Religious Vows in their Mystic and Prophetic Dimensions

Let me begin with an image that is very familiar to all of us, because it is an image of the birth of the Church, presented to us by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. This is the image of a gathering, but not just any gathering. It is a coming together of those who have followed Jesus and formed his community in the gospels, perhaps recalling his words while he was still with them in the flesh that “whenever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is in their midst;” and his last words to them before he ascended to heaven that gave them hope: “…you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth’s remotest end.” Not knowing the exact time or date, but believing deeply in his promise, the gathering was imbued with great hope and anticipation, a gathering of women and men, apostles and disciples together with Mary, in deep prayer awaiting a new beginning, a new Pentecost—the birth of a community of love and mission, imbued with the Spirit of Jesus—the Church. The gathering was both an experience of homecoming and sending, impelling everyone to be witnesses “to earth’s remotest end.” ...