There is a new approach to the Evangelical Counsels in these Constitutions which, however, follow the order willed by Saint Angela: obedience, chastity, poverty and then follows the same scheme of presentation:
1. Participation in. the Church and with the Church in the mystery of Christ
2. Our response in union and imitation of Christ
3. The life of the Company
4. The duties for the commitment taken
5. The duties of the leaders.
FILIAL OBEDIECE (art. 19, 1-19.5) Obedience…filial…is that of a son, therefore an obedience of love, of submission, of trust, of joy…
The gift of our own will “With the gift of our will to God, we participate in the Church and with the Church in the mystery of the obedience of Christ, who came into the world not to do his own will, but the will of the One who sent Him.”
This same thought is taken by Saint Angela when she speaks about the will and obedience and when she invites us to make reference to Jesus Christ. “I urge each one to observe Holy Obedience, the only true renunciation of self-will, of which it is in us like a dark hell. For this Jesus Christ says: “I did not come to do my will, but that of the Father who had sent me”. (Memoirs 8, 1-3).
Imitating Christ according to the gradual proposal of Saint Angela
“In union with Christ we will live obedience to the Word of God, to the Magisterium and the laws of the Church, to those who serve the Company with authority, to “father and mother” to laws and statutes of the rulers and governors of States, provided they are not contrary to a conscience enlightened by faith,” and to every creature, for love of God,” but especially we will be docile to the Holy Spirit who “continually” with counsel and inspiration, speaks to the reconciled and free heart.
This has to do with total obedience and still in agreement with the thought of Saint Angela: “To obey God, and to every creature for the love of God, as long as it is not commanded anything which is contrary to the love of God and to one’s own honesty.” (Memoirs, 8, 17 -18)
“And above all: to obey the counsels and inspirations that the Holy Spirit continually rouses into our heart, we will hear his voice much more clearly when our conscience is more purified and unworldly.” (Memoirs 8, 14-15)
To live obedience in the light we find a help in the Company
“In evaluation within the Company each of us will learn to discern according to her life situations, the demands of obedience, “great light” and source of the freedom and joy born of the spiritual sacrifice of oneself.”
To learn to discern… we learn, however, how to confront each other with our problems and complications.
What the commitment of obedience entails:
“By the commitment assumed with consecration, each one, in active and responsible dialogue, according to means and times that are sought and agreed upon, will verify with the Directress, or the delegate, her own commitment of fidelity to the demands of her vocation and to the charism, and her participation in the life of the Company, according to the Rule and the Constitutions; she will submit orientations and choices that might change her life in a significant way; as for example, a change of work or residence, the acceptance or refusal of public office, of special family responsibilities and apostolic commitments, open to accept the directions that will be suggested to her.
This has to do with a commitment of obedience, and therefore of the need to check about the commitment:
We can put to you some questions:
- How is the dialogue between the leader and the sister? Active and responsible?
- What can be done to find time for the checking?
- How can we evaluate our fidelity to the demands of the vocation and the charism?
- How can the participation to the life of the Company in fidelity to the Rule and the Constitutions be settled?
- When and how orientations and choices of great importance be submitted?
- And for the commitments, do they accept the indications? Do they put questions after it has been decided? Are there any regrets on the indications received?
“Obedience vivified in love unites the members of an Institute in the same witness, and in the same mission; in spite of various gifts and various personal characters. (Consecrated life 92)
Seeing the personal involvement that obedience demands, it is not surprising to find out that of the three evangelical counsels, Saint Angela gives primacy to holy obedience, the only and true abnegation of one’s own will, which is in us like a dark hell,” (Rule 8.1) Today we can make someone smile when we talk of “dark hell” but we must not forget an important hint: this expression is terribly true when our will opposes that of God.
“I did not come to do my will, but that of the Father who sent me”. (John 6:38) With these words, so essential and efficacious, Jesus presents himself like a model of obedience for every baptized person, and for us ‘consecrated’ in a particular manner.
“For obedience is in man like a great light which makes his every action good and acceptable … it is better to obey than to sacrifice” (Rule 8,4-5) This thought with the same words, we also find them in the Bible, in the first book of Samuel, where it is recorded the episode of King Saul, that logically it seemed to him more sensible to abandon the will of the Lord expressed in the words of the prophet Samuel, and for this he was rejected by God, “Perhaps you think that the Lord is pleased with holocausts and sacrifices than obeying the voice of the Lord? Well, to obey is better than sacrifice; to be docile is more than the fat of rams.” (15, 22)
Always in the light of the seeking of the will of God, the comparison of our choices with the Directress in an active and responsible dialogue, reveals how important and profitable this is,
and it reminds us of the Constitutions, “Wisdom and upright judgement will guide us consecrated women and the Directress in our journey of seeking the will of God.” (Const. 19, 2)
“And above all: to obey the counsels and inspirations which the Holy Spirit unceasingly sends into our hearts.” (Rule 8, 14)
The Holy Spirit is the interior Teacher who continually makes us hear the voice of God and stimulates us in the walk towards a more and intense union with Him. But, because we can pick up this voice of God with a fine spiritual sensitivity, and can undertake the walk of union with Him, one condition is necessary, and that is to have our conscience purified of sin.
[As taught by Fr Iker]
To be obedient is always apostolic, for the kingdom of God. There are two basic Christian attitudes: the imitation of Christ in doing the Father’s will. There is cooperation at all cost. John’s gospel talks of Jesus as one with the Father. Obedience is to cooperate by abdicating one’s will. There is dedication. One is invited and one unites oneself to the divine will, with obedience unto death for the sake of the kingdom. One obeys God and not the Superior. The Superior is a manifestation but you have a responsibility to find the will of God as well.
So the three vows can be seen in relation to the characteristics of the salvific love of God and as constituting the Spirit of Christ. They are not deprivations but means of cooperating. In the vow of poverty, one cannot use the money any way one likes. The money is not mine and does not belong to me. It is always apostolic. If I have to have for my apostolate a machine that costs two millions, I will buy it and I will not say that I will not have it. The machine here is needed.
Celibacy is simply the state of an unmarried person. This can be a religious or lay, or both. Chastity is a part of the Spirit of Christ. It is the virtue regulating matters and concerning sexual life. Chastity is for both the unmarried, whether religious or not. It is also for married people as well. Virginity is the integrity of mind, heart and body for the kingdom. The most important is not physical integrity. It refers to both men and women.
In Thai, the word LOVE refers to 1. Love of concupiscence or carnal desire, 2.Benevolent friendship and 3. Radical compassion and looking out strictly for the good of the other.
The basis of living chastely is not because it is better but because of the example of Christ. You can give undivided attention to the Lord. Vowed life is not in contrast to married life but it is parallel. We do not make a vow of chastity in order to be free to work. It is not having freedom to go here and there. It is done out of love. There is a desire to join Christ in the salvation of the world. Chastity and renunciation go together. We don’t renounce our carnal desire or our sexuality. We are not angels. We are still men and women. This has to be integrated and accepted. We don’t renounce friendships. We only renounce genital sexual relationships and we renounce whatever leads to genital contact.
[Some Notes made while on retreat in Seven Fountains from 6 to 15 December 2004 with Fr Iker Villanueva, SJ.]
Helene de Beauregard, who has lived these vows all her life, is the Asian Delegate in the French Company of St Ursula. Praise God! So often someone will ask me, who do you obey since you don’t have a Superior and you don’t live in a community. I hope these notes that I have made will answer the questions some of you may have, regarding how we Secular Ursulines live the evangelical counsels.
THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS (16 .12.04)
HOLY OBEDIENCE is the denial of one’s own will. Not to do so is to be like in a kind of dark hell (Rule 9) Christ did the will of the Father. Obedience is like a great light in man which makes all his deeds good and worthy of approval. It is deemed good and all actions must be done under obedience. One is to willingly obey
- the commandments of God
- Holy Church, that is, the Magisterium,
- Bishops
- those who have authority in the Company,
- the Word of God
- the Government , as long as it does not contradict one’s conscience or church teachings
- the Holy Spirit who sends inspiration to our hearts.
When our conscience is pure and spotless, we can hear God’s voice more clearly. It is the reconciled and free hearts that hear the Spirit of God. We learn to discern according to our situations in life. Light comes from God and we discern with the ones above us in authority. The Delegate or the Directress will verify our fidelity and commitment. We submit our orientations and choices to them should we have to make major changes in matters such as our residence and work. We seek wisdom and upright judgement to do the will of God and all this is expressed in the church, the laws of the state etc. and also through people. But we also have to assume personal responsibility for what we do.
[As taught by Fr Iker]
Obedience is one of the basic Christian attitudes which stems from Christ’s surrendering to the Father for the salvation of man; and the prayer of Jesus asking for unity that should exist between the Father and Jesus and us. Obedience is a source of unity. Obedience as lived and taught by Jesus is a total dedication to accomplish the will of the Father. Christ does the will of the Father, cooperating with Him in the plan of salvation. Obedience is born from here. Christ asks us to be one with the Father as He, Christ, is one with the Father. How does Christ become one with the Father? By doing His will.
Hebrews 10:5-8 Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are incapable of taking away sins, and that is why He said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but You gave Me a body. You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said: ‘Here I am, I am coming,’ in the scroll of the book it is written of Me, to do Your will, God. He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices of sin, and You took no pleasure in them; and then He says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all.
In the gospels, by doing God’s will, Christ becomes His executive secretary. He enters the world with this attitude. In Matthew and Mark we see the gradual cooperation between Christ and His Father all the way to the cross. The Father and the Son are never separated. (Read John 5 and 6) Christ is never alone. I do what I see my Father do. I do what the Father tells Me. They are totally united. They are two different persons but one in unity. There is a unity of purpose. The Father and Christ are one and the same. With the spirit of poverty, Jesus wants salvation for all. Christ and the Father have perfect cooperation at all costs, till the end, till death. To achieve this, Christ looks always for the will of the Father. I do what the Father tells Me. I do not speak My own words. I speak what the Father tells Me.
The cross is the consequence of His obedience for the salvation of the world.
John 3:16 For this is how God loved the world: He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.
There is total commitment. He is totally committed to the Father—that they may be one with us, that all of us may become one so that the world believes that Christ has been sent by the Father for the salvation of the world. THE CROSS IS THE SYMBOL OF PERFECT OBEDIENCE TOTHE FATHER. Christ smiling on the cross shows that all is accomplished. It is cooperation of service for the salvation of the world. Unity is asked for in the Last Supper and achieved only when all and everyone does the Father’s will, cooperating in service for the salvation of the world.
Obedience is not slavery. Cooperation is freedom. It is not to sacrifice what is mine but to serve others and to serve through cooperation. Say Yes to poverty, chastity and obedience! Obedience is cooperation at the community level, making a gift of one as Christ made a gift of Himself for the salvation of the world. Obedience is exercised in function to serve others. As a basic Christian attitude it calls for a personal surrendering to Christ in order to cooperate with the group. Surrender to Christ with the group as Christ personally surrendered to the Father for the salvation of the world. Unity is to be amongst us with each one doing not the same thing but whatever has to be done, for the individual. It is doing the will of God, with Christ, with God.
Obedience enables us to co-operate with each other and with Christ to do the Father’s will for the salvation of the world. Obedience enables us to love in a personal and individual way. Not millions of people, but I have become a part of the unity that witnesses to Christ and the love of God. Christ came to obey His Father, not man. Christian obedience is self-giving to the redemptive work of Christ and with each other. Such obedience applies to everyone, cooperating with Christ to achieve the salvation of the world. It is more than a practical act. It is more a basic attitude of a person filled with the Spirit of Christ. The cross is a part of it.
Matthew 10:22 You will be universally hated on account of My name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved
Bishop Paul Tan SJ speaks on Suffering – 2008
Jesus Christ is still present especially in our suffering. He still suffers because of our sinfulness.
Col 1:24, St Paul says “It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I was made a servant with the responsibility towards you that God gave to me, that of completing God’s message, ….”
In Galatians 2:20, St Paul says “I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.”
Jesus remains in the midst of history and shares with us our torments. There is no darkness in which God does not live and there is no void where God does not fill. St Mary Alacoque says that Jesus still bleeds each time someone sins. Christ is in agony till the end of time.
Hebrews 4: 14-15 says “Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must hold firm to our profession of faith. For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin.”
The word ‘sympathise’ is made up of two parts ‘with’ and ‘to suffer’. Jesus suffered and is still suffering with us.
Hebrews 5: 8 says “he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his sufferings;”
He was beset with weakness… ‘beset’ is in the present tense in Greek. He is still suffering with us and in us.
Other examples of redemptive suffering can be seen in our Lady, the handmaid of the Lord. In the Virgin Mary’s Magnificat, we have the word that indicates humility. The actual translation is ‘humiliation’. Nothingness also means nakedness so it is changed to lowliness. In the presentation of the Lord, Simeon tells her that a sword will pierce her heart. Another example is St Paul’s suffering from his own experiences, his revelation from God and his own reflections.
2 Cor 4: 7-11 says “But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body.”
2 Cor 10: 2-3 says “Yes, my appeal to you is that I should not have to be bold when I am actually with you, or show the same self-assurance as I reckon to use when I am challenging those who reckon that we are guided by human motives. For although we are human, it is not by human methods that we do battle.”
Paul was accused by his own converts as being weak, hypocritical. As priests and religious we too have these veiled attacks, more or less. St Paul spoke of the thorn in his side and three times he asked for it to be removed.
2 Cor 12:9 “about this, I have three times pleaded with the Lord that it might leave me; but he answered me, ‘My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.”
Jesus Christ chose to be a slave. He was put to death. He was at the beck and call of sinners.
John 15:13 says “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.”
2 Cor 5: 20-21 says “So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us, and in the name of Christ we appeal to you to be reconciled to God. For our sake he made the sinless one a victim for sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God.”
For our sake the sinless one was made sin (noun)
Isaiah 53:12 says: “ for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious.”
Have the image of Jesus Christ carrying his cross……our sin. Paul says he was made sin. Entered into our sinfulness. Lifted us out of our sin. He descended into hell…on the third day he rose again……..hell is the consequence of sin. Jesus not only entered into sin but even hell…now he sits as our mediator. Being God every act is timeless and spaceless. Enters into our sinfulness here and now. Possible with God. Nothing is impossible. To be the sacrifice who takes away our sin. Takes – the eternal present tense……….
The following are some notes that I made on 2 February 2008. It comes from a homily given by Jesuit Bishop Paul Tan. Listen to what he says…
John Paul II’s encyclical calls us to a new and special consecration. Jesus in the presentation in the temple was presented to the Lord. He was the first born male. When a person takes his vows he is often given a new name so that he can take on the new personality of someone totally dedicated to God. Female novices often took the names of male saints. In the Jewish tradition it was very important as a name was stamped on a person as an indelible mark.
Jesus comes from Joshua…Jehovah is salvation. God is salvation. Emmanuel is God is with us. Christ is the Anointed One. This feast of the Presentation is an important one for the Jews. The emphasis is on consecration to God in a special way. Total self-giving to do what God wants. We are often good at doing what we want for God and so we do our own will.
Proverbs 20:5: “The resources of the human heart are like deep waters; an understanding person has only to draw on them.”
As the purpose of man’s heart is deep waters, it is easy to deceive yourself that the good you do is God’s will. It might be your own will. The surest way from self-deception is to be obedient. We obey the decision of the Superior. Believe that it is the will of God.
Romans 8:28 says “We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything to their good.”
Reflection: the need for a continual re-consecration to do God’s work and not what I want to do for God. Amen.
[Obedience as taught by Fr Iker]
The third basic Christian attitude is OBEDIENCE. The end is happiness and life. It is the plan of God to achieve it. Obedience has generally been associated with authority, subjected to those above, like our parents and superiors. It has also been associated with renunciation, holocaust, surrendering, sacrifice etc. This makes it only indirectly understood. This has a negative connotation. This is like becoming a minor.
Obedience is really connected with salvific love and it is very positive. We see Christ in the gospels. He does not excel. He is not an example in obeying man, either secular or religious, Jews or Romans. He does not obey His mother (He does that in Cana, though) He does not obey the temple authorities or the law. If the money belongs to Caesar, give it to Caesar, and that is all. Christ is not an excellent example of one who obeys man. Obedience is intimately related to the work of salvation.
Philippians 2:8 He was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.
This stems from the commitment to the unity that Jesus asked for in the cenacle.
John 17:21-22 May they all be one , just as, Father, You are in Me and I am in You, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was You who sent Me. I have given them the glory You gave to Me, that they may be one as We are one.
Christ’s strictly personal surrender to the Father on the cross.
John 19:30after Jesus had taken the wine He said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing His head He gave up His spirit.
Is it right to say that there are not many vocations mostly because we have lost the sense of God. A look at the world we live will show us that secularism, relativism, Euthanasia, idols and other ungodly issues dominate and distract. Questionable is leadership in some sectors. There is a need to be vigilant and to stay focussed on who one is in the eyes of God. We look to our Holy Father, the Magisterium, sacred scriptures, the teachings of the Church. We stay close to the Lord Jesus through faithful adherence of His teaching, through prayer and through the Sacraments of the Church.
Our role is seen in this light and it is crucial. We are to be as leaven, salt, light, yeast. Why – simply because Jesus has called us. We are called to be true to our vocations which is really the basis of all baptised Christians. This is like going back to the roots. If we may say so, all are called to fidelity in Christ in whatever vocation. Many times we may see ourselves as oddities, signs of contradiction. Yes, it is true. The world around us is changing and we find that we are not keeping track with it. We cannot.
Christ has called us to be His unsullied brides. He has called us to belong to Him. Ours is a vocation as true and as authentic as any other. Constantly we have to check to see if we are in focus, to be in step with the Divine Dancer. If we see Christ as our Partner, taking us through the steps in the dance of life. we must move in tempo with the music He has chosen. When there is a fast movement, we go along, holding on tightly. When there is a pause, we rest in Him, content to be where He wants us to be. God is calling us to live a life that loves and is surrendered to His will. He calls the shots. We obey. This is not to say that we are puppets; far from it. We have been given the gift of free will. We are, as scriptures say, useless servants with the desire to do what our Master asks of us. We are creatures. God is Father. We are His children. We obey our Father.
This is such a beautiful vocation. The challenges are many but they are for our purification. They will be the means God uses to make us better persons. He continues to mould us, to teach us to surrender to His will. We praise and thank God for what He is doing in our lives. The months and the years ahead…we don’t know what will happen but we can be confident the Lord walks with us. Hidden in the wounds of His love, we can only be certain that He will see us to our final end. God is faithful. And St Angela, always in our midst, has promised to pray for us and to see us safely Home.
Let us look at the Heart of Christ – He was obedient to death on the cross. God became poor. The Word was made flesh. He took sin upon Himself. He became human so we can become divine. Let us focus on our Lord and see how He leads. He must be our all in all. Christ came deliberately on our level. He chose to be poor. To be born in a manger. To have poor parents, Mary and foster father Joseph. To work for a living as a carpenter. To be an itinerant preacher. To depend on the Father. His advice to His disciples is that they take no extra tunic, eat what is given…Jesus walks the talk. He is true to what He preaches. Jesus is stripped of all. He seeks only the will of the Father. May we bear fruit as our lives are conformed more and more to the poor God-Man, chaste and poor and obedient. Oh Lord, that we may become more and more like you! Lord, teach us to be poor like you!
