As he presided at Mass in the Vatican basilica on February 2 for the
18th World Day for Consecrated Life, Pope Francis said that there should
be no conflict between observance of religious law and a prophetic
witness. In his homily, the Pope reflected on the Gospel for the day, the feast of the Presentation, and the encounter in the Temple between Mary and Joseph on one hand, Simeon and Anna on the other.
The Pontiff described the meeting as an “encounter between observance and prophecy, the young and the elderly.”
Mary and Joseph, the Holy Father explained, were a young couple, fulfilling the prescription of the law after the birth of their child. Simeon and Anna were elderly people with prophetic gifts. Their meeting centered on Jesus, the Pope pointed out: “It is He Who sets everything in motion.”
The Holy Spirit guides religious to fulfill the norms of their lives, the Pope said, and the wisdom of older religious helps guide the young members of their communities.
“It is good for the elderly to communicate their wisdom to the young; and is good for the young to gather this wealth of experience and wisdom, and to carry it forward, not so as to preserve it in a museum, but to bring it forward in addressing the challenges of life, to carry it forward for the good of the various religious orders and of the entire Church.”