What does Pope John Paul II had in mind then when he declared that the World Day for Consecrated Life (Priestly and Religious Vocations) on the same day as The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple?
The First World Day for Consecrated Life was declared by Pope John Paul II In 1997.
St. John Paul II wished that the experiences of the holy man Simeon and the prophetess Anna, who both awaited the Messiah and watched over the Temple “be extended to the whole Church, so that the celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life may gather consecrated persons together with other faithful in order to sing with the Virgin Mary the marvels, which the Lord accomplishes in so many of his sons and daughters.”
(St. John Paul II, The Message of the Holy Father John Paul II For the First World Day for Consecrated Life, 1997).
Recalling another one of his messages, “The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is an eloquent icon of the plenary gift of oneself to God for all those, who by means of the evangelical counsels are called to reproduce in the Church and in the world, the “characteristic features of Christ – poor, chaste and obedient.”
(St. John Paul II, Post –Synodal Apostolic Exhortation)
At one point, St. John Paul II addressed the consecrated persons (priest and nuns) directly when he said, ““They are invited to celebrate together solemnly the marvels, which the Lord has accomplished in them. They are invited to reflect on the gift received and to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.”
Image credits: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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