CHASTITY

Introduction.

The world ….. is that of men, the whole human family along with the some of those realities in the midst of which that family lives. the world which is the theatre of man’s history, and carries the marks of his energies, his tragedies, and his triumphs; that world which the Christian sees as created and sustained by its Maker’s (God’s) love, even fallen indeed into the bondage of sin, yet emancipated now by Christ. He was crucified and rose again to break the monopoly of personified evil, so that this world might be fashioned anew according to God’s design and reach its fulfillment.” The continuation of Jesus’ mission is handed over to the some of the peoples who are in the world but not of the world, namely religious people.

Religious people live consecrated life through the profession of the evangelical counsels; poverty, chastity, obedience, it is a stable form of living in which the faithful follow Jesus Christ more closely under the action of the holy spirit and totally dedicated by God, who is supremely loved. Every religious must project the characteristics of the risen Christ on the screen of the world. Through the religious profession, the Holy Spirit makes Christ visible, audible, and tangible. The priesthood of Christ is expressed through the religious poverty, Poverty places one of the postures of availability for self-donation wherever and whenever the Spirit desires. Christ the prophet speaks through the obedience of its members, obedience in the word of God which binds religious together gives birth to their prophetic character. Christ the king reigns through consecrated chastity. Chastity most obviously shows the power of grace, which raises love beyond the human beings.

Religious families, traditionally mention at first the vow of poverty. But the father of the II Vat. Council treat the vows of chastity before the vows of poverty and obedience. According to II Vat. Council, chastity is considered as the determining commitment of the state of consecrated life.  Therefore now let’s probe into the vow of chastity as we move further.