The human heart holds many hungers; hunger for intimacy, hunger for meaning, hunger for food, hunger for commitment, to give one’s life totally.
Religious life is a life of total surrender to God’s will, looking at the future with expectation that what God has promised will be fulfilled. People may think that religious life is mostly or is only giving things up, for example, marriage, children and property. Not at all!! There is much to be gained when one is called to be a sister (nun), priest or bother.
Vocation is a two way gift from God as the Gospel of Saint John says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. (John 10:10). As a religious, one makes a lot of sacrifices just as with any life commitment. Personally, I have discovered that the sacrifices that I freely and willingly make, help me to be a better person. They have left me free to live my religious life fully. Today, our society tells us that we constantly need more, bigger, the latest and the best to be happy.
The evangelical counsels; that is, the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are common to religious life and are lived and experienced in different ways. Living these vows enables a religious to focus his or her whole being to God and His people. These vows are made publicly and approved by the Church.
Poverty call us to live simply, to share with others, to be satisfied with what we have. This is a joyful detachment. Happiness and self-worth does not depend on what I have or what I do, but following Jesus and his first disciples.
Obedience: Vowing obedience is not always easy. Living a decision that is not my own reflection or initiative can be hard. An authentic prayer life helps a religious to seek God’s will in many ways, example, through the scriptures, events of our life and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Accepting changes and challenges that are not initially from oneself, can gradually lead to growth that one never could have imagined because God writes straight on crooked lines.
Celibacy: As human beings, we acknowledge our need to love and to be loved personally. The vow of celibacy opens up and empowers the heart of a religious to love unconditionally. Her choice to make Jesus the primary relationship in her life calls her to embrace joyfully the celibate lifestyle.
The endless story of God’s call is still heard, answered and renewed in our twenty first century. This was witnessed in our East Africa Province on 15/8/2024 when our four sisters, Rose Marie, Grace Theresia, Devota Emmanuel and Martina Eugenie made their perpetual vows; their life given totally to God in the Congregation and the Church. Sr. Peter Mary celebrated her sixty years of religious life by renewing her commitment to continue answering His call. Sr. Agatha Emmanuel celebrated her fifty years of religious vows in the Congregation of the Religious of the Assumption and in the Church. The two celebrations; perpetual vows and the jubilee were evidence of God’s endless story of call and faithfulness to His promises. The occasion was witnessed by hundreds of people of different ages and status; children, students, parents of the sisters, teachers, religious men and women, friends and collaborators. The great and heart moving moments were when the parent escorted her daughter, pronouncing their vows (…… to follow Christ until death), total surrender (lie face downwards), and dancing their song of joy as a sign of gratitude to God’s faithfulness. It was really a synodal celebration.
We are all called to live the evangelical counsels because they put limits and boundaries on our human drives and desires. This will then make us focus on the divine because of the endless story of call from God for He has created us for a purpose.