What is the witness value of our religious life?

Editor: This is the tenth in this series of articles based on the eight Dossiers (from February 1978 to November 1981) totaling 718 pages in this study. In 1982, Fr. Eugene Barrette, M.S., the prime mover in this historic study, was elected the thirteenth La Salette Superior General (1982-1988). Other articles on Religious Life are available in our La Salette Online Library.

La Salette Rule:
Christ is the rule of our life (#7)

Christ is the fundamental rule of all Christianity, however...

“‘All the members ought to be molded into Christ's image until he is formed in them’ (Galatians 4:19)...We must be careful not to fall into the idea that religious are ‘more perfect’ than the non-religious. Perfection is found in the charity that is active in a person's life. The religious, however is to live this charity with a greater effort to focus on the Lord especially in trying to mirror in a particular way the pattern of the Lord's life here on earth.

“It is important to bear in mind that ‘Christ as the rule of our life’ should set off certain expectations. We are dealing here with the ‘full Christ’ which implies both the Cross and the Resurrection... Our sharing in the cross gives meaning to the renunciation, discipline and ascetical demands of our lives.

“There are some very practical ramifications of this fundamental rule of Christ as the center of all... Christ as the standard of everything in our lives is ‘foolishness’ in the eyes of a world that evaluates by the rules of the practical, utilitarian, profitable or safe. If Christ is truly the center, then there must be not only personal deepening of our understanding and relationship with him, but also there must be a deepening and sharing of our experience of him in a community.” (1)

Reflection Questions:

• When you were younger, what did “to follow Christ” mean for you? What does this mean for you now?
• How has the pattern of Jesus’ life been repeated in your own life — in your various experiences of conviction, challenge, peace or joy?
• Other comments...

La Salette Rule:
Through our baptism, we participate in
the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection (#8)

How do we participate in the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection?

Some Burmese La Salettes (from left: Frs. Philip Mahka Naw Aung, with Salvador Pico from Philippines, local Bishop; Frs. Jerome Saw Eiphan, Valentine Sun Tun, and Robert Moe Lwin) on Nov. 11, 2012“... our religious consecration is rooted in our baptismal consecration. Through baptism we are made a real part of the paschal mystery – we enter into and carry with us the presence of Christ's death and resurrection and the life-giving power that this means.

“This power is the ‘perfection of charity towards God and towards [all people]’ which constitutes the call to holiness that is given to all. As stated in the Commission Report, Religious in the People of God: ‘All are called to sanctity, the perfect fulfillment of charity... However, to this single goal everyone does not proceed by the same path. Each one tends to holiness in his own special road in the condition of life that is proper to him, considering the different ways God calls, the diversity of Christ's gifts....’

“Religious consecration is a specific way of participating in the paschal mystery – a particular way of answering the universal call to holiness. This is not setting up any kind of ‘caste’ system in the Church, however, but simply the recognition of different ways of responding.” (2)

How is our call to religious life more than a purely human choice?

“Religious life is chosen as a response, a free response, to a call. The text attempts to keep before our eyes the fact that we are dealing with a ‘vocation’ and not simply a personal and purely human choice. The response is Christ-directed – he is the ‘rule of our life,’ the reason and motive of our chosen way of life.

‘Religious are called to follow Christ more intimately by living the kind of life he himself chose to live on this earth: a life of celibacy, poverty and total obedience to his Father's will.’ (Religious in the People of God)

“The text maintains the order of the vows as found in the Council documents: chastity, poverty and obedience, rather than the traditional way of expressing them – poverty, chastity and obedience. The proposed Canon Law also follows the new order. In a commentary on the Vatican II documents the following explanation is given:

‘We must not exaggerate the value of this order, but it does have the advantage of highlighting the fact that after martyrdom itself, religious life, especially through consecrated virginity, represented this special call to give oneself totally to God. And in fact, chastity is without doubt in the eyes of the world the most obvious sign of one's total consecration to the Lord....’ (J.M.R. Tillard and Yves Congar, editors, L'Adaptation et la Renovation de la Vie Religieuse, pg. 392).

“...Through the observance of the three vows, the religious acquires the liberty necessary to give himself body and soul to his religious family and its apostolic endeavors.” (3)

Reflection Questions:

• What, if anything, has changed from your youthful idea of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and your understanding of them today?
• What are some differences between the committed life of a vowed religious and that of a deeply committed lay person?
• Other comments…

Endnotes: (1) Third La Salette Dossier by Fr. Eugene Barrette, M.S., pgs. 18-19; (2) Ibidem, pgs. 20-21; (3) Ibidem, pgs. 21-22.