RECOLLECTION — FEBRUARY 2024
MOVING FROM THE SEA OF BONDAGE TO THE OCEAN OF FREEDOM
My dear Sisters, ‘We are the Pilgrims of Hope’- with these invitatory words, Pope
Francis encourages everyone to embark on the journey of hope. We are on our way
to eternity, that is the reason we celebrate the mystery of incarnation (the Christmas),
where the Word became flesh, dwelling perennially with us (Emmanuel) shows us
the way to eternity (John 14:6). Where I am you, all will be also. (John 14:2ff)
We are made for heaven. God has breathed into our nostrils His breath and has made
us worthy of Him as we are in His image and likeness. Our intrinsic value is that we
belong to him. I have called you by name and you are mine. The month of February
reminds us of this reality. On the 2nd of February, we celebrate the feast of the
Presentation of our Lord in the temple, which reminds us of our religious
consecration.
Why do we exist in the Church as religious? Lumen Gentium the documents of
Vatican Council II would tell us, basically we, the religious exist in the church to
render the church holy. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Mt5:48), with
these words Jesus gives a clarion call to all to arrive at perfection. Secondly, we exist
to bear testimony to the love of God. As martyrs, they bear testimony through their
blood, and so, we, the religious are called to bear testimony through our life. They
will know that you belong to me (John 13:35). Thirdly, we are called to live the
eschatological dimension of our life. In heaven they will be angels, there is no giving
or taking in marriage (Mt 22:30). So, our religious consecration enables us to enter
into the ocean of freedom.
Writing to the church of Corinth, St. Paul admonishes each one of us to live up to
one’s own calling. The difference between married and unmarried persons (1Cor Ch
7 -Read meditatively this Chapter). We belong to the category of being consecrated,
being set aside for Christ, following Him in the way of virginity, that is with
undivided attention. Our pre-occupation is supposed to be – how to please our
spouse, Jesus Christ. Our vows aim at the same.
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Chastity – Enables us to embrace the entire universe and to become the beacon of
hope to the humanity. It opens our arms to the ocean of freedom, where we are free
from various aspects that can bind us. Martha, Martha you are distracted with many
things, Mary has chosen the better part (Lk 10:41-42).
Poverty – Relying solely on God and to be free from all kinds of material bondage
(Proverbs 30:7-9).
Obedience- The perfect freedom, in doing the will of God expressed through the
instrumentality of the legitimate authority.
We can have two kinds of pilgrimages.
1- Pilgrimage of bondage
2- Pilgrimage of freedom
Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:36–41; Luke 8:22–25; John 6:16–21 – Reflect upon
any of these Biblical texts.
What is the nature of my journey as a CCR Religious?
Am I in the troubled waters? A peaceful journey? Do I have easy access to Jesus?
Do I make it a habit to run to Him constantly for help?
Basically, we are called for freedom. 1 Peter 2:9 – Understand your call…..you are
called for a noble living…..You are royal religious, a holy nation and God’s very
own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He has
called you, out of darkness.
Our serious reflection on our lives can make us aware that several factors bind us.
We find ourselves as pilgrims of bondage.
St. John of the Cross, who can inspire us to swim in the ocean of freedom, gives us
some necessary tips on how one can push oneself into the ocean of interior liberty.
He gives us practical help so as how to overcome the sea of bondage, how to save
oneself from the turbulent waters. In his precautions, he categorises our bondage into
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3 types. Bondage to the world, flesh and devil. Against these three bondages, he
gives certain precautions, which can help us to arrive at liberation.
AGAINST THE WORLD
To free yourself from the harm, the world can do you, you should practise, three
precautions.
The first precaution
The first is that you should have an equal love for and an equal forgetfulness of all
persons, whether relatives or not, and withdraw your heart from relatives as much as
from others. The natural love that is ever alive among kin, must always be mortified,
for the sake of spiritual perfection.
Do not love one person more than another, avoid every kind of partiality, and
favouritism in thoughts, words and deeds. Never waste your time and energy
thinking good or evil of anyone.
To free yourself truly of the harm stemming from this kind of good and to moderate
the excess of your appetite, you should abhor all manner of possessions and not
allow yourself to worry about these goods, neither for food, nor for clothing, nor any
other created thing, nor tomorrow, and direct this care to something higher — to seek
for the kingdom of God (seeking not to fail God); and the rest, as His Majesty says,
will be added unto us [Mt. 6:33], for he who looks after the beasts will not be
forgetful of you. By this practice, you will attain silence and peace in the senses.
It is that you very carefully guard yourself against thinking about what happens in
the community, and even more against speaking of it, of anything in the past or
present concerning a particular religious: nothing about his or her character or
conduct or deeds no matter how serious any of this seems. Do not say anything under
the color of zeal or of correcting a wrong, unless at the proper time to whomsoever
by right you ought to tell. Never be scandalized or astonished at anything you happen
to see or learn of endeavouring to preserve your soul in forgetfulness of all that.
Recall what the Apostle St. James asserts: If anyone thinks he is religious, not
restraining the tongue, that one’s religion is vain [James. 1:26]. This applies as much
to the interior as to the exterior tongue. Avoid every kind of gossiping or taking part
in gossiping. One would do much good to one’s soul by avoiding the evil company
of gossipers.
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AGAINST THE DEVIL
The most common way, how the devil can deceive one is under the appearance of
good rather than of evil, for the devil already knows that they will scarcely choose a
recognised evil. Thus, you should always be suspicious of what appears good,
especially when not obliged by obedience. To do the right thing, and be safe in such
a matter, you ought to take the proper counsel.
Without the command of obedience, you never take upon yourself any work — apart
from the obligations of your state — however good and full of charity it may seem,
whether for yourself or for anyone else inside or outside the house. God wants
obedience more than sacrifice [1 Sm. 15:22]. The actions of religious are not their
own, but belong to obedience, and if you withdraw them from obedience, you will
have to count them as lost.
Always look on the Animator as though on God, no matter who she happens to be,
for she takes God’s place. And note that the devil, humility’s enemy, is a great and
crafty meddler in this area.
Your obedience is vain and all the more fruitless in the measure that you allow the
Animator’s unpleasant character to annoy you or her good and pleasing manners to
make you happy.
You should always seek with all your heart to humble yourself in word and in deed,
rejoicing in the good of others as if it were your own, desiring that they be given
precedence over you in all things; and you should do this wholeheartedly. You will
thereby, overcome evil with good [Rom. 12:21], banish the devil, and possess a
happy heart. Try to practise this more with those who least attract you. Realise that
if you do not train yourself in this way, you will not attain real charity or make any
progress in it.
AGAINST THE FLESH
And always prefer to be taught by all, rather than desire to teach even the least of
all.
Understand that you have come to the Convent so that all may fashion you and try
you. Thus, to free yourself from the imperfections and disturbances that can be
engendered by the mannerisms and attitudes of the religious and draw profit from
every occurrence, you should think that all in the community are artisans — as indeed
they are — present there in order to prove you; that some will fashion you with words,
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others by deeds, and others with thoughts against you; and that in all this, you must
be submissive as is the statue to the craftsman who moulds it, to the artist who paints
it and to the gilder who embellishes it.
You should never give up your works because of a want of satisfaction and delight
in them, if they are fitting for the service of God.
The interior person should never set eyes on the pleasant feelings found in spiritual
exercises, becoming attached to them and carrying out these practices only for the
sake of this satisfaction. Nor should such a person run from the bitterness that may
be found in them, but rather seek the arduous and distasteful to embrace it.
My dear Sisters, it doesn’t matter if we are bound with thread or rope, we cannot fly.
We are entering soon into the Season of Lent, a graceful season to do away with our
slavery and bondage of every kind. It is by embracing the Cross of Christ that we
arrive at the fullness of freedom. Let us always remember the admonition of Mother
Veronica, ‘There can be a sea of things that can bind us. But Jesus can always liberate
us”. With confidence in His merciful love, as taught by St. Therese of the Child
Jesus, let us abandon ourselves in the hands of Jesus so that we are able to move
from the bondage of the sea to the ocean of freedom, learning to cast our nets in the
deep (Lk 5:4-11) for a great catch ….for the greater liberty.
Sr. Philda Varghese, CCR
The Councillor Incharge of Spirituality
