By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Mass for World Consecrated Life with various religious groups from across the archdiocese. Sunday, March 8, 2026. Cathedral of St. Mary.
The daily fidelity to the Gospel lived by consecrated women and men may seem to be insignificant in a world marked by armed conflicts, social fragility, forced migration and situations that put faith to the test. Yet, as Pope Leo XIV said at last year’s Jubilee of Consecration Life: "United with Him, and in Him with one another, your small lights become like the path of a luminous trail in the great plan of peace and salvation that God has for humanity."
For the past 30 years, on February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Church celebrates the World Day for Consecrated Life. It highlights the value of consecrated life as a stable and supportive presence alongside the most vulnerable people, yours is a light that shines brightly.
And while, February 2nd has passed, it is not too late for us in the Archdiocese of Miami to acknowledge with gratitude the generous witness of consecrated women and men in this local Church. Thank you! Thank you! And a special Thank you to our jubilarians!
Your apostolates, the many works of charity which you carry out, your profession of the evangelical counsels keep you firmly rooted in the realities of the present, yet “always attentive to the things that are above” (Roman Missal, Collect for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
Christ died and rose to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (Heb 2:15). Through your commitment to follow him more closely — sharing in his self-emptying and in his life in the Spirit (cf. Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life Perfectae Caritatis, 5) — you can show the world the way to overcome conflict, sowing fraternity through the freedom of those who love and forgive without measure.
Within a society in which false and reductive understandings of the human person increasingly widen the gap between faith and life, you are called to testify that the young, the elderly, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned hold a sacred place above all else on God’s altar and in his heart.
The Scripture readings today speak of “Living Water”. The “living water” that we thirst for has is source in the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the Sacraments of the Church. In the Gospel today, we encounter the touching story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
The Samaritan woman, even though she at first did not realize it, thirsted for good news. In the world that surrounds us, we know that many people are like the Samaritan woman, people that are thirsting for love. In their loneliness and isolation, they are thirsting to belong and thirsting to know the meaning and purpose of their lives.
People today like the Samaritan woman may not at first recognize what they are really thirsting for. Today's culture of "no" — the "no" to life represented by legalized abortion, the "no" to the future represented by a contraceptive mentality that has brought to many parts of the world a “demographic winter,” the "no" to enduring commitments necessary to foster a family — has coarsened human relationships and spiritually impoverished our society.
Individualism in our postmodern and globalized era fosters a lifestyle which weakens the development and stability of personal relationships. Without that stability our world becomes an increasingly hostile place.
Human beings cannot flourish in isolation and loneliness; like the Samaritan woman, we thirst to belong, we thirst to know the meaning and purpose of our lives). Through your commitment to follow him more closely — sharing in his self-emptying and in his life in the Spirit through vows of poverty, chastity and obedience (cf. Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life Perfectae Caritatis, 5) — you can show the world the way to overcome conflict, sowing fraternity through the freedom of those who love and forgive without measure. ).
As Jesus bridged the distance between himself and the Samaritan woman, we pray that, during this Lenten Season of renewal and conversion, Jesus will help us bridge any spiritual distances between ourselves and him or among ourselves.
Dear consecrated men and women, today the Church gives thanks to the Lord and to you for your presence. She encourages you to be leaven of peace and signs of hope wherever Providence may lead you. As we renew the offering of our lives to God upon the altar, we entrust your work to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, together with all your holy founders and foundresses.
