We All Have a Vocation
To be a Christian is to have a vocation, for God has a purpose for each one of us - a ‘calling’ to which we must respond, if we take our Christianity seriously. The Christian pilgrimage may be summed up as the unceasing endeavor to say ‘yes’ to the continuing call of God in whatever situation and circumstances we find ourselves. And because God created us as individuals and loves us as individuals the call for each person is different - but no one calling or vocation for anyone is, in itself, higher or lower than any other. The highest vocation for anyone is the acceptance and faithful living out of God’s will for his or her life. So we have Christian teachers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers, factory workers - married or single, young and old.
For most people the will of God becomes apparent through such things as heredity, environment, talents and the circumstances of daily living. If, for instance, you love small children, have a talent for passing knowledge simply and interestingly and have the opportunity got higher education and training then it probably is God’s will that you become a primary school teacher. If, on the other hand, you dislike children, find sharing your knowledge with others both difficult and irritating and left school the moment it was legally possible to do so then, on the whole, it’s unlikely that God has mapped out that particular path for you though, having said that, there are those who are called to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’ and whose vocation seems to be against all common sense and natural inclination.
Generally speaking, for most people, responding to God’s call means marriage, a family and a career. But some are called to a different way of living out their commitment - to a life in community under the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in what is technically know as the ‘Religious Life’.
The Call to a ‘Religious Life’
Religious Communities can really be traced back to the New Testament - to the Book of Acts where we read ‘And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all as any had need’ and this is the basis of the Religious Life as we know it today.
By the vow of Poverty a person renounces the spirit and rights of ownership. He or she has nothing of his or her own and recognizes that we are all stewards, that everything we have is from God and will have to be accounted for to God - time, talents, opportunities as well as material possessions. In practical terms the pooling of talents, gifts and possessions means a simple uncluttered lifestyle which is economical and leaves the individual free and unencumbered.
The vow of Chastity is really a vow of celibacy - a promise not to marry, for chastity is required of all Christians whether married or single, because it is about our attitude to others: that we respect and cherish them and don’t use or manipulate them for our own purposes or gratification. The vow of celibacy means that instead of being committed in love to one man, one woman, one family, which is the right and Christian way for most people, the religious, being without these ties, is free to love and be used wherever the need is greatest. And a community of such people can be a healing place to which the lonely, the bereaved, the lost can turn for solace.
The vow of Obedience is the promise to obey the will of God, and because the Superior of a Community is elected by the members of the Community after much prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we believe that the will of God for the Community generally and for the individuals in it is mediated through the Superior. But this does not mean ‘blind’ obedience - the right of the individual conscience is respected and if a religious is unhappy about a decision he or she is at liberty to say so.
It will have become apparent that the vows taken by a Religious only make explicit what is already implicit in any committed Christian life. We are all called to renounce any spirit of ownership of possessiveness and to be good stewards. We are all required to treat other people with respect and reverence, recognizing Christ in them, and we are all called to be obedient to God’s will in whatever circumstances it is revealed to us. The Religious Life is really only the taking to the logical conclusions the basic tenets of Christianity and it is important to realize that Religious are ordinary people, with ordinary virtues and failings for ‘God chose what is weak in the world to confound the strong’. You don’t have to be a saint to join a religious community - you only have to have the desire to serve the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
What Do You Do If You Feel the Call to a Religious Life?
There are approximately 2400 Religious Communities in the Anglican Communion throughout the world. In North America and the Caribbean there are 345 Communities- 95 Men’s and 250 Women’s. So the best thing is to get in touch with those that attract you. To give you a place to start check out this website for the Anglican Religious Communities - http://www.orders.anglican.org/ and click on the link for the Anglican Religious Communities Year Book. If, after prayer and thought you decide to test your vocation to a particular community you will normally spend six months as a postulant. During this time you will be living as a member of the Community, trying out the life but without making the promise or commitment. You are free to leave at any time during that six months and equally, if the Community feel that you are not in the right place you may be asked to leave. If, however, at the end of the six months both you and the Community feel that it is right for you to continue you will be clothed as a novice. This means that you will wear the habit and that your promises are made for the time of your novitiate. This means that you are still free to leave - or may be asked to leave - it is still a time of testing and trial, but the commitment to the Community is deeper and you are much more a part of it than is possible when you are a postulant. In most communities Profession (the taking of Vows) comes at the end of a three year novitiate. Sometimes the vows are for three years, after which they are taken for life, whilst in some communities life vows are taken immediately at profession. But always the needs of the individual are the first consideration - the primary aim is not the numerical growth of religious communities but that the will of God should be accomplished in all his children.
The Call of God
