Atoy's Vows

In the Society of Jesus, we perpetually profess the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience after the experience of Novitiate. I professed mine more than a year ago. Atoy made his last Friday, the 16th of December 2005 at the Oratory of the Loyola House of Studies. Fr. Jojo, our rector and the preacher during the Vows, articulated succinctly the relevance of these vows packaged in two gifts.

"First, the gift of conviction. The gift of conviction is given to the world of postmodernity, of fast-shifting changes, indeterminate futures and wavering principles. It is a world that says that objective truth is dead, that lasting values are passé, and that all we have are short-lived preferences that are always relative and always easy to give up. The vows pronounces that it is still possible to say yes, in a world that has gotten used to maybe’s and we’ll-sees, that there are still absolute values that withstand the shifts in human history, and that the absolute truth is that there is a God who cares and who inserts himself into our lives in a definitive way, and invites us to a profound unity, and so become less selfish, less greedy, and less controlling and become the shining and burning lamp that John the Baptist is in today’s Gospel, as pointer to the one true light, Jesus the Christ. And that is our conviction.

"But there is a second gift – the gift of gentleness. The gift of gentleness is given to the world of efficiency and managerial precision. It is a world with clear benchmarks of success, measured in terms of outputs and income and quality, that insist on making everything fit in into packaged plans and well-prepared schemes. The vows tell such a world that it is still possible to relax and take it easy, and have faith in a God who sees more than we will ever see, who invites and never imposes, who can wait even if we dilly-dally and waver and allow our fears and anxieties to get the better of us sometimes. The vows tell the world that chastity and poverty and obedience are not about what we cannot do, but about what more we are willing to do, because of the great gifts we have received in such overflow. And so, we can afford to be gentle on ourselves and on others."

Truly, the Vows are gifts, gifts from the Lord Himself. Our mere strength would not guarantee us of success in this field, or as others would put it, career. The Vows are gifts freely given by the Lord and I believe that would be enough grace to help us persevere and enable us to share our lives to others with great joy and much love.

May God bless Atoy. May God bless us always.