Justice and Peace is directly related to the vow of poverty, which is one of the fundamental elements of our Dominican life and of religious life in general. It is always difficult to write about the vow of poverty and even more difficult to reflect on it in together in community... yet we need to re-examine our lives.

The poverty lived by the majority of the members of the Dominican family is very different from the poverty imposed upon millions of our brothers and sisters with whom we share this planet, (when compared to this type of poverty, the poverty lived by men and women religious seems artificial, and in some cases, a caricature). Poverty takes on different forms according to the different cultures. The fact that it does not always convey the same values can have the effect of diminishing the strength of the gospel witness. Despite its limitations the vow of poverty remains one of the characteristic traits of Dominican spirituality; for it not only has to do with the fact that we renounce to owning material things, but with the attitude we have towards personal security, our ministry and the other activities that make up our life.

In 1217, Honorius III wrote the following about Dominic and his brothers:

" filled with the fervor of the Spirit and free from the burden of the possessions of the rich, with firm resolve they devoted their life to preaching the Gospel. They went about their duties with great humility and lived a life of voluntary, poverty, exposing themselves to innumerable dangers and sufferings, for the salvation of others. "

The vow of poverty must be situated within the context of the other vows and of religious life in general (community life, prayer, sense of the mission...). Along with the other components of religious life, the vow of poverty is ordained to caritas, to that love which expresses God's life. The call to live the vow of poverty is not a call to a life of austerity and sacrifice, but rather a call to friendship and sharing (of struggles and goods) with those excluded by society.

There is a twofold benefit to the vow of poverty: it allows for greater availability and freedom (for preaching, in respect to the idols of this world...) and brings us closer to the poorest. The observance of the vow of poverty creates a condition of openness and helps us to better grasp what the excluded are experiencing. It marks our being, by making a place in our hearts for the needy and the victims of violence, thus making it possible to enter into solidarity with them.

By coming closer to the poor, by allowing their plight to become part of us, our research and community life, we make ourselves vulnerable to the new challenges of religious life and of preaching the Good News.

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe says something similar in "Vowed to Mission" (1994): "You get a different view of the world depending if you're looking at it from the seat of a Mercedes or the seat of a bicycle."

The following statement comes to us from the General Chapter of the brothers held in Rome (Ch. 14):

"Poverty freely accepted in a spirit of true solidarity with the poor has far more meaning than the mere renunciation of goods... Our religious life is a way of ongoing conversion. One can never fully acquire the totality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must strive to maintain a balance between the critical analysis of our commitment and the critical evaluation of our personal and communal lifestyle."

Reflection on the question of the individual and communal practice of the vow of poverty is always a very sensitive issue. Whenever we do so we run the risk of creating feelings of guilt and imposing norms of conduct, that for the most part are extremely subjective and directly related to culture. However, some questions are possible to deal with even though the subject matter is very delicate:

at the group level:
  • The location of the convent in which we live puts us in contact with people from which level of society? Who comes to our Eucharistic celebrations?
  • The things we buy, our mode of transportation, our leisure activities are most in keeping with those used and practiced by which social category?
  • Does our budget include an item for "donations, solidarity;"" what percentage of our money is used for donations and gifts? Is it sufficient when compared to the other expenditures incurred?
as individuals:
  • Who are our friends? To whom do we preach?
  • What criteria guide us in our speinding? Do these criteria include the fight against poverty?
  • Are we well informed and do we seek information abou the major issues modern society must face?
  • Do we voluntarily participate in discussions about the economic problems of the community and other issues of concern? Do we participate by contributing resources?
  • What does asceticism mean to me?

The Sisters of the Congregation of St. Dominique de Gramond (France) took an entire year to reflect on the vow of poverty, they used the following questionnaire as the basis for their reflection:

"When we say the word poor...

1. What meaning do we give to the word?

What situations come to mind?

What does the Bible say about the poor?

In what areas have we seen our concept of poverty evolve?

What type of person does God want us to be as revealed to us in Scripture?

2. In the footsteps of St. Dominic, what do our Constitutions say about the type of voluntary poverty our founders wanted us to live?

What questions do these texts raise for us today?

Each of the sisters was asked to respond to the questionnaire, then two General Assemblies were held to provide an opportunity, for the sisters who so desired, to share their ideas with the others. Two brothers were invited to give input on theme of "the economic and spiritual challenges of our contemporary world". By way of the questionnaire the participants were provided with a process that brought together the concepts of society, scripture and religious life.

So far we have presented you with some of the elements inherent to the vow of poverty... Others will be presented later in the subsequent workbooks.

The work of Justice and Peace is supported by the vow of poverty and our openness to those excluded by society. Our religious life finds meaning in the relationships of friendship and the degree of proximity we have with the poor, and what practical response we give to the causes of violence and exclusion.

"Set aside part of your goods for almsgiving. Never turn your face from any poor one and God will never turn his from you." Tb 4, 7-11.
As preliminary conclusions

We have come to the end of the first workbook. In the preceding pages we looked at the lives of those brothers and sisters for whom Justice and Peace has played and continues to play an important role in the way they live out their religious commitment to follow Christ. We have suggested various methodologies and provided you with pedagogical tools to facilitate your work... The time has come to move on and to raise questions pertaining to the foundations upon which these life stories are built. This is the theme that will be taken up in the next workbook.

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