Perpetual or Final, That Is the Question

-
In a little over two months, I will be making perpetual profession of vows as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa. Some have asked how ‘perpetual’ vows and ‘final’ vows differ. Technically, they don’t. Final and perpetual can mean the same thing. In reality, for me, there is a big difference in the sound, meaning, and intentionality of those words.  

One definition of ‘final’ is “finishing, end, terminating”. (Kaput!) On the other hand, one definition of ‘perpetual’ is “never ending or changing”. (A fidelity to discernment.)

For me, ‘final’ is harsh and linear in comparison to ‘perpetual’, which seems more integrated and whole, representing a dynamic and ongoing conversation with God, rather than, “At last, I’ve reached my goal. I’m outta here!”

I think we are each called to live perpetually, rather than finally, to be constantly attuned to nuances in God’s voice, to where God is calling us, to what God is calling us, and to how God is calling us to do it…to how God is calling us ‘to be’, no matter the place or stage of life we find ourselves.

How is life for you? Are you living it finally or perpetually?

Kathy Flynn OP
Sinsinawa, WI 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nuns can have nose rings? (and other frequently asked questions)

-
Image
One of my favorite things about being a young sister-in-formation is allowing people to ask me their burning (and sometimes silly) questions about religious life.   Questions like: Do nuns have jobs?   Can you still go dancing and swimming?   You mean you get to keep that nose ring? Becoming a sister right now is an interesting thing: religious life has changed drastically in the past fifty years, but many people’s stereotypes about it haven’t.   Many of these stereotypes seem superficial (ie- all nuns wear habits; nuns don’t dance) but they may reflect deeper misconceptions about religious life… like the idea that sisters are somehow more holy or less human than “normal” people.   For a long time, my own misconceptions kept me from really considering religious life. And so I enjoy the questions.   I love making people feel free to ask them, and I love surprising them with the answers.   After all, they aren’t really asking about my nose ring; they want to know about this way
Read more

Happiness and Joy in Religious Life?

-
Image
I never wanted to be a religious sister (nun) because I felt I would never be happy.     This calls me to reflect on what is happiness.     Some say that happiness is a feeling.     It is when you feel good and cheerful about something that happened or is happening in your life.     However, I think that true happiness comes from when you make others happy.     After I went out of my way to assist someone and they unexpectedly tell me how much my helping meant to them.     I experience an unexpected warm feeling inside.     True happiness I think is a sense of fulfilment you feel even if what you did was not acknowledged, yet you know that deep down inside you did and gave of your best to help someone without any conscious ulterior motive.     You did it because it was the right and necessary thing to do at the time. Everyone searches for happiness and many know that true happiness cannot be found in things, but in how we help others just because they need help.  Many sisters in religi
Read more

Where are my...(fill in the blank)?

-
Image
Okay, I’ve finally learned to put my car/home/office keys in the SAME place when I get home.  But I still haven’t learned to remember where I left my glasses or my latest crossword puzzle or the flyer about a concert I now think I missed or that needed phone number I jotted down on a piece of paper – and I have a LOT of pieces of paper sitting around.  Yes, I am one of those people.  But that litany of “forgets” got me thinking about the important things I forget about until I really need them – like prayer, quiet time, reading something challenging instead of easy, actually calling my elderly cousin instead of saying, “I should really call Ruth,” and never doing it, working through a situation instead of avoiding it.   I challenge myself this week – and you – to take action, one small action, to overcome this very human weakness of losing, forgetting, neglecting something that we know is really important.  Is this easy?  Is there a shortcut I can take?  I’m afraid not.  But if we trul
Read more