There are different types of vows, and in the Scripture we find many passages about them. In the book of Judges 11:30-31, for example, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord that if God granted him victory over his enemies, he would offer as a burnt offering whatever came first out of his house to meet him. Again, in 1 Samuel 1:11 Anna made a vow that if God gave her a son, she would give him to the service of the Lord. In other passages we note how some made vows not to touch wine or special food.

As Christians we also make some vows in our journey of faith. When we receive baptism, we make a promise that we shall leave sin and the attractions of Satan and seek holiness. When two people enter into marriage, they make a vow in which they express publicly their willingness to give themselves to each other, mutually and definitively in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “a vow is a deliberate and free promise made to God concerning a possible and better good which must be fulfilled by reason of the virtue of religion. A vow is an act of devotion in which the Christian dedicates himself to God or promises him good work. By fulfilling his vows he renders to God what has been promised and consecrated to him.”

Chastity, poverty and obedience are the three vows which the religious men and women take after having completed their novitiate formation. The deep meaning of the vows is found in the following elements: (a) to be with and like Jesus, as a chaste, poor and obedient consecrated person; (b) to be of inspiration to others in a prophetic context; (c) to live within a particular religious family.

Chastity

Chastity is not an inability to love, and it means more than something genital or biological. It is definitely not about prohibitions or fears. Chastity is a complete openness to the action of the Holy Spirit in our life. Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me as you have said”. Our chastity is both because of, and in order to, LOVE. We want to follow Jesus who gave his life for his friends and at the same time had “nowhere to lay his head”. Jesus was not married because of his passion for the Kingdom of heaven.

Chastity embraced for the sake of the Kingdom of God manifests the power of the Risen Christ, is a sign of the world to come and a source of a greater service. Our chastity springs from prayer and becomes communion with our brothers and sisters. Chastity generates concern for the less loved. Chastity demands true friendship, sharing without possessing. One can never be forced to love. Freedom is love’s energizer. Chastity comes to fulfillment only when the individual is spiritually free. It is the offering of self based on love and joy. Chastity is the fruitfulness of charity.

Poverty

Poverty is far more that a question of financial matters. Poverty is not a romantic idea or an exotic way of living. Jesus said, “Set your hearts first on the kingdom of God and on his righteousness and all these things will be given to you”. Poverty is complete confidence in God. It is also solidarity with our brothers and sisters, particularly with those who are suffering. Poverty is fighting for human dignity, responsibility in our daily work and an austere style of living. Poverty is service. Poverty is freedom in the face of the idols of our world.

Poverty says that persons come before things, that “being” matters more that “having”. Poverty also means the acceptance of oneself and others with the respective limitations, as well as acceptance of painful situations and events. Poverty is simplicity of heart and joy. Poverty is chastity and obedience.

The model of all evangelical poverty is Jesus on the cross: “although he was rich he made himself poor to make you rich through his poverty” (see 2 Cor 8:9). Jesus took on the nature of a servant to appropriate as his own the cause of the poor.

In Luke 6:20 we note that poverty is the first of the Beatitudes. Poverty means to become bread like Jesus in the Eucharist, broken and given to feed others.

Obedience

For Christ Jesus, obedience was his way of life here on earth. Jesus came to the world always to do the will of the Father. Because of his obedience he saved us. His obedience brought pardon and life to all people. Our obedience is a complete acceptance of the will of God. We commit ourselves to fulfill the plan of God for us, always and everywhere, through persons, situations and events of life.

We need the service of authority and the support of the community to be able to clarify and accept the presence of God who calls us daily. In a living dialogue with the word of God and the appeals of humanity, we learn how to obey with love.

Obedience expresses a special bound of unity with the Church and with its evangelizing mission. Our obedience becomes a pilgrimage under the same Gospel and to the same Father.

The Comboni way

The following is a formula for the oath (vows) of missionary brothers, composed by St. Daniel Comboni o November 2, 1879 in Verona, Italy. St Daniel required all his missionaries to be utterly dedicated to the cause of the missions in Africa: “By my own free I will bind myself by oath before God to serve forever the Mission of Central Africa. I will do this in Obedience to the most Reverend Bishop and Vicar Apostolic and to my immediate legitimate Superiors. I promise by oath to serve this mission forever in those places and with those duties that under obedience will be assigned to me, without ever turning back from this my firm resolve even in the face of death. I abandon myself entirely into the hands of Providence under the guidance and command of the Superiors. In pledge of this I undersign this oath”.

Concerning poverty, Fr.Michele Rosato, a Comboni missionary who worked for forty years in East Africa, has written: “The saying of Jesus, “Blessed are the poor”, is according to St. Paul a scandal for some and mockery for others, but it contains good teaching for those who have faith and love. Riches have never really made anybody happy. On the contrary, poverty completely satisfied St.Francis of Assisi who called poverty ‘sister’. I, too, experienced this truth in the first years of the mission which I still remember with great joy and nostalgia. At Chuckudum in the Sudan, we were poor and we were obliged, like St. Paul, to work with our own hands in order to live. We worked mostly with our hands and they became callous, but our hearts opened to the serenity and joy around us with no problems, crises or complexes. It is when the body grows soft by living in comfort that the heart becomes soured and dissatisfied”.

A focused existence

In her spiritual diary, Sr. Lucia Giampietro, a Comboni Missionary sister who spent more than half of her life in the missions of Uganda, wrote about the observance of the vows: “Obedience: Practical exercise of humility; imitate Mary in obedience of mind, will and heart. Have more confidence in God and obey with Intelligence. Chastity: To preserve the virtue and keep the vow: Mortification of the eyes, ear, and taste, distrust of self and prayer to the blessed Mother. All my emotional energies must be channeled to God and souls. Poverty: Strive to Imitate Jesus and Mary in this virtue and observance of the vow. Use time well; obey the schedule. Having nothing extra, rejoice if something is lacking.”

In a simple conversation with Comboni student Victor who made his vows recently on the in Calamba, he said, “It is possible to live the vows I have professed through the help of the grace of God”. He continued, “Community life helps me to live the vows in a better way, also my family and friends help me and reminds me to be faithful. The vows allow me to be focused, to know what I need in life; my vows encourage me to share, share ideas, knowledge, prayers, life, experiences and just to share, humbly. The vow of obedience calls me to be flexible, open to any situation, to be committed and to belong to my religious family”.<WM

Write to

Fr. Vincent and Fr. Marnie

Vocation team

Comboni Missionaries 282Roosevelt Ave

1105 Quezon City M.M

Philippines

Tel. 414-3164/372-5859

or E-mail:

postasia@i-manila.com.ph

KNOW THE COMBONI MISSIONARIES

Subscribe

to WORLD MISSION