Prior General Marks the World Day for Consecrated Life with a Reflection for the Carmelite Family
On Sunday, February 2, the Church celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord as well as the 29th World Day for Consecrated Life. The celebration for Consecrated Life began in 1997 under St. John Paul II. Pope Francis joined with religious men and women for the celebration of First Vespers. He spoke of the three evangelical counsels: poverty, chasstity, and obedience. He said, “They manifest the goodness of those things in the order of love, rejecting everything 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 highlight that beauty: simplicity, generosity, sharing, and solidarity.”
To mark the celebration within the Carmelite Family, Fr. Míċeál O’Neill, the prior general, has written his reflections on three themes-- consecrated life, fraternal affirmation and correction, and the significance of the jubilee year for us, Carmelite religious. He says that he writes these words “not as the answer to all our challenges but as part of a reflection that is ongoing in our Order.”
The Jubilee of Consecrated Life will be celebrated worldwide on October 8-12, 2025, as part of the yearlong Jubilee.
