To ask why anyone dares to continue in religious life today is to, at the same time, explore the basic meaning of any sort of religious participation. To put it bluntly, the vows taken are not vapid religious statements that one can forget after saying, nor are they humanist aspirations whose vagueness can molded into any ideology for convenience. They are always taken within a context, both ecclesial (with, in front of, and for the people of God) and social (having an impact on one’s participation in a society, culture, polis, etc.). Libermann himself states this quite clearly when, writing on the vow on Poverty in the Provisional Rule, says that the vow, “must be understood regarding exterior and definite practices.” In other words, there is no such thing as a vow that exists “as thing in your heart” or as “just an interior thing.” There must be that which is a definitive expression of the vows, or it is fraudulent.

But how do we make a definitive expression of vows in the post-modern era, in which the principal expression is, as best defined by Jameson’s description, “a new kind of flatness or depthlessness, a new kind of superficiality,” that exists under the seeming hegemony of neoliberal capitalism. The first, poverty, is perhaps the most concretely expressed as sharing, the open freedom to refuse possession and give life through what we have, rather than orderly stacking in our homes and claiming unique necessity for a later (and never-to-come day). It is to recognize and leave behind the capitalistic pedagogy of “having” as an absurdity and, instead, to use what we have in community to support each other and the poorest of those whom we serve. It is to share in the Spirit.

The second, chastity, is mostly concretely expressed as caring. Libermann, once again in the Provisional Rule, writes, “[Perfect] chastity contains the love of God. It dwells in the heart and makes our will exercise love.” In choosing to be celibate, an opportunity is given to care more properly for our portion of the People of God more properly with whom we live and work. It must be a real act of lifelong solidarity to serve the poor and marginalized, to be present to the sick and suffering. It is to be available like Christ to encounter, transform, and journey for the Reign. 

Lastly, there is obedience, which is mostly concretely expressed as listening. This is not to exist like a robot, simply taking commands from a higher power with a gentle affirmation of submission given at each command. Nor to exist with one’s ear turned towards the sky waiting and hoping that the distant thunder might contain a magical voice. The cries of the poor and oppressed (O Grito dos Oprimidos) are already existent in the world and, therefore, God’s will should be evident (cf. Ex 2:23-25). As well, to take on the vow of obedience is to refuse to have ‘a heart of stone’ but to, through the grace of the Spirit, always exist with ‘a heart of flesh,’ (Ez 11:19), with misericordia that is willing to get shaken and finds strength in Christ to confront that which takes life. It is to have an ear similar to Mary, to live out the principle of prius concepit mente quam corpore, i.e. to have a critical ear, that is willing to see, as well as judge and later act in the light of faith for the Reign.

Although the look at each vow is nice, it is important to keep in mind that all 3 vows are taken together with the same context. I dare to say that these vows, taken and lived together, run against the alienation so common in post-modernity, and later aggravated by the pandemic. Their realization is nothing short of the concreteness of love, something in short supply these days. It is the “commitment to all or nothing,” that Libermann envisioned for his society from its outset in 1839. Yet, more fundamentally, it is our participation in God’s mission to which Christ summons us, a mission for the salvation of all, a mission of giving life and creating communion looking towards the life and communion to come. The meaning of these vows, thus, is not just the participation in a church or religious group; it is our, and my own personal, participation in the very Reign of God already realized, and our daringness to see it out in the time to come. More Photos from Matt's Renewal of Vows