Pope John Paul II had a refreshing vision in which religious life was not "liberal" and "conservative" factions, but an intimate relationship with Christ.  He saw the priesthood, the lay faithful and consecrated religious life all complementing each other in a great spiritual symphony.  He was an especially great friend of religious men and women.  He praised our life in the highest terms in Vita Consecrata as "mirror[ing] Christ's own way of life" (32).

He had so much to say about consecrated life, and a great deal to say to us.  In the first five years that he was pope, he called religious communities back to the authentic living of our charisms - this was a tremendous lift to our morale, since we too were seeking a genuine renewal of the Dominican charism without losing the essentials.  Then he developed the same idea much more deeply in Vita Consecrata that consecrated life has a privileged relationship with the Trinity, making us daughters of God the Father, guided by the Holy Spirit in intimacy with Christ.  He saw every aspect of the consecrated life as derived from this relationship with God: our community life and our contemplative prayer life translated into Christian action in a language of love.

The pope saw the Catholic Faith as a vision of each person's God-given beauty and unity with God lived together in the Mystical Body of Christ.  He tried to make people see consecrated life in terms of gift to the Church, of the beauty of this gift when a person allows herself to give all in order to belong only to God.

On a personal note, I was privileged to study in Rome during the first years of Pope John Paul's pontificate and so was able to see the Holy Father on numerous occasions.  The first time I saw him he was speaking to religious on the feast of St. Francis.  I remember his words, The measure of your effectiveness will depend on the degree of your love for God.  He was captivating and the power of his words and his eyes revealed both passion and mysticism.  No matter how many times I later saw him, the moment when I would glimpse his appearing was always fresh, riveting, and humbling to be in his presence, like that first time I saw him.

~ Mother Rose Marie, O.P.