Dearest Brothers and Sisters!

1. To you all, called by God with a special vocation to a closer intimacy with Christ, send my heartfelt greetings. At the end of the International Congress on the Consecrated Life which took place in these days in Rome, I am very pleased to send a special message to all the participants: to the Presidents of the Conferences of Major Superiors (men and women); to the General Superiors (men and women) and to you all consecrated men and women gathered together to delve into the problems and prospects distinguishing your lifestyle.

2. Today's humankind is so spiritually impoverished to the extent that it does not realize its own poverty .In our times, we face forms of injustice and exploitation, the selfish use of justice, and indulgent forms of corruption by individuals and entire groups on a scale not previously seen. It creates in many a "darkening of hope" as I mentioned in my Apostolic Exhortation The Church in Europe (cf. no 7).

In this situation, consecrated men and women are called to offer a society which is confused, spoiled and lacking memory , a credible witness of Christian hope, "showing God's love which never abandons anyone" and offers "today's misguided humanity true reasons for hope" (ivi, n. 84). "For this we toil and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God" (1 Tm 4:10).

3. In the face of a society, in which love has no room to express itself in a gratuitous manner, consecrated men and women are called to witness to the logic of the gratuitous gift: their choice finds expression "in a radical gift of self for love of the Lord Jesus and, in him, of every member of the human family" (Vita Consecrata, 3). Consecrated life is called upon to protect the patrimony of life and the beauty able to refresh the thirsty , to bandage the wounded, to soothe the injured, and satisfy the wishes of joy, love, freedom and peace.

4. "Passion for Christ, passion for humanity," has been the guiding theme for your reflection during this Congress. In it is expressed your commitment to base everything in Christ as a cornerstone to learn how to love the neighbour as he did, who "did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, the Carmelite mystic, called upon the souls of consecrated men and women to love him who is Love, the Love not loved: "Oh souls created from love and out of love, why don't you love he who is Love?," beseeching the Loved one. "Oh Love which is neither loved nor known. Oh Love, may all creatures love you, you who are Love" (PR2, 188-189). This passion, this fervour for Christ and for the souls, this unquenchable thirst for divine love and the desire to bring all humankind to share in it, must constantly nourish your commitment to personal conversion, holiness and evangelization.

5. All of you, consecrated men and women, are called upon to follow Christ in an intimate way, to share in his feelings (cf. Phi12:5), to learn from him, who is meek and humble of heart (cf. Mt 11:29), to accomplish together with him the will of the Father (cf. In 6:28), and to follow him in the way of the cross. This is the only way for the disciple. There is no other way. Every day, with joyfulness and grateful- ness we have to embark on following the Master's narrow path to draw from the fountain of living water the necessary strength. Let's open our hearts to the Spirit's vital whispers, to vie with each other in mutual love and service, open the doors to the weak, the lonely and the downtrodden. By witnessing a chaste, obedient and poor life, you will become, at the dawn of the third Christian millennium, transparent windows of the loving countenance of Christ.

6. You, virgins for the Kingdom of heaven, more than anyone else are called upon to put on Christ's feelings of humility , meekness and patience. Let your vow of chastity point out the fruitfulness of a nuptial relationship between creature and Creator, and be a sign that only God can fill the human heart. You are called upon to joyfully share in Christ's poverty , who for our sake became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty we might become rich (cf. 2 Cor 8:9; Mt 8:20). You bear witness with your detachment that your being is fully projected towards heaven, "where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal" (Mt 6:20). Always be obedient in Christ. .

Let your communities be responsible, where the assignments given to some do not represent lack of commitment to others. Create communities where everybody exercises discernment, exemplary charity and fraternal correction. Show to the world that renouncing to your own will, your own projects -in freedom, love and faithfulness to the gospel - is source of joy and opens the way to the self fulfilment.

7. When you are immensely loved, you cannot observe from afar but must take part in the mystery of self-giving Love. You must let yourself be burnt by the fire, which burns as a holocaust in order to become love. Your openness - first of heart and intelligence, then of hands - has always had you, consecrated men and women, in the forefront of facing all kinds of poverty found in the concrete situations of our daily life. Today more than ever, you must be willing to work alongside people of good will, elements of the society , individual believers and the Church to face the challenges of the modern world. Throughout the centuries, our love for humanity , especially the un- protected, youth and children; the hopeless and the rejected, has pushed consecrated men and women to adopt an attitude of total self- giving. Continue doing so for the whole world, unconditionally, aware that the only measure that love takes into account is to love without measure. Be contagious with this loving preference for the smallest that you encounter, especially lay people who would like to share in your charism and mission. Be ready and on your guard to listen to the new invitations of the Spirit, trying to discern, together with the ministers of the local churches where you are called, to live the spiritual and missionary urgencies of the present moment.

By urging you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith (cf. Heb 12:2), I send to you and to all consecrated men and women of the world over, a special and affectionate Apostolic Blessing.

Vatican City, November 26,2004

John Paul II