Our Life according to the Evangelical Counsels 

By baptism we are called to a charity in which we give ourselves to God and we are ready to cooperate in the missionary task of the Church.

There are various ways of living one's baptism. One of them is the vocation to the evangelical counsels of celibacy, poverty and obedience. Through them we consecrate ourselves in a special way to Christ's person and work. Our profession strengthens this consecration. We are thus eminently suited for the apostolate.

The evangelical counsels differ from each other intrinsically, but from different directions they lead to a common goal. They intend to free us and make us available for the service of God and man.

By faithfulness to the evangelical counsels we become a sign of God in the world. We entourage and strengthen our fellowmen in the faith, make the meaning of life transparent and give testimony to God's existence and love.

We know the tensions between ideal and reality. Without constant self-examination in the light of Christ and his Gospel, we cannot be signs of God in the world. This holds true for everyone of us and all our communities. We are aware that a life in accord with the evangelical counsels is credible only if it is animated by love and leads to active love.

Because our God is a God for us (2 Cor 5:21), we are at the service of our fellowmen by virtue of our vows. Our vocation to the religious life and missionary service constitute one vocation. On the one hand, the apostolic work of our Congregation belongs to the essence of our religious life and, on the other hand, our consecration to God makes us available to mankind (LG 44). Hence our religious life must be permeated by an apostolic spirit, just as our missionary activity must be animated by the spirit of the counsels (PG 8).