To the participants in the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) Pope Francis spoke the following on Wednesday, May 8, 2013:In the Last Supper, Jesus addressed these words to the Apostles: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16), which reminds all, not just us priests, that a vocation is always an initiative of God. It is Christ who has called you to follow him in the consecrated life and this means to continually engage in an “exodus” from yourselves to center your existence on Christ and on his Gospel, on the will of God, divesting yourselves of your plans, to be able to say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This “exodus” from oneself is to put oneself on a path of adoration and service. An exodus that leads us to a path of adoration of the Lord and of service to Him in our brothers and sisters. To adore and to serve: two attitudes that cannot be separated, but which must always go together. To adore the Lord and to serve others, not holding anything for oneself: this is the “divestment” of one who exercises authority. Live and recall always the centrality of Christ, the evangelical identity of consecrated life. Help your communities to live the “exodus” from themselves on a path of adoration and service, first of all, through the three foundations of your existence.
