Pope urges religious to pray for vocations

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis met Monday morning with members of six religious congregations – the Minims, the Clerics Regular Minor, the Augustinian Sisters of Divine Love, the Clerics of St. Viator, the Reparative Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the Missionary Sisters of St. Anthony Mary Claret – who are in Rome for General or Provincial Chapters.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Holy Father asked them how many novices they had – and warned that without “children,” their orders would die. “I ask this question,” he said, “because it is about the future of your congregations.”

Pope Francis then highlighted two aspects of the spiritual life of consecrated men and women: beauty and simplicity.

The grace and beauty of God’s face

The stories of every order, the Pope said, “are stories of beauty, because in them the grace and beauty of the face of God shine forth.”

He invited his audience to “take the testimony” of their founders, who “knew how to perceive this beauty and transmit it in different ways according to the needs of their time.”

“It is up to you,” he said, “to continue, like them, to seek and spread the beauty of Christ in the concrete circumstances of today’s world.”

Simplicity: choosing the essentials

Pope Francis then stressed that the founders of the various orders “chose the essential… and renounced the superfluous.” In this way, he said, “they allowed themselves to be shaped daily by the simplicity of God’s love that shines through in the Gospel.”

He invited consecrated men and women to pray for “the gift of simplicity” as they prepare for their Chapters, calling on them to “stretch themselves” of anything that might prove an obstacle to “listening attentively and preserving harmony” in their discernment.

In doing so, Pope Francis said, they will be able to understand the needs of the present moment and “make the best decisions for the future.”

A great mission

The Pope then highlighted the commitment of religious to poverty and obedience, which enable them to undertake the “great mission” entrusted to them by God the Father.

And he reminded them of the need for prayer, especially prayer before Christ in the tabernacle; prayer which must come “from the heart” and which “makes us advance in the way of the Lord.”

Prayer for vocations

Pope Francis concluded his address with words of gratitude and encouragement, before concluding with an exhortation to pray for vocations. “It is necessary that you have successors who carry your charisms,” he said, adding: “Pray, pray! And be attentive to formation, so that it is good.”