Living the Evangelical Counsels in Your State of Life
Living as a disciple of Christ involves living out our vocation, our office, and our mission. We do all of this within a state of life – whether we are married, ordained, or in the consecrated or religious life. Each of us is equipped and called in a unique way by the Holy Spirit. However, we are all called to the same ultimate goal – holiness. To be holy means to have a relationship with God, to be transformed by his grace, and to learn to love as Jesus loves. The evangelical counsels are part of this vocation to holiness. The way that we will follow them will differ based on our state in life and our unique calling. But we all called to live in them
What Is Our State of Life?
Our state of life is an admittedly ambiguous term that describes the circumstances surrounding our vocation. Generally speaking, our state of life refers to our marital status. Marriage, single life, and celibacy/virginity are the most basic states of life. But our state of life can also include other circumstances that may affect how we live out our vocation. Being a student, having a job that serves the Church (or that is at least more service than income), working or being a stay-at-home parent, are all examples of circumstances that may enter into one’s state of life.
Aids to Holiness
The evangelical counsels are values drawn from Jesus’ lived example and teachings that can aid us on our way to holiness. In their purest form, they are ways to radically give our lives to Jesus as a form of “white martyrdom.” We may not be called to give our lives for Jesus by spilling our blood, but we can sacrifice the pleasures of life – material wealth, sexual pleasure, and personal power – for His sake. But these are called “counsel” rather than “precepts.” In other words, giving ourselves so radically to Jesus is not a requirement for our salvation. Rather, they are recommendations for greater holiness.
That said, if we can find a way to live each of them out within our state of life, we would certainly want to give our lives to Jesus in this way! Obviously, we can’t live a life of poverty if we have responsibilities to our family. The counsel of chastity is going to be lived differently for a married person or a celibate. And obedience is going to depend on whom you owe obedience to. But offering the sacrifice of our lives through the Counsels is possible to everyone in different ways and degrees.
I invite you to consider each of the Counsels and to think about how you might offer your life to Jesus a bit more in each of these areas.
The Evangelical Counsel of Poverty
As the King of the Jews fulfilling God’s promise to establish an everlasting kingdom in the line of David, Jesus could have come into the world with power, influence, and affluence. In fact, most people expected exactly that. If he had, his message may have had more impact on the world. He would have had instance authority, especially in the extremely stratified world of the Roman empire. But instead, Jesus chose to enter the world through a humble, middle-class family. Why? Because He wanted to teach all of us to seek first the Kingdom of God and to depend on God for our daily bread. Jesus teaches this very clearly throughout his earthly ministry. But what does this mean for us in a practical way?
There are some Christians who in their vocation and state of life are called to take a solemn vow of poverty. This solemn vow is the fullness of the evangelical counsel. Often when we think of the vow of poverty we think of the mendicant orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis, which originally begged for everything they had. These kinds of orders truly lived like the poor in order to fight the sinful desire to seek comfort and pleasure that was common in monasteries at the time. Other religious orders and communities don’t appear to be poor, and as orders may actually have financial resources. However, the individual members of these communities live in a way that is completely dependent on God and that is not focused on material gain or material wealth. They take a vow not to own any personal property, but only to use property that is owned in common with their religious order or community. So they may drive a car or use a computer, but neither the car nor the computer is actually theirs. That car and computer can be requested by any other member of the community and is governed by the community leadership.
Those of us who live in the lay state are also called to live the evangelical counsel of poverty, but to a different degree and in a different way. Obviously, as a father, I cannot disavow private property. I need to have a salary, purchase property, own a home and have a certain level of control over material wealth so that I can fulfill my vocation and provide for my family. However, I am still called to seek the Kingdom of God first and to rely on God for our daily bread. So how do we live this evangelical counsel in the lay state? First of all, we need to strive not to make material gain the central focus of our lives. Secondly, we need to learn to see material wealth as a sign of God’s love that is meant to be shared with others. Money is the power to do good. Property is God’s providence. And even if I can claim private property, I need to understand that God intends me to share His love in the material world in the spiritual world freely and generously to the best of my ability. So I use material wealth to serve my family first because that is my main vocation but my wife and I also look for ways that we can use our material wealth to serve others.
Evangelical Counsel of Chastity
The vow of chastity is the vow to use the powers of our sexuality to draw us more deeply into the Mystery of covenantal love.
Jesus had a great respect for marriage. So great was His respects that He performed His first miracle at a wedding, and sacred Scripture often uses a wedding feast or a marriage as a sign of God’s love for his Church. Jesus rose marriage to the level and dignity of a Sacrament, giving it even greater dignity. But Jesus Himself chose to remain celibate. His bride was to be the Church. He didn’t live the Sacramental sign because He is the reality that the sign presents.
Within certain states of life – such as ordained ministry and religious life – the evangelical counsel of chastity is expressed by adopting the Church as one’s bride or Christ as one’s groom. For them, the evangelical counsel of chastity means to live a celibate life. This is not to spurn marriage, but to signify marriage’s true meaning as a Sacramental sign. Jesus’s bride is the Church – and the men and women who live the vow of celibacy care for Jesus’s bride.
Within the lay state, the evangelical vow of chastity means to respect the dignity of marriage by practicing the virtue of chastity. They are to be faithful to their spouse, building trust and intimacy and love. Their main vocation is to bring new life into this world and to then bring that new life to the love of God through the love of their family. Respecting the marital bond and living it ever more deeply is direct participation in the Mystery of covenantal love.
The Evangelical Counsel Of Obedience
Jesus was obedient to the Father in all things. His obedience was ultimately shown in His acceptance of His cup of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, we can see Jesus seeking the will of His Father in prayer throughout the Gospels. What is obedience? In today’s world obedience takes on a negative meaning of submitting to tyrannical power. In fact, at a Catholic school convention one year, there was a Catholic organization with a banner behind them that said in great big letters Obedience Is Not Our Virtue. When we take this attitude, we miss the scriptural meaning of obedience and its importance in our lives. Obedience is really an act of trust. We obey authority because we trust that as a legitimate authority it has our best interest in mind – leading us to a good that we could not or would not otherwise choose for ourselves. For example, I may not like traffic laws, but I’ll obey them because I trust that they exist for people’s safety. And indeed this is true because if it was up to me I would be driving very selfishly – speeding to get to my destination and to complete my huge to-do list. When most of us get behind the wheel other people’s safety is not as high a priority as it should be. So the trusted authority lays down laws to remind us that it should be. Likewise, Jesus’ obedience to the father was an active trust and of love.
When someone takes a solemn vow of obedience, they are acting on that same love and trust. Even though they directly give their obedience to a Bishop or to the rules of a religious order, their vow of obedience is really first and foremost a vow to God. They are dedicating their freedom to God’s service.
Those of us in the lay state do not take vows of obedience toward religious authority directly. However, we still owe obedience as an act of trust. Of course, we must obey all civil authority. But more importantly for a disciple of Christ we obey the Church. All human beings are called to obey the moral law that is written in our hearts. This is known as natural law. Christians are also called to obey the divine law – the law that is revealed to us about how to have a relationship with God. In addition to the moral law, Catholics are also given laws that are created by the Church. Examples of these laws include the precepts of the Church
- You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.
- You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
- You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.
- You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.
- You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
Another example would be spiritual disciplines prescribed by the Church, such as not eating meat on Fridays or observing the days of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. While it is fashionable to grouse about these rules – claiming that they are holdovers from a more legalistic time – the fact is that obedience still plays an important role in our faith. By placing our trust in the Church that Jesus established, we place our trust in Jesus himself.
The Evangelical Counsels Are Vital to Spiritual Growth
When you get down to the true meaning of the Gospel counsels and why Jesus held them to be so important, we can see how they should apply to our state of life. Poverty teaches us to rely on God and to seek His Kingdom first. It’s a matter of setting the right priorities. Chastity is a matter of living selflessly and loving as Jesus loved, instead of using our sexuality and selfish ways. It’s also a matter of respecting marriage and the covenantal relationship that it stands for. Obedience is an act of trust that is part of any loving relationship. Whether these evangelical counsels are followed as sacred vows, or followed less formally, they always play a central role in our quest for holiness.
Going Beyond the Basics
Once you’re living the basics of poverty, chastity, and obedience, you may discover in prayer or through spiritual direction that God is calling you to live one or more of them more intensely, even to the point of sacrifice. The four Gospel counsels can shape our lives to holiness.
What is your next step toward holiness? From the Abbey could help you get there! Learn the faith more completely with online courses. Live the faith more deeply with online spirituality programs. I invite you to consider the offer below to take your next step with From the Abbey. Let’s grow in holiness together!
Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.