Vatican City, Aug 17, 2020 / 05:30 am
Pope Francis has urged consecrated men and women in Brazil to remember that Jesus must be their "first and only love."
In a letter marking the country's First National Week of Consecrated Life, observed Aug. 16-22, the pope said that religious should prioritize prayer.
In the letter, published Aug. 16 in Portuguese on the website of the Brazilian Conference of Religious, he recalled a question that he had posed in his apostolic letter for the 2014-15 Year of Consecrated Life.
He wrote: "Therefore, to seek a greater promotion and renewal of the life and mission of consecrated persons in Brazil, I invite you once again to ask the question that I proposed in the apostolic letter to consecrated people in 2014: 'Is Jesus really our first and only love, as we promised he would be when we professed our vows? Only if he is, will we be empowered to love, in truth and mercy, every person who crosses our path. For we will have learned from Jesus the meaning and practice of love. We will be able to love because we have his own heart.'"