Publication of the third letter to consecrated persons: “Contemplate”
CONSECRATED LIFE – The Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life is glad to announce the publication of the third circular Letter for the Year of Consecrated Life: Contemplate. To all consecrated persons persuing the Beauty trail, which is being edited by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
It is an invitation to all consecrated persons to live the contemplative dimension in spite of the many things they have to do in their daily lives, in order to rediscover that vital relationship with God that allows them to see humanity and creation with His eyes. During one of his homilies at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Pope Francis emphasized that: “The contemplative dimension is indispensible while dealing with urgent and grave issues. The more our mission urges us to go forth toward the existential outskirts, the more our heart feels the need to be intimately united to that of Christ, which is full of mercy and love” (May 22, 2015).
The first two Letters Rejoice and Keep Watch, followed by this third Letter, are meant as an extended reflection upon Consecrated Life; the golden thread of the three publications is the Book of Canticles. In the introduction we read: “To look deeply into our life; to question the meaning of our pilgimage in search of God; to evaluate our contemplative dimension in our daily life; to recognize the mystery of grace which sustains us, excites our pasion and transforms us”.
At the onset of the Holy Year, the text invites each one to follow Jesus, the Countenance of the Father’s mercy, and traces a path to be treaded: “each consecrated person is called to contemplate and witness the countenance of God as the One who understands and comprehends our weaknesses (cf. Ps 102), to pour the balsam of closeness upon the human wounds, to contrast with the cynicism of indifference” (Contemplate, 59).