Living The Vowed Life.

The Rule gives the framework for living the Religious Life, both nurturing and challenging the members of the Community as we seek to grow in the spirituality of our patron, St. John the Apostle of Love.

• It is based on the writings of St. John and under-girds our life.
• It is based on learning to love in every aspect of our lives, and so opens us to personal transformation, albeit very slowly.
• It embodies the ethos of the Community

 

In the last 3 years the Community has been studying in greater depth the essence of the Religious Life so that we have wisdom and courage to go on further developing new patterns for living our life and sharing it with others.  Since 2006 we have been working on a new model for living the life.  It is currently in draft form but contains the structure we hope to be able to use in a pilot study, one that fits the culture of our times.  A summary of this is contained in our Annual Report 2006/2007.

Those coming to test their vocation in CSJD need to be people who are not afraid of joining the Community in its on-going exploration.  Whilst the essence of the Religious Life is safe-guarded and its intrinsic values remain the same, our life style is changing significantly.  Currently the community is studying the Vows of Consecrated Celibacy, Poverty and Obedience, and it was agreed work is needed to help make the Vows more understandable in this day and age. A short summary is included to give some understanding of the Vows taken by Religious.

THE THREEFOLD VOWS

Consecrated Celibacy – Learning to Love

Consecrated Celibacy is the continuous giving of oneself totally to God in love.

• It is a lifetime’s journey of seeking and responding to God’s calling
• It is experiencing his healing and transforming presence in our lives
• It is a life of learning to love God / one another / ourselves and to grow in love and holiness
• It is a life of faithfulness and steadfastness
• It is love of others – the witness of love and peace

Poverty - Simplicity and Stewardship

The Vow of Poverty is best described as simplicity of life and stewardship

• Things held in common
• Stewardship affects everything we are and do
• Work and giftedness – serving God
• Harmony and balance of work, worship and recreation
• Stewardship – world issues of justice and peace
• Our values are slowly changed

Obedience - Learning to listen to God and to each other

The vow of obedience demands holy responsibility

 

• In listening to God and to one another
• Living responsibly in an ordered freedom
• In being willing to change in order to come to a common mind
• In listening to the society in which we live. Reflecting on the issues of the day
• On-going formation / study

Our life-style is changing significantly.