For the past seven years I have guided Jesuit novices through two years of novitiate formation which culminate in the pronouncing of vows at the end of the program.  These first vows, which are perpetual, are the first major step along the way of Jesuit formation that can stretch to fifteen or more years.  For the Jesuit scholastic, priestly ordination is another major step but not the final and definitive one in his full incorporation into the body of the Society of Jesus.  Following ordination and some time working in the apostolate of the Society, he will then complete his third year of novitiate (tertianship) prior to being called to pronounce his vows again, most often including one of obedience in mission, specifically to the pope. 

The vows of religion, also termed the evangelical counsels, are central to the engagement of those who desire to follow Christ in religious institutes.  The three vows are poverty, chastity and obedience; three ‘ideals’ that today are considered either totally antiquated or absurdly countercultural.   Still, men and women of today are entering religious orders, albeit in reduced numbers, hoping to find deeper meaning in their lives and greater connection with their fellow human beings. 

In the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) the vows are an essential part of the ‘missionary spirit’ that pervades everything we do.  In fact, Jesuits are part of an order whose success or failure is reliant on the readiness or ‘availability’ of its members for mission conferred on them by their superior.  Missionary spirit implies: 1. simplicity of life that is at the root of the vow of poverty, 2. relinquishing the prospect of a life partner that is at the root of the vow of chastity, and 3. radical availability that is at the root of the vow of obedience.  All at the service of following Christ within the margins of the charism or mission of the Society of Jesus.   

In his 2011 letter commemorating the 20th anniversary of Pedro Arrupe’s death Jesuit superior general Adolfo Nicolàs reiterates Father Arrupe’s understanding of the missionary spirit of the Society of total detachment, total immersion and total cooperation.  He writes:  “Since every Jesuit is a missionary because, sharing in the mission of Christ, he is sent to a particular mission by the Society, this [missionary] spirit can and must be lived in whatever apostolic assignment we are given, in any corner of the world in which we live and serve.” Thus, while personal sanctification is always part the vows no matter the religious institute, in the Society of Jesus, the vows are first and foremost apostolic; they are about radical detachment, immersion and cooperation.  Their aim is to help the individual, through his commitment to the order, to be more freely engaged in the world by being less encumbered by material possessions and personal commitments in order to be available for the mission conferred.  

It is not simply saying ‘by the vow of poverty, I’m not concerned with material possessions.’  Rather, it is saying that through the vow ‘I forswear the desire and need to amass wealth as a defining characteristic in my life.’   Regarding chastity, I am not simply saying ‘I give up the possibility of having a partner and a family’; I am saying that ‘I am free to be uprooted and sent to any part of the world at a moment’s notice.’ Finally, availability for mission brings us to the vow of obedience and its centrality to the charism of the Society; the willingness to join our lives and projects under a superior who himself is mandated to coordinate individual efforts into the broader mission.  The Complimentary Norms of the Jesuit Constitutions state:   “Obedience is always an act of faith and freedom whereby the religious recognizes and embraces the will of God manifested to him by one who has authority to send him in the name of Christ.” (Norms 150.1)

Because we take the vows within a religious community the vows will always have a communal responsibility attached.  And this is exemplified by the vow of obedience where we do not just say ‘yes’ to God at the vow ceremony, we say ‘yes’ to an entire way of proceeding that is intimately connected to the group of 16,000 or so men who comprise the Society of Jesus.   The documents of General Congregation 35 actually enshrine the idea of ‘community as apostolate’:  “Jesuit identity and Jesuit mission are linked by community; indeed, identity, community, and mission are a kind of triptych shedding light on how our companionship is best understood… ” (GC 35 decree 2 36) and “We obey our superiors in community so that our common life can effectively support our mission and become a sign of the possibility of human communion our world so sorely needs.” (GC 35 decree 4 115)

I have heard it said that the Society of Jesus is only as remarkable and effective as its current membership regardless of physical institutions such as notable universities or well-known spirituality centres.  The Society, with its impressive history, would be simply resting on its laurels if it did not continue to strive to renew itself and to grow in response to the needs of the Church and the contemporary world.  Hence, we need to be constantly aware of the gradations that the vows give to the renewal and the growth that the Society recognizes as its present-day calling.  

Perhaps the most important contemporary dimension, rooted in the founding way of proceeding of the Society, is that of communal discernment; that basic tradition rooted in the initial spiritual conversations of the founding Fathers of coming together to discuss, to pray, to share, to pray more and to allow a decision to emerge as a way of guiding the leader rather than presuming that absolute authority also possesses total knowledge.  Paragraph 150 of the Norms continues:  “Therefore if we are to receive and to fulfill our mission through obedience, we must be faithful to that practice of spiritual apostolic discernment, both personal and in community so central to our way of proceeding.”

In fact, one might even speak off the obedience of the superior to the corpus because of the obligation to seek and listen to advice from the membership before making a final decision (which, due to his office, is ultimately his to make).  The decision and the act of obedience are ultimately inter-subjective and inter-communitarian rather than being a hierarchical blind submission.  It is stating the obvious when we read:  “The virtue of obedience cannot require the subject to pretend that the superior knows things of which he is manifestly ignorant.” (Langen “The good of obedience in a culture of autonomy” Studies in the Spirituality of the Jesuits 32/1 January 2000)

The reception and appropriation of the vows will never be a once off act, but rather a daily recommitment to God’s call that, in turn, will play out in the lives of those professing the vows and in the lives of those to whom they minister.  Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the greater glory of God).