In his homily on World Day for Consecrated Life in 2019, Pope Francis breathed new life and joy in to the observance when he called consecrated life—the vowed life of Catholic sisters, brothers, priests and consecrated lay people—"a living encounter with the Lord in his people."
In honor of the 25th World Day for Consecrated Life on February 2, 2021, the National Religious Vocation Conference offers 32 short video stories about the lives of newer members of religious communities as part of its Abundant Hope series.
These sisters, brothers, and religious order priests share their experiences of intercultural and inter-generational community living and share what makes them most hopeful in their service of the Church and the world. Here are a few of the videos; you can find more here.
About World Day for Consecrated Life
In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world. So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples. In some dioceses the celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life is transferred to the preceding or following Sunday in order to highlight the gift of consecrated persons for the whole Church.
"This then is the consecrated life: praise which gives joy to God’s people, prophetic vision that reveals what counts. Consecrated life is not about survival, it is not about preparing ourselves for ars bene moriendi [the art of dying well]: this is the temptation of our days, in the face of declining vocations. No, it is not about survival, but new life. “But… there are only a few of us…”— it’s about new life. It is a living encounter with the Lord in his people. It is a call to the faithful obedience of daily life and to the unexpected surprises from the Spirit. It is a vision of what we need to embrace in order to experience joy: Jesus" —Pope Francis, WDCL Homily on February 2, 2019
