These questions are asked more frequently in our day, as a consequence of a utilitarian and technocratic culture which is inclined to assess the importance of things and even of people in relation to their immediate "usefulness."

But such questions have always existed, as is eloquently demonstrated by the gospel episode of the anointing at Bethany:

Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment (Jn 12:3)

When Judas, using the needs of the poor as an excuse, complained about such waste, Jesus replied, "Let her alone!" (Jn 12:7).

This is the perennially valid response to the question which many people, even in good faith, are asking about the relevance of the consecrated life….

Those who have been given the priceless gift of following the Lord Jesus more closely consider it obvious that he can and must be loved with an undivided heart, that one can devote to him one’s whole life, and not merely certain actions or occasional moments or activities….

From such a life "poured out" without reserve, there spreads a fragrance which fills the whole house.

The House of God, the Church, today no less than in the past, is adorned and enriched by the presence of the consecrated life.

What in people’s eyes can seem a waste is, for the individuals captivated in the depths of their heart by the beauty and goodness of the Lord, an obvious response of love, a joyful expression of gratitude, for having been admitted in a unique way to the knowledge of the Son and to a sharing in his divine mission in the world.

What would become of the world if there were no consecrated persons? Beyond all superficial assessments of its usefulness, the consecrated life is important precisely in its being unbounded generosity and love, and this all the more so in a world which risks being suffocated in the whirlpool of the ephemeral.

"Without this concrete sign there would be a danger that the charity which animates the entire Church would grow cold, that the salvific paradox of the Gospel would be blunted, and that the "salt" of faith would lose its savour in a world undergoing secularization (Pope Paul VI, Evangelica Testificatio).

The Church and society itself need people capable of devoting themselves to God and to others for the love of God.

The Church can in no way renounce the consecrated life, for it eloquently expresses her inmost nature as "Bride."

In the consecrated life the proclamation of the Gospel to the whole world finds fresh enthusiasm and power.

There is a need for people able to show the fatherly face of God and the motherly face of the Church, people who spend their lives so that others can have life and hope.

The Church needs consecrated people who, even before committing themselves to the service of this or that noble cause, allow themselves to be transformed by God’s grace and conform themselves fully to the Gospel.

The whole Church finds in her hands this great gift and gratefully devotes herself to promoting it with respect, with prayer, and with the explicit invitation to accept it.

It is important that bishops, priests, and deacons should strive to discover and encourage the seeds of vocation through preaching, discernment, and wise spiritual direction.

All the faithful are asked to pray constantly for consecrated persons, that their fervor and their capacity to love may grow continually and thus contribute to spreading in today’s society the fragrance of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 2:15).

The whole Christian community—pastors, laity, and consecrated persons—is responsible for the consecrated life, and for welcoming and supporting new vocations.

From Vita Consecrata, the encyclical on the consecrated life, #104.