ROME – Pope Leo celebrated the service of consecrated men and women Monday, telling those who had given their lives to God that they are meant to be witnesses of peace and fraternity in a divided and conflicted world.

“Through your commitment to follow him more closely – sharing in his self-emptying and in his life in the Spirit – you can show the world the way to overcome conflict, sowing fraternity through the freedom of those who love and forgive without measure,” the pope said.

By professing the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and through the works of charity they perform, “you are called to bear witness to God’s saving presence in history for all peoples, even within a society in which false and reductive understandings of the human person increasingly widen the gap between faith and life,” he said.

He spoke during a Feb. 2 Mass on the occasion of the 30th World Day of Consecrated Life, telling consecrated persons that the celebration was a reminder of both the love of God, who loved his people enough to give his life to save them, and that of humanity, which waits for his return with patience and faith.

Jesus, he said, was born into a poor family in the large city of Jerusalem, illustrating “how he offers himself to us with full respect for our freedom, fully sharing in our poverty.”

“There is nothing coercive in his actions; there is only the disarming strength of his unarmed generosity,” he said.

Where humanity is concerned, the expectation for God’s return is found in Simeon and Anna, two elderly people who awaited the coming of the Messiah and proclaimed his arrival when Mary presented the infant Jesus in the temple.

“This moment represents the climax of a long history of salvation that stretches from the Garden of Eden to the courtyards of the Temple — a history marked by light and shadow, failure and renewal, yet always driven by a single, vital desire: to restore full communion between the Creator and his creatures,” Leo said.

In this context, Jesus comes as a light to the people, but one so humble “that it almost passes unnoticed,” he said.

Speaking of the role of consecrated persons, Pope Leo said their call was to “wake up the world,” saying the heart of their vocation “is prophecy.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, the Church asks you to be prophets – messengers who announce the presence of the Lord and prepare the way for him,” he said.

God, the pope said, is capable of “melting and purifying hearts” with love and mercy, a mission to which all consecrated men and women are called, “rooted in prayer and in a readiness to be consumed by charity.”

He noted that the various communities and orders present all had different charisms, but that each were founded by individuals who were willing to be “signs of contradiction,” courageously following God’s call, at times going to hostile and violent environments to care for the poor and become witnesses of peace and reconciliation, some to the point of martyrdom.

Leo said their legacy as consecrated persons must be honored by carrying this mission forward, in prayer and closeness to God.

In a society that increasingly misunderstands faith, consecrated persons, Pope Leo said, must reach out to young people, the elderly, poor, sick, and imprisoned.

“Each of them is an inviolable sanctuary of God’s presence, before whom we must bend our knee, in order to encounter him, adore him and give him glory,” he said, noting that many communities are already close to their people, even in dangerous situations of conflict.

Those who remain present even amid violence and threats “do not abandon their people, nor do they flee; they remain, often stripped of all security, as a living reminder – more eloquent than words – of the inviolable sacredness of life in its most vulnerable conditions,” he said.

“Even where weapons roar and arrogance, self-interest and violence seem to prevail, prevail, their presence proclaims the words of Jesus: ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for… in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father,’” he said.

Consecrated life and its detachment from the world is a sign of the care that must be given to earthly realities, as well as a sign of the hope and love for eternity, the pope said, telling consecrated men and women to keep their gaze fixed upward.

Recalling the Second Vatican Council document Lumen Gentium, Leo said it is a reminder that the church will only become perfect in heaven, and that at that point, the whole universe “will be perfectly established in Christ.”

“This prophetic vision concerns you as well: men and women firmly rooted in the realities of the present, yet always attentive to the things that are above,” he said.

Pope Leo closed his homily thanking consecrated persons for their service, and encouraging them “to be leaven of peace and signs of hope wherever providence may lead you.”

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