G) The meaning of the vows

On the subject of the vows one could make the same reflection as I have just made on the subject of community. There was in fact, a question on the meaning of the vows and their relation to mission.

This question, it is true, received less attention than the first, owing to lack of time. It was difficult to see from the responses what theology of the vows the young folk had received. There seemed to be a fairly general tendency to perceive, first of all, if not perhaps solely, one aspect of the vows, namely, that they free us for mission. They are the "means of mission". It was noted also that they render us vulnerable.

It is interesting that even though the official language, especially since the Synod on religious life, has adopted the expression "consecrated life" to describe what was formerly called "religious life", the idea that this life is above all a "consecration to God" was not much in evidence.

One might wonder if a "consecration to mission" could last long and whether it could stand up to the storm of contradictions and failures, if it were not experienced also and primarily as a consecration to God. This dimension is certainly present among the young, but it is not the most evident.