CONSECRATION AND MISSION (title)
It is not consecration without mission, neither mission without consecration. …we are of God, we live in God … we work for God, and with Him we give ourselves to our brothers and sisters…
They are many rays of the same light…..
Love is like this…It makes me think of the beautiful precious stones of lady Lucrezia or of lady Ginevra. When the sun hits them, diverse lights spring from them. The love for Christ is like this, it is like a precious stone, a unique piece. When one tries to live in the light of God, many rays come from it; poverty, virginity, obedience are the most important and then fidelity, goodness, joy, patience, perseverance …we cannot mention them all .Poverty is stripping of everything for the Kingdom of Heaven: stripping of oneself is renouncing oneself to things. Chastity is also stripping of oneself, renouncement of love for a man. Obedience is stripping of oneself, of your own will, of your very sell. (Contro vento Pages 116-117)
[As taught by Fr Iker]
CHASTITY is the second attitude in this Spirit of Christ. This has nothing directly to do with the sexual aspect of life. Dictionary meaning: related to sex. Gospel meaning: nothing directly with sex; includes it as one aspect. It is contained within all the commandments. Chastity in married or single life; strictly speaking, in the sixth commandment: thou shall not commit adultery. Ninth commandment talks of ‘goods’ and this includes asses, cows, wives etc. Now with the Spirit of Christ we are not dealing with the Old Testament but we identify ourselves with Christ in responding to the need that man has for salvation with unlimited care and sympathy; it is an attitude of freedom to respond, an attitude of availability to respond always; to be always ready to respond to that need. It is purity of heart that is attached only to the salvation of the other.
It is total freedom to respond in love. There is constant readiness and availability and this is understood in regard to time and the affective disposition—this sympathy, manifestation of love, to identify with Christ. Christ and I are one. There is identification with Christ to respond to the needs of individuals. What needs do we have to respond to?
Always it is TIME. It is always in affective sympathy and disposition of the heart, with the freedom to respond. E.g. the cooks at Seven Fountains cook with affection for us.
Christ spends time apart in the mountains. He spends time alone in prayer. Sometimes He spends time with His disciples. He takes time to come away. Sometimes He is with Lazarus, Mary and Martha or Nicodemus etc. But Christ is usually with everybody and He responds to their needs. He also responds to specific needs. He does not respond to the self-made needs of Herod, the scribes or the Pharisees or even His relatives who look for Him. He responds to the needs of others. We all have self-made needs, all the way from eating a particular kind of durian to going to this place and that place etc. Usually Christ does not respond to self-made needs. He responds to what we call natural needs, and when He does so, it is always in view of salvation. E.g. curing a leper or a blind man and telling them that their faith has healed them or made them clean. It is in view of faith and in relation to the kingdom that He responds to their needs. Christ always responds to the need for salvation as with the woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan woman, Nicodemus coming at night.
Consequently, what are the big sins against chastity as a basic Christian attitude? Not so much sexual actions which are sinful according to the commandments. But here we are dealing with the Spirit of Christ, so what is against chastity would be selfishness, self-concern, possessiveness, jealousy etc. In the gospels we see that Christ is not seen dealing largely with sexual sins. There is the adulterous woman, the Samaritan woman, the issue of looking at a woman with lust and one or two more instances in the gospels. It is interesting that He deals with much on hypocrisy, injustice, faithfulness, honesty.
Chastity is a basic attitude enabling us to respond to service. It enables us to love, to make service a reality as we live in the Spirit of Christ. Jesus and His men did not even have time to eat. So the Christian with the Spirit of Christ makes himself available at any time to anyone.
In Genesis there is talk of two becoming one flesh. But Christ came and chose another kind of life. There is the availability to serve. In behavioral terms, we can think of a process that is often not mindful.
John 8:3 The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle
Think of the person. Give attention to the person in need. Listen to the person.
- If there is an attitude of chastity, think of how and what the person feels. Only through the feelings of the person will we be able to enter into the person and understand the person. E.g. she is so depressed. She is so bright. She is so intelligent. She should not be depressed. Why? She is depressed. She should not be depressed. But she is depressed. What is her feeling? What is her need?
- Think of what the person needs. When you know what the person feels, you can come to know what the person needs. It is not to satisfy your own personal needs but to respond to the other person’s needs.
- Once we know what the person’s needs are, we can then try to make the person happy. We probably have to give an answer to the person—liberation, affection, attention as we see in the miracles of Jesus. E.g. in the story of the daughter of the Canaanite woman who was healed, we hear Jesus saying: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. When she responds that ‘even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table’ Jesus says to her: ‘woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted.’ (Matthew 15:25-28)
- Make the person good. Bring salvation. When clients like and trust their counselors, something can be done, not before that. Make the person happy to reach the element of salvation.
Chastity is a basic Christian attitude. It includes the person’s sexual activities and all that the commandments talk about. E.g. a married Protestant missionary—it includes all that we have said and also the sexual activities as part of his married life. In our case, we live a life of celibacy. We do not get married. We avoid sexual relations. We are to be celibate and chaste. The married ones are not celibate but they must be chaste and open to respond to the needs of others.
[Chastity as taught by Fr Iker]
Chastity is important. It has apostolic value. We do not make the vow of chastity in our consecrated life in order to be more comfortable. E.g. I don’t need to worry about my spouse and my children. The reason is apostolic. Chastity liberates the human heart in a unique way and causes this freedom of heart to have greater love for God and for mankind. Paul talks about how a married man has to please his wife. But we who take the vow of chastity are free of that and we are available to respond in love through service.
Unfortunately, it has become quite self-centred. It is really to share love, to spend yourself readily in God’s service and in the apostolate. This vow of chastity in our concrete situation includes a celibate life because of the Kingdom. There is a double interpretation of it. It may be that I have a celibate life in view of getting into the kingdom. This celibate life becomes a means to achieve the kingdom. Jesus talks about being eunuchs for the kingdom and accepting it. I accept celibacy because I want to achieve the kingdom. It may also be that I am so taken by the kingdom that I want to be celibate. I have no interest in anything as I am so taken up. I want the kingdom, and this is the better reason.
Being chaste involves abstinence of internal and external acts that are opposed to chastity, according to the commandments. For this to be a fulfillment and not a deprivation, the right motivation is important. I become a celibate for the sake of the kingdom. I do not become celibate out of fear. It is not because I don’t want responsibilities. It is not because I don’t want it imposed on me. I become celibate out of love in order to be able to serve. (Read ‘By Way of the Heart’ by Fr Wilkie Au, S.J.)
Self-mastery and affective maturity are required. There is to be the ability to establish meaningful, satisfactory, intimate and deep human relationships in the right patterns of love and to remain in them.
There are three patterns of love.
- Domestic. Conjugal relationship. Parental relationship. Filial relationship. Brotherly relationship. Involves an element of dependency in various degrees. Children can depend on parents. Parents can also depend on their children. Siblings depend on each other as well. Involves a certain commitment especially conjugal relationships. Family level. Involves different degrees of some mutual obligations.
- Community. Friendships with both sexes. Relationships with neighbours who live in the same area. Could be colleagues or those in the same occupation. Less dependency and mutual obligations. Mostly about religious life, in this case. Some commitments but these are shared amongst all the members in the community. Sharing of friends with others. Not exclusive. To be neighbours is a Christian element. Could be occupational such as a teacher and a disciple.
- Christian. Apostolic. Engaged in the same ministry. Enemies are people with whom we don’t get along with quite well. It is apostolic as they are in need of salvation. It is not based on one individual. E.g. I will take care of this sick person in the morning, and you will do so in the night. Apostolic love is seen between Mary and our Lord in Cana. What is this? Who are my brothers and my sisters? Jesus loves them all but there is an indication to do the will of the Father.
Two patterns of love call for total commitment: conjugal and apostolic. Conjugal love is between two married people. Apostolic love is given to the one in need. Chastity calls for prudence and modesty which are important. Prudence looks to the external. Occasions. Situations. Places. Ways of behaving. Modesty concerns the intention one has in what one does something. Why do I do what I do?
