God has called consecrated persons to give themselves totally to God and God’s people as sons and daughters of the Church.  They existentially respond by joyfully setting aside God’s three greatest gifts to human beings for God’s greatest gift – a life lived here and now in union with the poor, chaste, and obedient Christ.

The Vow of Poverty

Genesis, chapter one reminds us that all of God’s creation is good.  This same chapter reveals God’s blessing and exhortation upon man and woman whom He created in His own image and likeness, “saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it’” (Gen. 1:28).  Hence, the fruit of human ingenuity should result in human beings freely making use of this world’s goods in order to bring wholesome joy to others and themselves.  Fallen human nature too often has abused God’s creation in selfish harmful pursuit.  In response, “[Evangelical] Poverty frees one from slavery to things and to artificial needs that drive consumer society and leads to the rediscovery of Christ, the only treasure truly worth living for” (SA 22).  Thus consecrated persons, particularly vowed religious have responded to the call to sell all that they have (Mt. 19:21) for the pearl of great price (Mt. 13:46), that is Jesus, the Word made flesh (Jn. 1:14).  In imitation of the poor Christ, who had nowhere to lay his head (Lk. 9:58), vowed religious relinquish all possessions while seeking to make use of this world’s goods for the good of others.   

The Vow of Chastity

The vow of chastity finds its roots in chapter two of Genesis where we discover that God created human beings for eternal happiness in union with God.  The Book of Revelation refers to this union as the “Marriage of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7).  Christopher West, in his commentary on Blessed John Paul II’s Theology of the Body notes that while sacramental marriage points to and symbolizes this final fulfillment, chastity for the sake of the kingdom is a powerful testimony that God alone can ultimately fulfill humanity’s ache of solitude (West, Theology of the Body Explained, 343).  He also states “In a way the celibate person steps beyond the dimensions of history into the state of the body where men and women are no longer given in marriage [Mt. 22:30].  But all the while he [she] remains grounded within the dimensions of history and, in this way, becomes a prophetic witness in his [her] body to the future resurrection” (TOB Explained, 336).  The document Starting Afresh from Christ speaks of another dimension of celibacy for the kingdom when it states, “Virginity opens the heart to the measure of Christ’s heart and makes it possible to love as he loved” (SA 22).  Thus the religious witnesses here and now, first, to humanity’s universal call to union with God in eternity (by freely giving up a human spouse and biological children), in order to embrace Christ, her/his eternal spouse.  Secondly, the religious becomes a spiritual mother or father to all of God’s people, caring for and nurturing them with unconditional love.

The Vow of Obedience

The vow of obedience relates to the gift of one’s self-determination exercised through the free use of one’s will.  The wisest and most perfect choice that any human being could ever make is to obey God.  We remember that Jesus’ food was to do the will of His Father (Jn. 4:34).  The religious who professes the vow of obedience is called to the liberating beauty of dependence, which is not servile but filial (VC 14).  Hence, consecrated persons living evangelical obedience discover the greatest happiness possible that any human being could enjoy on this earth.  Dominican Fathers Basil Cole and Paul Conner note “Consecrated obedience… reproposes the salvific obedience of Christ, showing there is no contradiction between genuine obedience and genuine freedom” (Cole, OP, Conner, OP, Christian Totality, 199).  In short, “Obedience places life entirely in Christ’s hands so that he may use it according to  God’s design and make it a masterpiece” (SA 22).

Conclusion

Vowed religious life expressed through the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience is God’s gift of beauty and spontaneous art to the world.  Fathers Cole and Conner remind us that this special vocation is meant to  “…inspire the socio-cultural milieu, the hierarchy itself and the laity about the essence of Christianity: its love-relationship with God” (Christian Totality, 47).  Consecrated persons, particularly those living the evangelical counsels, respond in a threefold manner to God’s call to reflect the light of Christ.  When religious are faithful to their call all can bask in the warmth of Christ’s light and follow its lead.  This is a daunting task for weak human beings, but possible when vowed religious turn to Christ and open themselves to the grace, which makes us all a new creation (SA 46).

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Cole, O.P., Basil, and Paul Conner, O.P. Christian Totality - Theology of the Consecrated Life. 1997. Reprint, New York: Alba House, 1997. 

Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.   “ Starting Afresh From Christ.” Rome: St. Paul Books and Media, 2002. 

Pope John Paul II. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Consecrated Life Vita Consecrata. 25 March 1996. 

West, Christopher. Theology of the Body Explained – A Commentary of John Paul II’s

“Man and Woman He Created Them.” Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2007.