In the letter dated June 10, the prior general, Miguel Miro, announced to the eight prior provincials of the Order, the convocation by the Holy See of a world meeting of young consecrated men and women. It was scheduled in the Year of Consecrated Life and would take place in Rome from 15 to 19 of September. The General informed the decision that 30 religious who have less than ten years of profession would participate, from among the 150 that are in the Order.
On the eve of the meeting, the young men, chosen from their respective provinces, started to arrive in Rome, they settled themselves in the two houses of the Order capable of accommodating visitors, the Generalate and the historic Colegio de San Ildefonso, at the center of the city. All the available places of the two buildings were all occupied. The religious, all of them between the ages of 30 and 35, make up a mosaic from 16 nationalities.
The course of the meeting
The inspiring them of the Meeting has been the phrase which Pope Francis has been repeatedly banging on the religious: “Awaken the world”. In each day’s program three places were designated, corresponding to three activities, expressed in three key words.
The morning activities were always done in the Paul VI Hall. After the morning prayer, was a time dedicated to “Listening” to different speakers, among them Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation of Religious, and his secretary, archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carvallo. It was concluded before lunch with the youth asking some questions based from the conferences of the speakers.
The first part of the afternoon, from 16:00 to 18:00, the 5000 participating religious in the meeting were grouped according to language and assigned in the churches of the center of Rome in order to exchange experiences and make some contributions; it was a time called “To Restore”, from feedback, and concluded with the eucharist.
And still on the third part of the schedule, from 19:30 to 22:30, was dedicated to “Celebrate” and to “Witness”. In some roman churches the young consecrated spend time to celebrate the experience of the day, in praising and giving thanks to God for it or having a moment of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Even after in the evening, cultural tours were extended, just like the guided visit to the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel.
The morning of 19, Saturday, was very special. It simply consisted of a dialogue with Cardinal de Aviz, in order to conclude the Meeting with the celebration of the eucharist, pesisded by the Prefect cardinal in the papal basilica of St. Peter.
Francisco: against narcissism, adoration
Special expectations aroused, as expected, the meeting with the Holy Father, during the first hour of Thursday the 17th. Francis was disposed in answering several questions raised by the youth. Along with the questions, he narrated how his vocation to the religious started, and had the chance to clarify ideas, showed ways, encouragement in the journey.
And he concluded summarizing his teaching in a succinct and practical phrases: “closeness with the people, closeness between us, prophecy with our testimony, with a burning heart, with an apostolic zeal that burns the hearts of others; and remembering; to come back always”. “I want to end with two words: “narcissism”, keep watch of that. And “adoration”, silent adoration, which is the opposite of narcissism. With this I end: be men and women of adoration”.