The Joy Of Following Christ

The Church needs to make known the great gospel values of which she is the bearer. No one witnesses more effectively to these values than those who profess the consecrated life in chastity, poverty and obedience, in a total gift of self to God and in complete readiness to serve humanity and society after the example of Christ.

-Saint John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio

This month, Pope Francis asks us to pray for all of our religious, that in this Year of Consecrated Life, “religious men and women may rediscover the joy of following Christ and strive to serve the poor with zeal.” Let us join him in praying for all consecrated religious.

Vocations and peace

Pope Benedict XVI gave the Church two important messages this week.

This past Sunday was World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and during his Regina Coeli address the Holy Father spoke of the importance of vocations and how vital it is that young men and women be attentive to God’s call. He said:

We are afraid to listen to the voice of the Lord because we believe it can detract from our freedom. The truth is that each of us is the fruit of love; the love of our parents, of course, but also and more profoundly the love of God. ... When we become aware of this our lives change; they become a response to that love which is greater than any other, and thus our freedom is fully realised.

Pope Benedict also sent a message to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences for their Eighteenth Plenary Session, which met in Rome this past week. The Holy Father lauded the Academy for choosing to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed John XXIII’s Encyclical Pacem in Terris, which was very important to the Church’s social doctrine. He focused on forgiveness in particular, writing:

The notion of forgiveness needs to find its way into international discourse on conflict resolution, so as to transform the sterile language of mutual recrimination which leads nowhere. If the human creature is made in the image of God, a God of justice who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), then these qualities need to be reflected in the conduct of human affairs.

These two messages don’t seem to connect. But in both cases, Pope Benedict XVI shows that a better understanding of God’s love can help us to better live out God’s call—specifically in our own vocations and generally in our love for others.

Famous nuns make the news

This week The Washington Post profiled "a few famous nuns" on their website. Their list includes pictures and descriptions of inspiring religious women of our time, like Blessed Teresa of Kolkata and St. Katharine Drexel. 

It is affirming to see that even the secular media can recognize the incredible witness of these women who gave their lives over to Christ. 

Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, we ask for your intercession—so that we may be like these holy women who were and who are selfless witnesses for the world.