To commence the Year of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter to consecrated women and men. Within the context of this letter, Sr Margaret Randall rsm reflects on questions and comments regarding ageing that were raised at a meeting of Sisters of Mercy in Sydney, exploring topics such as community life, ageism, loss and suffering, residential care, prophetic witness, reminiscence, and spirituality throughout life.

Respond to the crisis of vocations with intensified prayer, not despair or a lax admissions process, Pope Francis told women and men religious during closing events for the Year of Consecrated Life, reports Catholic News Service (CNS).

As we quickly come to the end of the Year of Consecrated Life and move our focus to the Year of Mercy, Sister Catherine McCahill sgs reflects on its meaning for herself and for religious in general.

As the Year of Consecrated Life draws to a close, it is fitting to reflect on its major themes and our journey over the past twelve months, writes CRA President Sister Berneice Loch rsm, as she highlights the strong bond that religious Institutes have with each other and reaffirms that more can be achieved by working together. 

When the doors were first flung open to welcome in the Year of Consecrated Life, I decided to walk with Hildegard of Bingen and Pope Francis to help me get the most out of this year, writes author Sue Kane.

Those who live a consecrated life is like a lighthouse on the seashore, guiding the sea vessels approaching their destination. The lighthouse must be brightly lit all the time, writes Sister Cielo Tanio of the Daughters of Divine Zeal Australia (FDZ).

Something that might be of interest in this Year of Consecrated Life would be to look at religious men and women portrayed in the movies. Father Peter Malone msc, film critic, media practitioner, author and theologian, walks us once again through iconic movies featuring Religious.

This me, here and now, is the one that Jesus loves, not some cardboard cut-out, good ‘brother’ but a flawed, wounded, damaged seeker, for whom all these experiences had all been part of the shaping process, writes Marist Brother Robert O'Connor.

It is not true that the Consecrated Life is dying. Rather, we understand that it is actually in a period of transformation and is always moving towards the goal to live and act in order to give witness, writes Josephite Sister Maria Cecilia Paiva Huaringa.

We have to keep trying to love, and show our love, to those who matter to us, in ways that will make sense to them rather than simply in ways that will make us feel good, said Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe sdb.