

I have tried to read all of what Pope Francis has said in the last two years about the consecrated life - and it is considerable but not yet unmanageable in volume - and I have picked from this material three themes.

Of course, I have made a selection, one which undoubtedly expresses concerns that I think are crucial to the continued vibrancy of the consecrated life in our local church.

And so I address you now directly, dear brothers and sisters with whom I share the consecrated life.

First, and above all, put Christ at the centre of your existence. The fundamental norm of our life is "the following of Christ set forth in the Gospels." The consecrated life essentially consists in personal adherence to Jesus as our first and exclusive love. Hence our commitment to live the vow or promise of chastity.

Seek Christ constantly. Seek His face, set him at the heart of your life, so as to be transformed into "a living memorial of Jesus's way of living." Like the Apostle Paul, let yourselves be captivated by Him. "Let yourselves be touched by His hand, led by His voice, sustained by His grace."

Once again we have to ask ourselves: is Jesus really our first and only love, as we promised He would be when we professed our vows? Only if He is will we be empowered to love, in truth and mercy, every person who crosses our path. For we will have learned from Jesus the meaning and practice of love. We will be able to love because we have His own heart.

Second, infect others with the joy of the Gospel. This joy "is born from feeling accepted, understood, and loved; and from accepting, from understanding, and from loving.... It is hearing someone say, but not necessarily with words: 'You are important to me.'"

In calling you - first at baptism and then through your consecration - the Lord is saying this: "You are important to me; I love you; I am counting on you." That is the cause and secret of our joy.

Each of us was called to the consecrated life, hearing something - or rather Someone - within us Who moved us to answer, however haltingly, "yes." It is in prayer that the Lord gradually leads us to understand this call and this love more deeply, but it is also through the many signs that we can read in our life and in the many people He sets on our path.

If authentic, the joy of this encounter with Him and with His call does not lead to closing in on ourselves but to opening ourselves for service in the Church. Interior joy spreads to become exterior, visible joy. True joy is contagious.

Therefore I urge you to show that your following of Christ in the consecrated life fills you with happiness. Infect those who are near you with this joy, and then many people will ask you for the reason and feel the desire to share with you your Gospel adventure.

Last, and I take these words right from the Holy Father, "Leave your nest and head for the margins of humanity today!" He couldn't be more direct!

The genuine experience of encountering Jesus Christ inevitably inspires us to encounter Him in others and leads us to the marginalized and poorest on the fringes of society who so desperately need the light of the Gospel. Let me cite the Holy Father again:

Live on the frontiers. This will ask of you vigilance to discern the novelties of the Spirit; lucidity in recognizing the complexity of the new frontiers; discernment in identifying the limits and the appropriate manner to proceed; and immersion in reality, "touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others" (Evangelii Gaudium, 24).

"Go into all the world." These were the last words which Jesus spoke to His followers and which He continues to address to all of us today (cf. Mk 16:15) - and particularly to consecrated men and women.

A vast and needy world awaits us: people on the edge of despair; families in crisis; the uneducated; abandoned and abused children; young people hoping for a better world; the elderly, sick, and abandoned; the homeless and the incarcerated; those who are rich in the world's goods but interiorly impoverished; men and women looking for a purpose in life, thirsting for God but without knowing where and how to find Him.

With the power of the Holy Spirit that accompanies you, dear brothers and sisters, go out into the streets of this world as your founders and foundresses did, and take with you the life-giving power of the Gospel which, when put into practice, can also work wonders in our own day for the good of the Church and of humanity.

As Pope Francis wrote "You will find life by giving life, hope by giving hope, love by giving love."