Archbishop calls for a return to foundational vows

By Klysha Best

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon has called on lay and Religious sisters, brothers, and priests to reclaim the radical foundations of their vocation: obedient trust, evangelical poverty, and the prophetic vision to “see Jesus where other eyes cannot see Him”.

He made the plea during his homily at Holy Mass, February 2, Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, celebrated at the Abbey Church, Mt St Benedict. The universal Church celebrates the Feast as World Day for Consecrated Life, or Vita Consecrata.

Archbishop Gordon rooted his message in the Gospel account of Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna in the Temple. He presented the Holy Family’s humble obedience to the Mosaic Law—despite their unique circumstances—and the vigilant, prayerful dedication of Anna and Simeon as the essential blueprint for consecrated life today.

The Archbishop issued a pointed critique of any modern departure from the traditional vows. Recalling a priest who joked that “we don’t talk about [obedience] anymore,” Archbishop Gordon asked pointedly, “Which part of consecration they got? Do I need to go back and check?”

He emphasised that the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty are not historical relics but living commitments modelled in the Scripture.

He illustrated the vow of poverty through the Holy Family’s offering of “two turtledoves,” the sacrifice prescribed for the poor. “Mary and Joseph didn’t have two cents to rub together,” he said, framing their trust in God’s providence as the same trust required of every Religious founder.

Archbishop Gordon then contrasted the clear-sighted vision of Anna and Simeon, who recognised the infant Messiah among thousands, with the spiritual myopia of the age.

“Simeon sees what others could not see. And this is really the gift of the Religious,” he declared.

He praised the legacy of past Religious who saw Christ in lepers, abandoned children, and the uneducated, leading to the founding of schools, hospitals, and orphanages.

“Where is Jesus today that we need to see Him?” he challenged the congregation.

The Archbishop warned against treating consecrated life as a museum of past glories. “Fifty years from now, what will they say of consecrated life in our time?” he asked. He identified the modern “epidemic” as a “lack of poverty in spirit,” a spiritual malaise driven by distraction and a culture of self-fulfilment.

In his closing appeal, he implored the lay and Religious sisters and brothers, “to become who you are.” He told them to be “a fire and a light of God’s love in this world… Fan into a flame the gifts that God gave to you.”