Q & A on Discernment
Religious Missionary Vows
Questions
Tell me how you live the Religious Vows?
Do the Xaverian Missionaries profess any other vow?
The Xaverian Missionaries pledge to serve the Lord and share the
Gospel by a specific Mission Vow. Our ministries and religious life come
together as our charism (a special gift of the Spirit through our Founder).
The Mission Vow
Saint Conforti, in fact, defined a missionary
as a "person of action in constant union with Christ, in whom he continually
finds inspiration." As one family, the Xaverian Missionaries strive to provide a
visible and credible sign of our mission by living in communities. They are made
up of people of different age, nationality, formation and cultural background.
For this reason, we live and witness this mission consecration through the
Religious Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.
"Jesus said to Levi: Come and Follow Me. He
immediately left everything to follow Jesus."
[by Antonella del Grosso, xmm]
Poverty
- Detaching ourselves from material things and possessions.
- Relying on the power and richness of the Gospel and not placed on structures,
work satisfaction, or success
- Opting for the poor and being in solidarity with those who have less
- Placing all we possess in common
- Adopting a truly simple lifestyle, which includes moderation and sobriety
- Sharing goods and means so as to better witness the Gospel.
Chastity
- Committing ourselves to a celibate lifestyle
- Living a life of mature love and sound relationships
- Living our consecration with joy, without becoming lost in ourselves or
excluding meaningful relationships
- Choosing to share love, intimacy and friendship with God and all we minister to,
rather than loving one person exclusively (as in Marriage).
Obedience
- Willing to live and work not according to our own will, but God’s
- Searching together as one community for God’s will through prayer, reflection on
events, respect and dialogue
- The service of the Superior is to coordinate, facilitate and bring together the
needs of each member of the community, and keeps in mind the goals of our family
- Active and generous collaboration in the decisions taken
- Way of living in a community and participating its life, goals, hopes and work
in an effort to carry out the will of God.
"O Jesus, my love… my vocation, at last I have found
it… My vocation is Love!."
St. Therese of Lisieux
THE NEXT STEP
1 - Read one of these Reflections on Mission:
St. Francis Xavier
St. Therese of Lisieux
Pope John Paul II
2 - Conclude your Meditation with:
Prayer for the Gift of Faithfulness
3 - Put these thoughts into action by:
Contact someone you trust, to help you grow in understanding your call.
St. Francis Xavier
From a letter written by Francis after surviving a violent storm at
sea while traveling into the Malacca Strait
God our Lord wished to prove us by those dangerous trials and to bring us home
to our inadequacy when we rely on our own strength or put trust in created
things. God wants to show us how powerful we become by abandoning false hope and
confidently turning to the Creator of the world, who makes us strong to meet the
dangers encountered in God’s love.
Those who are placed in such dangers meet them for God’s love alone. They
believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that all creation is in obedience to the
Creator and know clearly that the consolation of the critical moment prevails
over the natural fear of death, since our days must come to an end. When the
trials are over and the danger is past, it is not possible to tell or describe
how they have affected us at the time, but they remain scored in our memory to
prevent us from ever tiring in the service of so good a Teacher and they
encourage hope for the strength necessary from God whose mercies are without
end.”
St. Therese of Lisieux
Therese of Lisieux, known as the “Little Flower,” had a strong will. As she
entered the convent, she took the name of Therese of the Child Jesus. These are
some of her words
Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are
forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and
these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and every word and the
doing of the least actions for love.”
“I feel in me the vocation of a priest. I have the vocation of the apostle.
Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown within me.”
“I understood that the Church had a heart, and that this heart was burning with
love. I understood that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything,
that it embraced all times and places… In a word, that it was eternal. Then in
the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out, O Jesus, my love… my vocation, at
last I have found it… My vocation is Love!”
Pope John Paul II
These are excerpts from the Pope’s discourse to the Congregation of
Evangelization. (1995)
Missionary cooperation is primarily a faith event which gives first place to
prayer, the offering of suffering and witness of life, and is concretely
expressed in many forms…
Nevertheless, it is with a full and lifelong commitment to the word of the
missions, especially in missionary congregations that the heart of cooperation
is reached. Here it becomes a radical choice of love for Christ and for our
brothers and sisters, a vibrant witness and proclamation. Indeed, in the special
vocation of missionaries for life – the model of the Church's missionary
commitment, which always stands in need of radical and total self-giving, of new
and bold endeavors – cooperation becomes total involvement in the word of
proclaiming the Gospel.
An effective and valuable contribution to mission, the fruit of the creativity
of the Spirit who constantly rejuvenates the Church, comes today from the
generous response of young people, professionals, Christian families, priests
and religious who offer a part of their life for missionary cooperation in
recently established Churches…”
Prayer for the Gift of Faithfulness
Saint Guido M. Conforti
O God of goodness and love,
You wish all nations to be saved.
Grant us, we pray,
the gift of final perseverance.
Make us faithful to Your grace,
so that we may reach
the perfection that You want from us.
We ask this through the blessings
of the death and resurrection of Your Son,
by the love You show us in the Eucharist
and through the loving care of Mary,
our Mother.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
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