"WITNESS WITH YOUR LIFE TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE!"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received the Mothers Superior of the Executive Council of the International Union of Superiors General, representing the 800 religious from 70 nations who came to Rome last week to participate in an encounter of reflection on the problems and hopes of the consecrated life at the beginning of the third millennium.

John Paul II told the religious: "In order to recognize Christ and the Church the world also needs your witness. Do not be discouraged, therefore, if you meet with difficulties. ... Do not be afraid; the Lord is with you, He precedes you and follows you with the faithfulness of His love. Witness with your life to what you believe!

"There is need of the strong and free witness of your vow of poverty, lived with love and joy. ... There is need of your faithful and pure chastity. ... The youth observe you; they can learn from you that there is a love different from what the world proclaims, a faithful, total love, capable of risk. Virginity, lived for the love of Jesus, is prophetic today more than ever! ... There is need of your responsible obedience and full availability to God through the people which he places in your path."

"How many times has it been said that today the need is felt not as much for teachers as for witnesses! Be, therefore, witnesses of the Gospel, faithful to God and faithful to man. ... The certainty of the presence of God in your life helps you to understand the relationship existing between consecrated life and the announcing of the Gospel. God wants to need your personal and communal availability to His Spirit, in order that humanity becomes aware of and finally discovers His mercy and His love for every creature."

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