Consecrated Life: What's it all about?

The decision to dedicate oneself to consecrated life is not like the choice to enter a particular profession, but rather a mystical response to a deeply felt invitation that is often surprising and little understood, a persistent call that impels one to a life that is no better or worse, only different from the baptismal call to marriage or single life. Profession of the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, a traditional trademark of consecrated life, does make a difference in the common journey we are all called to as followers of Christ.  Consecrated life has always called us to stand on the periphery of our society, but the living out is in the context of a continuing call to be transformed by the changing needs of our times.

The vow of poverty does not mean living a destitute life, but rather a detachment from the lure of material goods which is so rampant in our consumerist society. We also learn to share in common our goods like food and vehicles and living quarters. 

The vow of chastity is the complete giving of oneself to God, and in that is a great freedom to love and serve others without the obligations of family. In return we receive love through an ever deepening relationship with Jesus, the love and support of others in community and the joy experienced in serving others. 

The vow of obedience is seeking God’s will through actively listening to the Holy spirit, dialoguing openly with leaders and community on how your gifts and talents may best be used for your own fulfillment and the common good of the community. Gifted with a great freedom to go where others cannot go in terms of risk or distance, to do what is most needed in our neighbourhoods and beyond, to offer to people in distress services that are the fruit of compassion and contemplative prayer, those who have embraced the challenges of consecrated life have borne fruit over the ages. The stories of our own Sisters here who continue to step out in faith are wonderful examples of the power of the Spirit to inspire and animate our common mission in spite of our own human weaknesses and failings.

The North American experience of diminishment and few vocations among religious congregations has led to the question of whether our form of consecrated life is coming to an end.  In the southern hemisphere among the new churches vocations to consecrated life abound.  For us the road ahead is not clear but we walk in a spirit of trust and hope, open to the same Spirit that has led us through these times of great change.  What have we to offer to our world at this point? Although there are many ways to respond, I wish to highlight three gifts that we have to offer out of the abundance we have been given.

One is a faithfulness to prayer, to that relationship with our God that is deepened by the contemplative dimension of our lives, the source of energy and direction for the mission and ministries we realize.  Time for prayer has always been woven into the fabric of our lives.  This communication with God is as integral to our lives as time spent with each other in a marriage relationship. We continue to be there for those who seek direction in prayer formally or casually, and support and encourage opportunities that call people together for prayer. Our personal prayer time often increases as the more active demands of life lessen, and the focus widens to include the whole of creation.

Another gift we share comes through our call to live in community. The gift of community challenges us to be faithful in our daily lives to the vows we profess, and helps us to smooth out the rough edges of our personalities for the common good. It supports and comforts us in our darker hours, and rejoices with us in our moments of celebration.  It encourages us to develop our personal gifts and talents, to be all that we can be, and to risk without fear of failure, for the sake of the mission. In a society where the basic family community is often separated by distance or division, where individual aims and pursuits are the cultural norm, we witness to the value of community for those who seek meaning and identity in social relationship.  In our present move toward partnering with other groups that share our spirit, we share what our experience has taught us about community building.

All of us are called through baptism to be prophets, but those of us who have chosen the consecrated life are seen as the prophetic voice of the Church. Down through the ages religious congregations have strongly identified with the Church, are aware of their place within the Church, yet have not hesitated to call into question situations or judgments that seem out of harmony with the Gospel message. From our stance on the edge of society, we have a perception that is different from the main stream, and are able to see from another perspective needs that are developing, or decisions that will take us in certain directions. Powerful examples of a prophetic stance in our time are the Jesuits in El Salvador who spoke for justice for the poor, Sister Dorothy Stang who fought for land reform in northern Brazil, and the French Trappist monks, massacred in Algeria for their presence and practice of inclusive love.  In another vein, the recent struggle between the Vatican and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the U.S. is a different kind of example of the prophetic dimension of consecrated life.  Many prophetic voices do not make headlines but are just as powerful in their context. The cost of being a prophet is clearly demonstrated in the Old Testament and in the story of Jesus who gave his life when his message of God’s unconditional love for all threatened those who had something to lose if it was received and accepted. 

Pope Francis has a threefold reason for declaring that 2015 be a year for the celebration of Consecrated Life. The first is to awaken religious to the great challenge of their call in the present, to renew their passion for the mission of Jesus, and serve with the joy that comes from following Christ so intimately. His second reason is to draw attention to the gift that consecrated life offers to the whole Church, and call the faithful to grateful awareness of what has been and is being given particularly by religious congregations. And his third reason is to encourage vocations to religious life, and asks that the faithful pray for vocations and support those who are discerning such a call.

As one who has responded to the invitation to be part of concentrated life in the church, I can only say that it has been for me a good life that offers abundant graces and opportunities for service that I would never have imagined possible. Someone once said that God can never be outdone in generosity, and as one who in my youth gave myself to God as a vowed religious, I learn a little more each day how true that is. It is not an easy life, but a most rewarding one and I am most grateful to have said yes to the invitation when I had little idea of what it was all about.

Joan Driscoll, CSJ

Winter by the Lake

“Consider the lilies of the field. They neither toil nor spin”.

By the lake, it’s now mid-morning as I gaze out the window into the yonder. I see the blue-grey that is Lake Huron blending with a hazy blue-gray horizon that touches Michigan’s shores. The first snow has come and gone. Nature awaits a new season of surprises, slumber, and introspection. It’s a time of stillness and rest.

Squirrels scamper restlessly about. Sammy Jay in his vibrant blue markings steals stealthfully by with a prized peanut in his bill. Bunches of golden, crispy leaves lie crunched up, waiting to be tossed about by a wintery gale. The lake with welcoming arms stretches from north to south in quiet slumber.

This will all change with a sudden blast of snow and winds and flurry.

Meanwhile, it’s tranquility here; a time to rest the spirit and marvel at the ways of nature all guided by an unseen hand.

We “neither toil nor spin” by the lake.

Eileen Foran, CSJ

Step back, slow down . . .

As we approach this third week of Advent, Christians anticipate a joyful response because the feast of the birth of Jesus is near. Continuing through these days of Advent, can we step back, slow down, examine our ordinary lives, rejoice again in all  that God does for us each day? God's desire is for our completeness, wholeness of spirit, soul and body as we prepare for the coming of Christ.

The stance of 'waiting' is something we know well but often live poorly. As children remember the waiting and longing we endured as the days crept along before our birthday, or the last days of school in June. 'Waiting' is an important principle of the spiritual life. Much growth can happen in us as we take each ordinary day as it comes, believing we do not walk alone, but are accompanied by a personal God of love.  'Waiting can steady our pace if we live the time positively and trustingly.

To what might God be calling me at this mid-point of Advent?
What am I finding hard to face in my life these days?
What am I seeking in my questioning?
What am I expecting and hoping for in God's reply to me?

Betty Berrigan CSJ​

It's Not About Me

“The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandal.” (Mark1;1-8l) This is the root of John’s message. He preached about someone else, someone who would come after him. The Baptist was not interested in the limelight. He was not interested in praise or adulation. He was interested in preparing the way!

Though our consumer society bombards us with material goods that will ensure happiness we know that true happiness comes from within, from a sense of wellbeing and self-worth. Our call is to allow ourselves to be consumed by the person of Jesus, the one preached by the Baptist. And in being consumed we will burn.

In Barbara Fiand’s book, “On Becoming Who We Are”, she reflects on a story told by the Persian mystic Rumi about Moses overhearing a shepherd at prayer. The shepherd was willing to help God in any way possible from washing God’s clothes to tending his sheep and goats. As the story goes Moses chastises the shepherd for being so naive about the nature of God. Terrified by Moses’ reaction the shepherd repents and wanders the desert. God intervenes and questions Moses about HIS treatment of the shepherd. God told Moses that phraseology or language are not what is important:

 “I want burning, burning. Those who pay attention
to ways of behaving and speaking are one sort. 
Lovers who burn are another.”

Moses runs off looking for the shepherd and finds him in the depth of a mystical union - united to the Holy One in deepest love. (pp. 52-53)           

Rumi’s story has stayed with me. Especially when a person I am counseling experiences release from some dark personal desert and is led to fuller life we both rejoice and I am so aware of God working in me. It is not about me, it is not rigid teaching, or pious platitudes but as the psalmist says it is an invitation to listen deeply while trusting the intuition of another. “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak". (p. 85)

Peter’s gentle invitation is simply asking us to be at peace while waiting for a new heaven and a new earth. Clearly we are to live these Advent days in joyful anticipation. With Mary may we walk with deep interior peace, and a serenity of spirit knowing that the Almighty is doing great things in us. Mary knew how to receive and how to hold spiritual gifts, and she knew that they had to be given away to be maintained, deepened and understood. For Mary, it was all about the child she was to birth.

Reflection:                   

• How would I describe BURNING in my heart ?
• How is the manner in which I live each day reflective of Mary’s openness to the unexpected?                       

Pat Hogan CSJ                                                  

Longing for the Light

Within the cycle of the seasons, we know that now is a time when more darkness surrounds us, wrapping us in a black shroud that causes our energies to wane. The first day of winter, December 21st, marks the time of year when the darkness will give way to the light. Together with all of creation in our Northern Hemisphere, we remember that this longest night of the year is a promising sign that the sun will return to lengthen our days.

Nature has much to teach us about light and darkness:

• Experiencing the radiance of the sun lifts our spirits.

• It is a delight to see a rainbow of magnificent colour arch across a once stormy sky.

• We are filled with wonder and awe, as we look up to see the silvery moon and the vast array of diamond-like stars, against a grey-black back drop.

• Fireflies flitting past us create sparks of light in an otherwise dark night.

The paradox of the process of transformation is that although we need light for our life’s journey we also need darkness. Our body was formed in the darkness of our mother’s womb.  When we are born, we enter into the light where we grow and change. The intertwining of light and darkness is the pattern for the rest of our lives. Waiting anxiously in the darkness of night, we yearn for the first glimmer of the light of dawn. After a trying, bleak day, the hues of brilliant colour that appear on the horizon as the sun sets, offer hope for a brighter tomorrow. During this reflective time of day, perhaps we will recall our mortality when our earthly life will end, in the seeming darkness of death, and we will be drawn into the eternal light of our loving God. 

As we begin Advent, we long for the Light of Christ to dispel our inner darkness of weariness, disillusionment, and despair. As we move through the four weeks leading up to Christmas, more light appears on our Advent wreathes until the Christ candle brilliantly shines out. Christ, Our Hope, is the everlasting Light which no darkness can overcome.

Ponderings:

Where do you find light when you experience deep darkness in your life?

How are you a Christ-light in the darkness of other people’s lives?

 Kathleen O’Keefe CSJ