HEART OF SURRENDER

The Spirituality of Religious Life

By Sr. Kathy Bryant, RSC 
Lightly edited from “All for Love, a Discernment Journal,” published by NCDVD

 
Spirituality is the way we relate to God and to other people. Religious priests, sisters and brothers have a particular style of relating to the Church. Their spirituality as religious impacts their attitude toward community, ministry and prayer, as well as those relationships with other people in life.

At the heart of this spirituality is surrender. Although many women and men in discernment investigate religious communities and find out what ministries and lifestyles suit their own talents and preferences, in the long run the commitment calls for surrender. This does not mean surrender of one’s intelligence, common sense or personality. It means surrender in the sense of giving the community permission to use one’s gifts and talents for the good of the community and the Church. It may be experienced in obedience to something that one does not initially understand. It is surrender with trust as its base, modeled by Jesus as he listened to Abba and did not cling to what was his, but humbled himself and became obedient unto death (Phil. 2).

When someone enters religious life, there is a gradual process of formation and incorporation into the community. One moves from candidacy (or postulancy) into novitiate; from novitiate into temporary vows; from temporary vows to perpetual vows. Although some of the formation is very formal and defined, a lot of it is subtle. It is education that must be "caught" rather than taught in classes or read in books. For example, one might be taking formation classes in Community Life, studying the historical foundations of the community and the Rule, yet it is interaction with the religious in the chapel or community room that forms the heart.

The particular spirituality of each congregation shapes how the vowed life is lived. Where one order stresses initiative and personal responsibility, another may emphasize submission and humility. However, the basis of the vows is to imitate Jesus in listening to the Father, obedience, and chaste and poor way of life.

After a while, one's identity as a brother, sister or religious priest is meshed with the spirit of the order. I have visited other religious houses of my congregation where I do not know any particular person but still I feel at home. I am "one of them." This process of identification takes years and develops through both crisis and jubilation as one is challenged to grow into a new identity and commitment.

The way a vowed celibate relates to God is a way of growing intimate in a depth no other human being has access to in his or her life. The celibate life forces one to wrestle with issues such as sexuality and spirituality in prayer. Because the celibate often experiences mobility in mission and community life, his or her relationship with God becomes the place he or she calls "home" and God is the one person who will always be there. Friendships are necessary and healthy, but they can only go so far. Celibacy cannot be lived authentically without an intimate relationship with God. The prayer life of a religious cultivates this intimacy.

The spirituality of religious life informs its members that no one can do it alone. However strong and confident one may feel about his or her ability to keep the vows, maintain a strong prayer life, or serve God through ministry, with honesty and time every person meets his or her own limitations and inner demons. Religious become the supportive sphere for other members in helping each other to be faithful.

But the religious life brings awareness of one’s gifts as well as one's weaknesses. There is not one gift a person brings to the community that will not be used somehow in the course of religious life. This teaches us to live in appreciation of the gifts of others and to learn that we compliment each other’s gifts.

The spirituality of religious life colors how a priest, sister or brother does ministry. It is not their “personal” ministry. This spirituality gives one a sense that what he or she is about is much bigger than a personal agenda because he or she has been sent there. That person is there in the name of the other members of the community. If a Christian Brother teaches a class, the other Christian Brothers are also in a way part of his classroom teaching – the retired brothers, the sick brothers, the ones on sabbatical are all present. If a Holy Cross Sister is on mission in Peru, then all of her sisters are in a sense part of her ministry there.

The way religious relate to the Church stems from their charisms and spirituality. Some religious act as prophets, challenging the Church to be more just and authentic. Some end up as martyrs for the sake of the Gospel; others as contemplatives hidden from the world, and others find themselves in a variety of ministries. Throughout history, religious have been known for venturing out in new directions. Founders and foundresses who established new orders and ministries often were not accepted at the time by the institutional Church. Part of the history of many religious orders reflects the risks religious took in nursing those suffering from plagues or diseases that people feared, such as Hanson's disease (leprosy). This continues today as much of the ministry to AIDS patients and hospices were initiated by religious. Most of the Peace and Justice offices in dioceses throughout the country were begun by religious women and men.

Often religious have had to wait for some time until the institutional Church acknowledged their ideas. But all of these dreams and visions receive their impetus from the very nature and spirituality of religious life. The first sisters who left the convent to nurse the sick in their homes will tell you so. St. Francis, who had a dream of community life and poverty beyond his contemporaries, had the same experience. All those religious who persevered and quietly carried on without much affirmation were nurtured in a spirituality that gave them the strength to go forward.

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