Consecrated Life: The House of Nazareth
[Consecrated life is] the House of Nazareth [in which] … in a real way one finds himself living with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. (OOCC, II, p.104)
According to St. Vincent Pallotti, the consecrated life must be modelled after the House of Nazareth. He wanted all those who accept the religious life as their way of life to be guided by the spirit that was constantly characteristic of the Holy Family at Nazareth. Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived in the house of Nazareth. The most significant characteristic of these three persons is that they lived in total openness to God. They accepted the will of God for them and accomplished it in complete surrender. They were totally attuned towards God, and they could never think of doing anything that was unacceptable to God. In the same way, they did not live their life for themselves but for each other. Each one stood by the other in whatever happened. This “standing by each other” could mean one reaching out to the other with the help of a gentle touch, a loving look, a kind word, an understanding of one’s point of view or his predicament, offering a helping hand to another in need, and restraining oneself from uttering or doing anything that would hurt and make the other unhappy. St. Vincent felt that this spirit of the Holy Family, that is, the spirit of God-centeredness and other-centeredness, must be lived in the religious community. If every consecrated person within a community is God-centered and other- centered, and makes this spirit as his fundamental attitude that guides everything else he does, the community would definitely be a House of Nazareth. This is what St. Vincent wanted of his followers.
Do I believe the vocation of a religious community to be the House of Nazareth? Does my religious community act like a House of Nazareth? Does the spirit of God-centeredness and other-centeredness characterize my community?
When they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. (Lk. 2: 39-40)