Ecclesial Vocations: Foundational Vocations Belonging to the Church and Allowing it to truly be Christ's own Church

[[ Hi Sister, you have been speaking about ecclesial vocations in what sounds like a special way. I see that these are vocations that belong to the church first before they belong to individuals but does it mean more than this? You write about living for the sake of the church, is this also part of what you call an ecclesial vocation?]]

Thanks for your questions. I realize I haven't really explained why ecclesial vocations differ from those that are not considered ecclesial in the proper sense of the term, and also, I never really defined the term. So yes, thanks!  Lumen Gentium said the following: [[(the profession of the evangelical counsels) indisputably belongs to the life and holiness of the church.]] and also, [[The evangelical counsels which lead to charity join their followers to the Church and its mystery in a special way.]] (#44) In Vita Consecrata, John Paul II enlarged on the first citation above, saying, [[This means that the consecrated life, present in the Church from the beginning, can never fail to be one of her essential and characteristic elements, for it expresses her very nature.]] (#29) When I speak of the vocation belonging to the Church herself before it belongs to the individual to whom it is entrusted, or that consecrated eremitical life is lived for the sake of the Church herself or (another way of saying this) that it is lived so the Church can truly be the Church she is called to be, yes, I am talking about these two points made by Luman Gentium and John Paul II, just as you also noted in your question. 

Every vocation to the consecrated state recognizes they belong as an essential (foundational and necessary) part of the holiness and life of the Church. As JPII also wrote in the same section, "The idea of a Church made up only of sacred ministers and lay people does not, therefore, conform to the intentions of her divine Founder as revealed to us by the gospels and the other writings of the New Testament." (VC# 29) Moreover, this essential part of the Church's very constitution as the Body of Christ serves both sacred ministers and laity while technically belonging to neither group (it is drawn from both). It is an eschatological sign to both regarding what it means to be more fully conformed to Christ. It reminds members of both these hierarchical groups, that following Christ is not about power or the exercise of power, nor is it about slavish subservience, but instead, it is about close union with Christ that leads to the freedom to respond maturely as Church (ecclesiola) in service to every need in both Church and world. 

You can imagine what distortions might well occur if the Church were only comprised of "sacred ministers and laity"!! Clericalism is a terrible and destructive form of this which fails both clergy and laity as it fails Christ and his Church. Vocations to consecrated life call both hierarchical groups to greater holiness and humility as servant disciples of Christ. This presence of consecrated persons in the Church serves as an immediate summons to clerics to truly be priests in the mode of Christ and to members of the laity to realize the fullness and great responsibility of their baptismal consecration. 

In other words, consecrated life in the Church is a moderating and mediating presence that helps the Church to be Christ's own Church, and not fall into the pattern of some sort of not-so-sacred fiefdom composed only of rulers (priests) and ruled (laity). Thus, we are reminded that consecrated life does not constitute a third layer of a triple-level hierarchy, but that members of this state of life are drawn from both clerics and laity while serving in an undeniable role regarding the life and holiness of the Church. Some, including myself, call this role prophetic because of the way it speaks Gospel values to both clerics and laity. It serves as a kind of leaven affecting the whole life of the Church. 

Thus too, God and the Church herself calls persons to the consecrated state. These persons enter this state through a second and special consecration that differs from baptismal consecration. John Paul II continues in Vita Consecrata, [[In the Church's tradition religious profession [now including the profession and consecration of c 603 hermits] is considered to be a special and fruitful deepening of the consecration received in Baptism, inasmuch as it is the means by which the close union with Christ already begun in Baptism develops in the gift of a fuller, more explicit and authentic configuration to him through the profession of the evangelical counsels. This further consecration, however, differs in a special way from baptismal consecration, of which it is not a necessary consequence.]]

John Paul II continues, [[In fact, all those reborn in Christ are called to live out, with the strength which is the Spirit's gift, the chastity appropriate to their state of life, obedience to God and to the Church, and a reasonable detachment from material possessions: for all are called to holiness, which consists in the perfection of love. But Baptism in itself does not include the call to celibacy or virginity, the renunciation of possessions or obedience to a superior, in the form proper to the evangelical counsels. The profession of the evangelical counsels thus presupposes a particular gift of God not given to everyone, as Jesus himself emphasizes with respect to voluntary celibacy (cf. Mt 19:10-12). This call is accompanied, moreover, by a specific gift of the Holy Spirit, so that consecrated persons can respond to their vocation and mission. For this reason, as the liturgies of the East and West testify in the rite of monastic or religious profession and in the consecration of virgins, the Church invokes the gift of the Holy Spirit upon those who have been chosen and joins their oblation to the sacrifice of Christ.]]

We can look at some more of what Vita Consecrata (and maybe Lumen Gentium) says about ecclesial vocations later, especially if these posts raise more questions, but for the purposes of this article, I want to emphasize the way vocations to the consecrated state "belong to [and serve] the Church" as Church in an essential and characteristic way. When I speak of ecclesial vocations then, I am speaking about vocations that belong to the Church and help constitute her as Church in a very direct and immediate way. God, through the Church's mediation calls these vocations forth, and entrusts the Church with their supervision and governance. (This means too that these vocations are established in law (canon law) and that those who are called to such vocations take on the appropriate rights and obligations (expressed in additional canon laws) of such vocations.) Above all, I think, vocations to the consecrated state of life are a source of hope to the whole Church that it will remain the Church Christ wills to represent him to the World.

On "Second Consecration" and the Requirements for Admission to canon 603 Profession

[[Hi Sister, could you say something more about what you called "second consecration"? That's completely new to me! Also, you recently wrote a list of things someone desiring to become a canon 603 hermit [needed to have or do]. Did you [think of these] .  . . or did they come from the Church herself?. . .]]

Yes, I'd be happy to say something more about what is sometimes called the "second consecration". Baptism is a sacrament of initiation where we are consecrated by God to be disciples of his Christ and members of his Body. The graces of this being "set apart" for holiness are not inconsiderable! Think of all the ministries and projects the Catholic laity carries out in the name of the Church by virtue of baptism and then too by virtue of the other sacraments of initiation: Eucharist and Confirmation as well as the Sacrament of Reconciliation!! Sometimes the Church adds a specific commissioning for various ministries. At the same time, some vocations require additional grace of God including preparation for these vocations. I am thinking here of marriage and also ordained ministry; these require additional Sacraments as those called to these are "configured" to love (i.e., sacrifice and give oneself) in the wholehearted ways these vocations require! With ordination there are also levels of the Sacrament of orders that are received at different points in a person's priesthood, so deacon, priest, bishop.

Consecrated life is similar to marriage and priesthood. It requires specific graces of God and also calls for the configuration of the one dedicating her/himself in ways which allow taking on obligations that are not part of the consecration associated with baptism. (Think here of religious poverty, consecrated celibacy or chastity in celibacy, and religious obedience. Think too of the ability to give one's entire self to others as a representative of the Church in our world. None of these are accomplished with the grace of baptism alone. Hence, Consecrated Life requires a second consecration beyond that of baptism which helps configure one so they may assume the rights and obligations of the consecrated state of life in a specifically ecclesial vocation. Here the person is made capable of being entrusted and IS entrusted with a vocation that belongs first of all to the Church. With this second consecration, associated with perpetual profession, the person literally enters the consecrated state of life. (There is a regular blessing during the rite of temporary profession, but this is replaced by the prayer of solemn consecration during the Rite of perpetual profession.)

Thus, there is a difference between the consecration of baptism and what the Church identifies as the Consecrated State of Life. One only enters the consecrated state of life if and when the Church entrusts such a call to the person. It is a mediated state because it is an ecclesial vocation. God has entrusted these vocations to the Church and the Church is responsible for mediating these to persons she discerns are called to and prepared for the rights and obligations associated with them. For this reason, it is never enough for an individual to say, "I know God is calling me to this vocation" or to assume the descriptor "Catholic" as in Catholic nun, Catholic hermit, Catholic consecrated Virgin, etc. There needs to be a process of mutual discernment including personal vetting, supervised formation, etc. before one is entrusted with an ecclesial vocation. (cf., Centered on Christ, A Guide to Monastic Profession, Augustine Roberts, OCSO, Cistercian Publications, 2005)

This leads us to the list of things I wrote about that are required of a candidate for profession as a diocesan or c 603 hermit. No, I didn't make these up. I listed the things dioceses routinely require. Most of these are also found in a resources document for the "Discernment of Hermit Vocations According to canon 603" put out by DICLSAL (formerly CICLSAL), the Dicastery of Institutes of Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. In fact, this list of considerations for the discernment of these vocations includes several items I did not mention in that recent piece. These include the reasonableness of making temporary profession for several years prior to making a perpetual profession, a consideration of the candidate's motivations in seeking profession and consecration under c 603, the levels of psychological and spiritual maturity possessed by the candidate (this can be linked to psychological testing which I did mention, of course), availability of sacramental life (including daily Eucharist) and spiritual direction, and an examination of the hermit's view of his/her relationship with the Bishop, Church, and world.