Consecrated Life: The Mystical Promised Land
[Consecrated life is] the Mystical Promised Land, rich in heavenly milk and honey because of the abundant means readily available with which to obtain heaven. (OOCC, XIII, p. 211)
For St. Vincent Pallotti, the consecrated life is a Mystical Promised Land that is rich in milk and honey. He has taken the idea of “the promised land, flowing with milk and honey” from the Old Testament. The land that was promised to Abraham and his descendents is a land that flowed with milk and honey. St. Vincent uses the same concept to speak of the consecrated life. It is not merely the promised land of the Old Testament, but the mystical promised land of the New Testament. The “milk and the honey” to which St. Vincent refers is not the plentiful material produced from the promised land of the Old Testament, but rather it is the abundant spiritual means available in the consecrated life for a person’s journey towards God. By using this image of “the mystical promised land, rich in milk and honey,” St. Vincent brings to light that the consecrated life as a God-willed institution in the Church provides an abundance of spiritual means and possibilities. Using these, a person can live the gospel in practice in the context of his everyday living with the assistance of the community of which he/she is a part. The religious institute provides every member with ample spiritual means to pursue a spiritual path, such as the order of the day, the time allotted for personal and community prayer, the facility for spiritual guidance, the days of retreat and recollection, and the support of the community. If a person uses these available means at the Mystical Promised Land well, a person will move towards his destiny of life with God.
Do I understand the meaning of the consecrated life as the Mystical Promised Land? Do I use the means the religious institute provides me well? Does the living of the consecrated life truly lead me towards the destiny of my life with God?
Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul … they had everything in common … and great grace was given upon them all. (Acts. 4: 32 - 33)