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Image: Presentation of Christ at the Temple by Hans Holbein the Elder, 1500–01
Pope Francis’ homily for First Vespers of The Presentation of the Lord
Saint Peter’s Basilica – Saturday, 1st February 2025
“Behold… I have come to do your will, O God” (Heb 10:7).
With these words, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus’ total obedience to the Father’s plan. We read these words on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the World Day for Consecrated Life, in this Jubilee of Hope and in a liturgical setting marked by the symbolism of light.
All of you, dear sisters and brothers who have chosen the path of the evangelical counsels, have given yourselves, like a bride before her spouse… surrounded by his light.
You have dedicated yourselves to the same luminous plan of the Father, which goes back to the beginning of the world.
It will be fully accomplished at the end of time, but even now it is made visible through “he wonders that God works in the fragile humanity of those who are called”.
Let us reflect, then, on how, through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience that you have professed, you can bring its light to the women and men of our time.
First: through the light of your poverty
Poverty is rooted in the very life of God, in the eternal and total mutual gift of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
By practicing of poverty, consecrated persons, through their free and generous use of all things, become bearers of blessings for them.
They manifest the goodness of these things in the order of love, rejecting all that can obscure their beauty – selfishness, greed, dependence, violent use and misuse for the purpose of death and destruction – and embracing instead all that can enhance that beauty: simplicity, generosity, sharing and solidarity.
And Paul says: “All [things] belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God” (1 Cor 3:22-23). This is poverty.
Second, through the light of your chastity.
This too has its origin in the Trinity and is “a reflection of the infinite love that unites the three divine persons”.
The embrace of poverty, by renouncing conjugal love and following the path of continence, affirms the absolute primacy of God’s love, to be received with an undivided and nuptual heart and points to it as the source and model of every other love. (1 Cor 7:32-36 – 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33 but the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl[a] is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own good, not to restraint you, but to promote good order and to ensure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly towards his betrothed,[b] if his passions are strong, and they must be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is not a sin).
We know that we live in a world often marked by distorted forms of affectivity, in which the principle of pleasure – that principle – drives people to seek in others the satisfaction of their own needs rather than the joy comes from a fruitful encounter. It is true. In relationships this leads to superficial and unstable attitudes, selfishness and hedonism, immaturity and moral irresponsibility. The spouse chosen for life is replaced by the “partner” of the moment, while children freely accepted as a gift are replaced by those demanded as a “right” or eliminated as “unwanted”.
Sisters and brothers, in the face of this situation and the “growing need for inner honesty in human relationships” and for stronger human bonds between individuals and communities, consecrated chastity shows us and points out to the men and women of the twenty-first century a way to heal the disease of isolation by practicing a free and liberating way of loving.
A way of loving that accepts and respects everyone, without forcing or rejecting anyone.
What a balm for the soul to meet religious who are capable of such a mature and joyful relationship!
They are a reflection of God’s own love (Lk 2:30-32 – “For mine eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel”).
To this end, it is important that our communities provide for the spiritual and affective growth of their members, both in initial and ongoing formation.
In this way, chastity can truly reveal the beauty of a self-giving love and avoid such harmful phenomena as the souring of the heart or questionable choices, which are a symptom of unhappiness and dissatisfaction and sometimes lead to a “double life” in more fragile persons.
There is a daily struggle against the temptation of a double life. It is every day.
Third, through the light of your obedience.
The reading we have just heard also speaks of this, since it shows us, in the relationship between Jesus and the Father, “the liberating beauty of a filial and non-subservient dependence, marked by a deep sense of responsibility and animated by mutual trust.
It is precisely in the light of the Word of God that your obedience becomes a gift and a response of love and a sign for our society.
Today we tend to talk a lot but listen very little, in our families, in our workplaces and especially in social networks, where we can exchange a flood of words and images without really meeting others because we do not really interact with them.
This is something interesting. Many times in everyday dialog, before one person finishes speaking, an answer comes out because the other person is not listening. We must listen before we respond. Receive the other person’s word as a message, as a treasure, even as a help to me. Consecrated obedience can be an antidote to this isolated individualism, because it promotes an alternative model of relationship characterized by active listening, where “speaking” and “listening” are followed by the concreteness of “acting,” even at the cost of putting aside our own tastes, plans and preferences.
Only in this way can a person fully experience the joy of the gift, overcome loneliness and discover the meaning of his or her existence in God’s greater plan.
Finally, I would like to mention something else.
In consecrated life today there is a lot of talk about “going back to the roots”.
But not a return to the origin as in a museum, no.
A return to the very source of our life.
The Word of God that we have heard reminds us that the first and most important “return to the origins” in every consecration and for each one of us is the return to Christ and to his “yes” to the Father.
She reminds us that renewal, even before meetings and “round tables” – which are necessary and useful – takes place in front of the tabernacle, in adoration. Sisters, brothers, we have somewhat lost the sense of
adoration. We are too practical, we want to do things, but… adore. Worship.
There must be the capacity for adoration in silence.
And in this way we come to appreciate our founders above all as women and men of deep faith, repeating with them in prayer and in devotion: “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God” (Heb 10:7).
Thank you for your witness. It is a leaven in the Church. Thank you.
