Perpetual Vows of Bro. Ruel Juanta

 

Last February 3rd, we had a very special grace here at the Seminary. One of our seminarians made his perpetual vows, through which he professed to live poor, chaste and obedient for the rest of his life.

In this way he made it clear that Jesus Christ is man’s only wealth and complete example.

After six consecutive years of temporary vows, the religious reaches the final goal, that is, his perpetual consecration. This consecration is almost the same as the first one, that is, the one which he made just after his novitiate. The first vows are certainly temporary, but they imply in themselves a desire of perpetuity which makes them quite special. In this sense, then, the perpetual vows are the maturation and blossoming of those first ones. Bro. Ruel did nothing but express what was in his heart from his first vows: the desire to give himself for life to the only Lord who deserves to be served.

The ceremony was exceptional. It took place in the chapel of our seminary, Our Lady of Sheshan, and it was attended by many people, relatives, friends and acquaintances. It was a day of great celebration.

In the homily, Fr. Miguel Soler, the Povincial Superior, remarked the essence of the vow, that is, that property of perpetuity. The vow is nothing else but the desire to give to God something totally mobile and changing, life, by means of a timeless act. There is no other way of giving the totality of life but by means of a vow, because the vow gives precisely the fact that it is changing.

It is thus that the vow is an imprint that the Trinity leaves in history, because the vow is as if the immutability of God, one and triune, were made present in the movement of time. The vow is the presence of God in history.

Let us pray much for this brother of ours so that God may grant him the undeserved gift of perseverance.