Religious Life Religious Life refers to the vocation of men and women who wish to dedicate or consecrate their lives to God through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. All three of these are very great challenges today because none of these three are popular choices for people. But they are ways of living out the call to bring Christ to the world. There are also other people who live a consecrated life but who are not part of a religious order or community. They may live independently and take vows under the supervision of the local bishop rather than a religious community. There are many different expressions of religious life in today's world. Some wear traditional habits while others adopt contemporary dress that doesn't mark them out from other people. Some religious live together in a community which exists to promote contemplative prayer, others live in communities in which the members go out to serve the needs of others in a wide variety of ways, such as in education, heath care, justice and peace work motivated by the poorest members of society such as the homeless and refugees, as well as in parish ministry. You could look at www.calledtoday.com for more information.

The Phrase 'Evangelical Counsels' refers to poverty, chastity and obedience. It simply means 'ways of living the Gospel.' All Christians are called to live these out in their lives, but those who are in religious or consecrated life live them in a particular form of life through vows which are solemn promises made to God and help them to live together with others.

Poverty, or restricting the possessions we have, is a way of training our selves to live simply. We are more than what we have. We rely ultimately on the Lord as our 'portion and cup' rather than relying on our own resources. At the end of the day all of us will be called to let go of the things we have gathered so that we can take hold of our real inheritance, eternal life with God.

Chastity means behaving appropriately towards others, depending on our state in life (i.e. married, single, priest, religious brother or sister) For a married person it will mean restricting the language of sexual love to the person to whom they are joined by a solemn promise. For a single person it means waiting for marriage before loving another through the gift of sex. Although chastity for the religious brother or sister means they will not express their love with another through the gift of sexual intercourse, this chastity is not about the absence of a relationship but the way in which he or she is called to generous love through many relationships which are not exclusive.

Obedience is the way in which we can train our will so that we will not be misled by the idea that it is what I understand to be appropriate, or true, or necessary that is always the correct understanding. For the Christian to live out our vocation is to seek the will of the Father just as Christ did. The religious brother or sister will express this obedience to God through allowing themselves to be directed by the person who leads their community in a spirit of service. The call to live the vow of obedience is the call to be a humble person because only the humble person who isn't too full of him or herself can receive the gifts God wishes to give to us.

These three vows, expressed in some way by religious brothers and sisters, are ways of loving that involves not just a part of us, but the whole of us. The vows help them to live and love as Christ lived and loved.