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himself with a special love and a special mission” (VC 17). The Church teaches: “The gift of religious vocation is rooted in the gift of baptism but is ‘not given to all the baptised’. It is freely given and unmerited; offered by God to those whom He chooses freely from among his people and ‘for the sake of his people’.”1 Religious life is a gift: a gift of God, a gift that has its source in God; a gift of the one who is consecrated, who joins himself to Christ by the gift of his whole life; a gift from the Church and to the Church. It is a personal gift, but one, as we shall see, that is ecclesial in scope and character. The life of consecrated chastity, poverty and obedience is a “divine gift” for the Church (LG 43), granted so that the Church may be adorned by the gifts of her children (PC 1). It is a charism in the strict biblical sense of the word: a gift bestowed on some of the faithful for the sake of the whole Church and the holiness of God’s people.2
b. A Divine Gift.indd 7
“What can be sweeter to us, beloved brethren, than this voice of the Lord inviting us? Behold, in His loving kindness the Lord points out to us the way of life.” (Rule of St Benedict)
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