Consecrated Life: A Withdrawal from the World
[Consecrated life consists in that] we are disposed to lose the whole world and are ready to face death rather than wanting in the perfect observance of our holy obligations. (OOCC, II, p. 291)
The call to the consecrated life implies a withdrawal from the world. According to St. Vincent Pallotti, in order to live one’s consecration, one should be ready to lose the whole world and even to sacrifice one’s life. When a person accepts the consecrated life, he should draw himself away from the world. This “drawing oneself away from the world” does not amount to the denial of the world and all it contains as evil. The world is the creation of God, and after its creation God found it very good. Hence, by the spiritual attitude of withdrawal of oneself, one neither denies the world nor rejects its goodness. Basically, the withdrawal from the world consists of the avoidance of all forms of evil in one’s life. It is a spiritual death to evil and selfishness in the life of a person. The withdrawal is an attitude of detachment towards everything that the world can give. By the practice of withdrawal from the world, a person learns to give the things of the world their proper value and nothing more. It consists of learning to accept things at their value, yet not allowing them to master and take control of the person. Thus, withdrawal is not fleeing the world or running away from it, but accepting the world and its good in the right perspective. The cultivation of this attitude of withdrawal from the world is vital for genuine progress in one’s consecrated living.
What do I understand by withdrawing myself from the world? Am I ready to get rid of evil and selfishness in my life? Am I attached to the things of the world? While appreciating the value of every created thing, am I able to prevent it from taking control of me?
For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man be given in return for his life? (Mt 16: 26)