RELIGIOUS LIFE - It's Meaning, It's Marks, It's Methodsby Sister Mary Augustine O.P.
It
is the Will of God that Religious Life should flourish in the Church.
The
Church cannot conceive of Herself without the grace and the witness of this
"Life of Perfection" as it is called, and She teaches clearly,
constantly and consistently throughout the ages on the meaning, the
characteristics and the mode of living of authentic religious life.
There
are many Church documents giving this teaching, but the Post Vatican document
which gathers it together in all its essential aspects is one entitled
Essential Elements in the Church's Teaching on the Religious Life, the content
of which can be set out under the headings of
*THE
MEANING, *THE MARKS and *THE METHODS of the Religious Life.
It
contains truths which should be known and grasped by every serious Catholic -
in particular by religious men and women. Indeed, it is to the impoverishment
of their own religious lives and the life of the Church in general that so few
religious communities seem to have studied and built their lives around the
imperatives of this key document. The following is a digest of its teaching.
***************************************
RELIGIOUS
LIFE - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
* The Religious Life is a life of
total, life-long consecration to God It is the way of life which, above all
ways of life on this earth, proclaims that GOD IS HOLY; GOD IS ALL.
*
Consecration is the setting aside, by God, of something or someone for Himself
alone.
*
It is always His initative. It can happen only by His grace.
*
Christ is the THE CONSECRATED ONE. All human consecrations - particularly that
of Baptism, - are patterned on His and draw their power from His consecration
as Son.
*
Religious Consecration is rooted in Baptism - but it extends and fills out
baptismal consecration.
*
Religious Consecration, then, is a very holy thing. It is also free. God freely
consecrates the persons He calls to religious life, but the person must also
freely respond.
*
The Church, too, is vital to this process. It acts as MEDIATOR between God and
the person called. It receives and ratifies the vows of the consecrated one and
assures them of the grace needed to live the life of holy consecration.
*
Religious Consecration is an essential part of the LIFE AND HOLINESS of the
Church.
It
shows forth the unbreakable and eternal bondof love between Christ and His
Bride, the Church.
There
is nothing to come between the religious person and God. There is nothing held
back from Him. It is a way of life that reflects the life of Heaven because it
is a life of TOTAL, LOVING UNION WITH GOD.
* The Religious life is a most
treasured possession of the Church. She guides it and guards it carefully
because, like all precious treasures, it is easily lost or spoiled or broken.
*
The Consecration of a religious, because it belongs to the Church as a whole is
a PUBLIC thing. So religious must:
a.
make VOWS IN PUBLIC according to the Church's conditions and laws.
b.
give life-long PUBLIC WITNESS to Christ by imitating Him in His perfect Povery,
Chastity and Obedience.
c.
live their lives IN A COMMUNITY whose spirituality and life-style are approved
and governed by the authority and laws of the Church.
d.
give themselves totally to the PUBLIC WORK of the Church.
e.
be a PUBLIC HOLY PRESENCE, witnessing to the Kingdom of Heaven by their
unworldly way of acting, dressing and living.
How
Can We Recognize Authentic Religious Life?
What
Are Its Distinguishing Marks?
According
to the Church, religious life is not truly lived without the following:
V
O W S.
* The most important mark of the
consecrated religious is that they make three public vows - POVERTY, CHASTITY
AND OBEDIENCE.
*
In doing this they renounce the greatest goods of this world - POSSESSIONS, THE
BONDS OF HUMAN LOVE and PERSONAL AUTONOMY. They do this in the closest
imitation of Christ.
*
The characteristics of RELIGIOUS POVERTY are:
a.
that it is freely chosen
b.
that the religious gives up all ownership of property,
c.
that the religious lives a simple, sharing material life-style, dependent on
the community for everything.
*
The characteristics of RELIGIOUS CHASTITY are
a.
that the religious has a full and genuine love for God and for all people for
His sake.
b.
that the religious gives up all ways of behaving and relating to others which
would stand in the way of his/her total and chaste self-giving to God.
* The characteristics of RELIGIOUS
OBEDIENCE are
a.
that the religious obeys the directives of lawful superiors, thereby obeying
God.
b.
That the religious is obedient to the Holy Father who is the first superior of
all religious.
C
O M M U N I T Y L I F E:
* By consecration a religious is bound
to God and also to a religious community.
*
Members of a religious community are called to share a COMMON LIFE:
a.
SPIRITUALLY - by sharing together friendship and the special family spirit and
spirituality of the community.
b.MATERIALLY
- by pooling their resources and depending on the community for all their
needs.
c.APOSTOLICALLY
- by contributing to the work of Christ through the traditional apostolate of
the community.
*
Unity in community life is a clear witness to the presence of Christ and the
power of His grace.
S
A C R E D M I S S I O N:
*
God does not consecrate a religious to be merely passive, but for a particular
HOLY MISSION.
*
This mission is not the personal possession of the individual religious but one
entrusted to the community by the Church
*
Each community was founded for a particular mission and this cannot be changed
in any basic way without the community losing its reason for existence.
* The work of a religious is always
done in religious obedience.
*
The MAIN APOSTOLATE for all religious is their life of prayer asceticism and
witness. They are apostolic not because they have an 'apostolate " but
because they are living as the apostles lived.
P
R A Y E R:
*
Religious consecration cannot be lived without prayer. In prayer, the religious
concentrates his/her heart on God, coming to know and love Him more and more
deeply.
* Every religious must pray
INDIVIDUALLY, COMMUNALLY and LITURGICALLY.
*
Religious need to pray:
a.
To DEEPEN their personal union with God.
b.
To PREPARE themselves to proclaim the Gospel.
c.
To RECEIVE the grace to live their religious vows at each moment of their
life..
*
The most important form of prayer for the religious is CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
which can only be done in conditions of PROLONGED SILENCE, ADORATION and
REVERENT LISTENING before God. Through this contemplative prayer one lives in
awareness of the presence of God and sees everything in the light of Faith.
ASCETICISM:
*
By their consecration religious enter into Christ's way of suffering.
*
Asceticism, penance and self-denial are, then a necessary part of religious
life.
*
The VOWS are the central source of asceticism. They call for the leaving of all
things, and the choosing of the Cross to follow Christ throughout the whole of
one's life. They are proof of the HIGHEST FORM OF LOVE..
*
The asceticism of sacrificial self-giving is necessary for life in community.
*
The MISSION of a religious cannot be fruitful without this sacrificial love.
*
It is also necessary for the unique witness given by religious that "Here
we have no lasting city"; that the Kingdom of God transcends both the joys
and hardships of this world.
P
U B L I C W I T N E S S:
*
One of the chief purposes for religious life is to give witness to the LOVE,
HOLINESS and ABSOLUTE PRIMACY of God.
*
They must witness from their experience of God, and they must do so not only by
their WORDS, but by their LIVES. What they are counts for more than what they
do!
*
The witness of religious involves the whole of life- their VALUES, their
ATTITUDES, their BEHAVIOUR, their DRESS, their RECREATION and THEIR USE OF THE
THINGS OF THIS WORLD.
* If religious are to give authentic
witness:
a.
They must wear a RELIGIOUS GARB..
b.
They must live in a RELIGIOUS HOUSE.
c.
Their travel and social life must be governed by the rule of the community and
by their superiors.
d.
They must work in a spirit of OBEDIENCE AND HUMBLE SERVICE; not merely for
self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction.
e.
They must imitate Christ and become one with the poor by their OBEDIENCE and
SELF-CHOSEN DEPENDENCE.
f.
Their apostolic work should SHOW SPECIAL CARE for THE POOR AND SUFFERING.
*
The power of their witness comes from their loyalty and obedience to the
CHURCH.
*.
Their faithful PERSEVERANCE is a witness to the faithfulness and endless love
of God.
R
E L A T I O N S H I P TO THE C H U R C H:
*
The Religious Life is not something half-way between the hierarchy and the
laity, but a way of life which may draw from both. It stands alone as a SPECIAL
GIFT OF GRACE for the Church.
*
It is an outward sign of God's consecration of all His creation.
*
Religious Life cananot exist without the Church which:
a.
ACCEPTS AND APPROVES the special gifts of the founders of religious
communities.
b.
gives APPROVAL to the way of life and laws of each religious community.
c.
RECEIVES the vows and mediates God's consecration of each religious.
d.
SHARES her mission with each religious community.
e.
MEDIATES the GRACE a religious community needs for its life of witness.
f.
GUIDES, CORRECTS and ENCOURAGES religious communities so that they remain
faithful to their original holy calling.
R
E L I G I O U S F O R M A T I O N :
*
The religious is not just called and consecrated once. The call of God and the
consecration by Him continues throughout life, growing and developing in
mysterious ways.
*
All through his/her life the religious is being formed so that he/she becomes
more likfe Christ; sharing His mind, His way of loving and serving and His
total gift of Himself to His Father.
*
This means, for each religious, a constant, genuine CONVERSION. He/she must
concentrate on putting off all selfishness and self-gratification in order to
"put on Jesus Christ."
*
The vows of a religious, if they are lived faithfully and well do not harm the
personality of the religious but help it to flower into true holiness.
*
Each religious community has its own special features that help each member to
grow in knowledge of God and relationship with Him through prayer. The support
of the community helps each religious to stay faithful to his/her vows and
consecration to God.
*
The Church guides religious by teaching and setting out laws which will help
make them true LIKENESSES of CHRIST.
*
God is the One who really forms the religious person. He acts through HIS WORD,
THE SACRAMENTS, THE PRAYER OF THE LITURGY, ,THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH and
through SUPERIORS AND THOSE APPOINTED BY THE CHURCH TO HELP THE FORMATION OF
THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
His
grace is absolutely essential for the living of the consecrated life.
G
O V E R N M E N T:
*
Religious communities must have a form of government which has Christ as the
supreme authority. This authority is given, by the Church, to the religious
superiors who hold it and exercise it in Christ's name.
*
In obeying their superiors, religious obey God.
*
Religious superiors are there to serve their brothers and sisters and to serve
the Church. They do this by :
a.
showing CARE and REVERENCE for each member of the community,
b.
HELPING everyone in the community to be FAITHFUL to their.religious
consecration.
c.
MAKING DECISIONS about what is to be done for the good of the community
d.
INTERPRETING THE WILL OF GOD for the members of the community.
*
Each member of the religious community is responsible for the building of a
strong, loving, united community life. Superiors should consult with the
sisters/brothers before making decisions about the community's life and work.
M
A R Y A S M O T H E R A N D M O D E L:
*
Religious life understands itself most deeply in CONTEMPLATING and IMITATING
Mary, Mother of God.
*
The values of the religious life are reflections of those same values in Mary.
*
She is the Mother of Religious because she is the mother of Christ, spouse of
all religious.
*
Religious imitate Mary in her adoration of God and in her total, loving
surrender to Him.
HOW
ARE RELIGIOUS MEANT TO LIVE?
WHAT
ARE THE METHODS OF DECIDING?
*
Religious are guided in their lives by laws which express for them the Will of
God.
*
Some of these laws are found in the Church's Code of Canon Law.
*
They are also called to obey the particular Rule of their community which
expresses the special religious spirit of the community and must be formally
approved by the Church.
The
document ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS gives a list of the most important Canons for
religious. Because of their nature it is not appropriate to summarise or
paraphrase these. They do, however, set up practical structures for religious
that express the true MEANING of religious life and guarantee its true MARKS or
characteristics. Through them we can see the Church watching carefully over the
safety and sanctity of THE LIFE OF PERFECTION which God has entrusted to Her
and which She always holds in the greatest honour and love.