Homily given by Cardinal Vincent Nichols for the World Day of Celebration for Consecrated Life, Saturday 31 January 2026, 11am, Westminster Cathedral.
There is a tradition, which I am sure you are all familiar with, that the Christmas Crib can stay in place until the 2nd of February, the feast of the Presentation. I have always thought that was a rather good idea, because the Crib is about Mary presenting to us our Saviour, the Child, and we, by visiting the Crib, present ourselves to him. The feast day of the Presentation formalises this as now it is located, not in a stable, but in the Temple. Mary brings her Child, as she brought him into the world, and brought him before us, and solemnly presents him to the whole people and to God.
In the chapel in Archbishop’s House, we have kept the Crib until Monday. For me, it is still a lovely focus of prayer, and I would like to tell you a little bit about it. In the Crib we have five sheep, the ox and the ass, a dog, and a camel, which is smaller than all the sheep. Then, in the corner, we also have an elephant. I am not quite sure what he is doing there, but he seems quite comfortable. Looking at the Crib reminds me of a single important truth; when we gather before our Saviour, there is room for everyone. There is room for everyone! And everyone, whatever their disposition, can come and stand before the Lord, and see him presented to them. That, of course is the context of our renewal of commitment this morning or, perhaps I should say your renewal of commitment this morning.
I welcome all of you, fathers, sisters, brothers; everybody in consecrated life, but particularly a word of welcome for our Jubilarians. We have Sr Georgina of the Missionaries of Charity, who is celebrating her Diamond anniversary today. We have Sr Patricia Binchy, who is celebrating her Golden Jubilee today, and we have Sr Lynda Dearlove, who is celebrating 40 years. Our Silver Jubilarians are Sr Maria Consolata Kimaru and Sr Imelda, both of the Missionaries of Charity. But also, today we think of and pray with Sr John Mary Northcote, a Religious of the Assumption. She was born, if you don’t mind, in 1930, and celebrated her Platinum Jubilee in 2022. This year is her 74th year in religious life, so there is a way to go yet!
I think, as we present ourselves at the Crib and the Temple here today, it is so important to remember that we are accepted; accepted utterly and profoundly. There is that lovely theme in Pope Francis’ last encyclical Dilexit nos, which I personally think was his best encyclical of all, as it took us to the heart of our relationship with Jesus. There is, quoted in that encyclical, the lovely phrase that the name of each one of us is written in the heart of Jesus ‘in letters of love’. That is why we can stand before him, and present ourselves with confidence with a calm and reassuring love.
I would like to return to the Crib for a second point. Some of you may remember Sr Carmel, a great friend of mine who helped in Archbishop’s House. I would often watch her praying with the Crib, not simply before it, but with it. She would go and talk with these figures and move them around and say ‘you’ve been near enough for long enough, make room for somebody else.’ And, ‘can you see alright from there? Can you see the Lord? Well, just come over this way a bit.’
She moved people around and, well, we all know what that is like; to be moved around. It is now my turn to be moved around. As you all know, and as I am learning, it is not easy to be moved around. At the moment, there is all of the chaos of trying to pack what I have. One of the great challenges of Archbishop’s House is that there are so many rooms, each one of which seems to contain things I have just put there and left, and now I have to go digging through them and deciding exactly what to do.
In moving the figures of the Crib, Sr Carmel’s intention was always to refresh their concentration on the Lord, and to make sure that they could see and be a little closer. It seems to me that as we are moved around, and as we get older, that is the point. When we move we are given the opportunity to move closer to the Lord. That is what I would hope and pray for, in the next phase of my life, as a servant of this diocese and a servant of the Lord.
Do you remember the first reading? The first reading was a little scary; the one who was coming, the Purifier, would purify with fire and with soap. However, the point of that purification was that we would be more pleasing to the Lord. The Purifier comes in the figure of the Child, to whom there is no obstacle. There is no reason, therefore, why we can’t get closer and embrace him more fully, day by day. So, as you renew your commitment, and as I prepare to move on – not far, but to move on in a big way – let us pray for each other that this coming year will draw us closer to the Lord, and that we will know the joy of his love and the contentment of being in his presence.
I wish to thank every one of you for the service you give to the Church, for your lifelong dedication, and for your fresh desire to serve, and to be close to him who alone is our joy and our gladness. Amen.