JUBILEE OF CONSECRATED LIFE: BE WITNESSES OF CONVERSION

VATICAN CITY, FEB 2, 2000 (VIS) - In St. Peter's Square at 10 a.m. today, feast of the Presentation of the Lord, John Paul II presided at a Mass for the occasion of the Jubilee of consecrated life. Taking part in the event were religious and members of secular institutes and of societies of apostolic life from different countries.

Prior to the Eucharistic celebration, there was the blessing of candles and a procession.

In his homily, the Pope told the 20,000 who were present: "You are here to place the hopes and problems of your various institutes upon the altar of the Lord. In the spirit of the Jubilee, render thanks to God for the good accomplished and, at the same time, request pardon for any shortcomings that may have marked the lives of your religious families. At the start of the new millennium, you question yourselves about the most efficient way to contribute, while respecting the original charism, to new evangelization, reaching the many people still ignorant about Christ. In this light, you raise a passionate invocation to the Lord of the harvest that, in the hearts of many young people, He may kindle a desire for total dedication to the cause of Christ and the Gospel."

The Holy Father recalled "the example of generous evangelical commitment" of many religious as well as of those "who, with the supreme witness of blood have, even in recent years, paid their choice of faithfulness to Christ and to man without surrender or compromise. May we grant them our admiration and recognition!

"The presentation of Jesus in the Temple throws a special light on your choice (of vocation). Do you not also live the mystery of awaiting the coming of Christ as demonstrated and personified by Simon and Anna?"

"With the renovating strength of His love," the Pope went on, "Christ wishes to make you effective witnesses of conversion, of penance, of new life. Having your heart, affections, interests and emotions polarized on Jesus constitutes the greatest attribute of the gift that the Spirit works in you. He confirms you to Him, chaste, poor and obedient."

"Called to leave everything in order to follow Christ you, consecrated men and women, renounce defining your existence in terms of family, profession and worldly interests. You choose the Lord as the only criteria of identification. Thus you acquire a new family identity."

Following Mass, John Paul II greeted all those present in various languages.

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