Pope Leo XIV encouraged participants in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life to live their lives “constantly striving toward eternity” during a Mass he celebrated at the Vatican on October 9, 2025. Emphasizing how religious life offers “consistent, lasting, and healthy experiences of love,” he asked religious to spread “the ‘fresh air’ of authentic love throughout the world.”
In his homily at the Mass for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, the Pontiff invited them to spread the "'fresh air' of authentic love throughout the world."
In St. Peter's Square, the Pontiff presided over Mass before thousands of men and women religious, monks and nuns, hermits and members of secular institutes, the order of consecrated virgins, and “new institutes” who came from around the world to celebrate their jubilee in Rome from October 8 to 12. The Holy Year organizers announced 16,000 participants from nearly 100 different countries.
The Pope, himself a member of the Order of St. Augustine, emphasized in his homily how religious are “living witnesses to God’s primacy” in their lives. Quoting the Bishop of Hippo, he described how God embraces their entire lives, like “a light not bound by space, a voice that never fades, food that is not lessened by eating, and a hunger which is never satisfied.”
A religious vocation: Authentic love and happiness
The Pontiff encouraged the religious present to “reflect on the free gift of” their vocation, “from the origins of your congregations to the present day and from the first steps of your personal journey to this moment.”
He acknowledged that some people do not understand commitment to religious life, considering it pointless. This way of thinking, he lamented, is “a genuine paralysis of the soul” because it amounts to being content with “a life made up of fleeting moments, superficial and intermittent relationships, and passing fads — things that leave a void in our hearts.”
“This is not what we need in order to be truly happy. Instead, we need consistent, lasting and healthy experiences of love,” insisted the head of the Church.
Addressing the assembly, he encouraged them to “spread “the ‘fresh air’ of authentic love throughout the world.” He pointed out “the longing for infinity that dwells in the hearts of all man and woman.”
“The Lord, to whom you have given everything, has rewarded you with such beauty and richness,” said Leo XIV, asking them to be “constantly striving towards eternity.” He concluded his homily by quoting Pope Paul VI's exhortation Evangelica Testificatio: “Be truly poor, meek, eager for holiness, merciful and pure of heart. Be among those who will bring to the world the peace of God.”
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