The past week we have had the opportunity to delve more deeply into the Heart of Christ our King and Spouse through a course on the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Cecilia Castañera, one of the consecrated women who were part of the team who drafted and wrote our Statutes, led us in a prayerful reflection on our vows according to our charism.
Each of the six mornings started with an hour and a half conference on one of the vows, based on the Statues and Rule of Life of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, and supplemented with spiritual writers and papal writings on consecrated life in the Church. The conference was followed by a block of personal reflection, guided by some texts and questions. Later in the afternoon, we gathered in small groups to share and discuss what themes spoke to us during the course of the morning. At the end of the day, we came together as a community to summarize our reflections for the day and to share any questions we reflected on.
Our reflections brought up many beautiful questions and themes for discussion. What does true friendship in community life look like? How are we called to reflect our consecration in the world through our external presentation? What does it mean to embrace our poverty by allowing our institute to provide for us? What should characterize our relationships with our directors? How does chastity bring about true freedom of heart? In simply voicing these types of reflections with each other, I was very edified by the sincere searching of each of my companions to understand and to live her vows more profoundly in our daily lives here in our stage of formation.
