“Follow me”
The Evangelical Counsels Poverty – “A Christian counsel by which a person voluntarily renounces all or part of his right to the ownership of material things.”[i]
“The requirements of God’s service form the connecting thread of the reflections to which today’s readings give rise. During the mysterious manifestations of God on Mount Horeb, Elijah received a command from God to consecrate Elisha as a prophet. As he came down from the mountain he met Elisha plowing his field; Elijah ‘passed by him and cast his mantle upon him’ (1 Kgs 19:19); it was symbolic gesture which indicated the prophetic mission with which he was being invested. Elisha’s response was immediate; he abandoned his oxen – ‘twelve yoke,’ states the sacred text succinctly, for he was rich – and ran after Elijah, asking but one thing: ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you’ (ib. 20). It is a very human and moving detail which shows that the divine call does not make one insensitive to family affections, although it may demand their sacrifice, when necessary, in order to dedicate ourselves completely to the service of God and neighbor. God has the right to ask us to leave everything – profession, property, home, and family – in order to follow his call.”[ii]
The Evangelical Counsel Celibacy – “Ecclesiastical celibacy was a logical development of Christ’s teaching about continence (Matthew 19:10-12). The first beginnings of religious life were seen in the self-imposed practice of celibacy among men and woman who wished to devote themselves to a lifetime of following Christ in the practice of the evangelical counsels. Celibacy was one of the features of the earliest hermits and a requirement of the first monastic foundation under St. Pachomius (c.290-346). Over the centuries religious celibacy has been the subject of the Church’s frequent legislation. The Second Vatican Council named chastity first among the evangelical counsels to be practiced by religious and said that ‘it is a special symbol of heavenly benefits, and for religious it is a most effective means of dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to the divine service and the works of the apostolate.’”[iii]
Celibacy “is that precious gift of divine grace given to some by the Father to devote themselves to God alone more easily with an undivided heart in virginity or celibacy. This perfect continence for love of the kingdom of heaven has always been held in high esteem by the Church as a sign and stimulus of love, and as a singular source of spiritual fertility in the world.”[iv]
Because it is a counsel of the Church and not a precept, continence or celibacy for the Kingdom of God is a choice and Blessed John Paul II says that the choice must be made out of “value” for the virtue. For example if a person choose either celibacy or marriage it must be done because the vocation corresponds to the plan of God, not out of some romanticism of what celibacy or marriage is. Celibacy and marriage after all are a means to an end, not and end in and of themselves. “If someone chooses marriage, he must choose it exactly as it was instituted by the Creator ‘from the beginning’; he must seek in it those values that correspond to the plan of God; if on the other hand someone decides to follow continence for the kingdom of heaven, he must seek in it the values proper to such a vocation. In other words, he must act in conformity with his chosen vocation.”[v]
The Evangelical Counsel of Obedience – “The moral virtue that inclines the will to comply with the will of another who has the right to command. Material obedience is merely to carry out the physical action commanded; formal obedience is to perform an action precisely because it is commanded by a legitimate superior.”[vi] In regards to religious it is “the voluntary submission of oneself to obey legitimate ecclesiastical authority beyond the demands of obedience prescribed on all the faithful. It is the free surrender of one’s autonomy, according to the Church’s directives, in order to better imitate Christ, and to cooperate with him in his work of redemption, who became obedient unto death, even to death on the Cross. This obedience of counsel may be given stability by a vow of obedience made to a superior in an institute of perfection or to one’s confessor or spiritual director.”[vii]
“The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to ‘preach good news to the poor’; he declares them blessed, for “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To them—the “little ones” — the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom.”[viii]
How does the act of renouncing or “giving up” something actually help us to gain something?“It is a characteristic feature of the human heart to accept even difficult demands in the name of love, for an ideal, and above all in the name of love for a person (love is, in fact, oriented by its very nature toward the person).”[ix] We give up “things” for the sake of love and not love it self but love of a person. In the case of the Blessed Trinity, we are willing to renounce something or someone, out of love for the three persons in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are willing to accept difficult demands (renunciation) in the name of love (the virtue) for a person. The difficult demands and the virtue itself do not take precedence over the person.
What do we gain if we are called to renounce material possessions (poverty), marriage and family (chastity), and our own will (obedience)? No matter if the renunciation is large or small, strict or loose, what is gained in any renunciation is a deeper love for the person for whom the renunciation is made. For example if a husband renounces a material possession for the good of his family, he grows in deeper love with his wife and children. If a monk renounces his own will for the good of the abbot or monastery, he grows in deeper love for his superior and his community. If our focus is isolated on either the act of renunciation and not the person, we become self-centered and hold grudges. For example, if the husband who renounced a material possession continues to remind his children and wife that “he gave up” this or that for them, this is not a truly “giving up” for in fact he is “holding on” to the action to use as a tool to get something he wants. This “holding on” can lead to a grudge or the attitude that we gave something up now it is the other persons turn to give something up. This is not how Christ renounces. When Christ gives us His life, it is a renunciation, our of love, for the person, in the case of the Crucifixion for every person. This love does not have strings attached, but is freely given and because it is freely given begs a response also freely given.
[i] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Modern Catholic Dictionary
[ii] Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.; Divine Intimacy, Vol. III
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Vatican II, Constitution on the Church, 42
[v] Blessed John Paul II; Continence for the Kingdom; General Audience of April 21, 1982
[vi] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Modern Catholic Dictionary
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Catechism of the Catholic Church - 544
[ix] Blessed John Paul II; Continence for the Kingdom; General Audience of April 21, 1982