發願 Vows

我們發的願:貧窮、貞潔、及服從，讓我們與耶穌基督緊密聯結在一起。唯有天主才能祝聖，祂持續召喚人們用愛來回應祂永無止境的愛。

Our profession of the vows of poverty, consecrated chastity and obedience, unite us intimately to Christ. God who alone consecrates, continually calls for a response of love to his infinite love.

 

一位IHM的修女Sandra Shneiders曾在他的著作, Selling All (2011 Paulist Press)中寫到「這是關於將人的一生交給神，以及將與天主之間的愛視為重心。我們與天主的連結應居於首要地位，因為它影響所有其他的關係」。

這是本質上和理論上，我們的奉獻和誓言。

Sandra Shneiders, IHM, in her book, Selling All (2001 Paulist Press) writes, “The vocation to religious life is a total life-long commitment to Jesus Christ. It is about giving one’s whole life to God and the centrality of the love relationship with God. The primacy of our relationship with God is what informs and impacts every other relationship.”

This is essentially and theologically what our consecration and vows are about.

 

貧窮 Poverty

貧窮本身不是一個值。事實上，大多數的修道人員正在努力拉近貧富的差距，創建一個更公平、公正的世界。貧窮的誓言是生活簡單，讓其他人可以簡單地生活。在發貧窮的誓言時，修道人員承諾共同擁有財物。我們不自己保留我們的薪資，而交給修會，這是為了修會和其他成員的需要著想。我們也盡可能慷慨地與別人分享我們的資源。生活簡單的一部分是對物質的需求和使用做出負責任的選擇。這意味著在管理物品的責任上，不僅共同擁有資源和物品，也有著對地球和人類的責任。

Poverty in and of itself is not a value. As a matter of fact most religious are working diligently at trying to close the gap between the rich and the poor, and to create a more equitable and just world. The vow of poverty is living simply so that others may simply live. In professing a vow of poverty religious promise to hold all things in common. We do not keep our salary for ourselves but give it to the community for the sake of the community and the needs of our members. We also strive to share our resources generously with others. Part of living simply is making responsible choices regarding material things and our use of them. It means responsible stewardship not only of goods and resources held in common, but also our care for the earth and one another.

 

過貧困的生活可使一個人的心中對於天主的恩賜充滿感激之情、慷慨自由地與他人分享我們的天賦和資源、熱心的關注天主子民的福旨。

Poverty lived well leads to a heart full of gratitude for all of God’s gifts, the desire to generously and freely share our talents and resources with others, and an ardent concern for the welfare of God’s people.

 

祝聖的貞潔 Consecrated Chastity

為了天主的國所奉獻的貞潔，是天主所賜的恩寵。藉此，我們將自己全心獻給耶穌。與耶穌聖心更深入的連結，我們成為基督和教會:天主子民，之間的盟約。

Consecrated chastity for the sake of the kingdom is a gift of grace given by God. By it we give ourselves to Jesus with an undivided heart. Drawn to an ever-deepening union with Jesus we are called to be a sign of the covenant between Christ and his Church – the people of God.

祝聖的貞潔是對聖召的回應，聖召是個人在內心深處聽到天主的邀請:讓天主成為生命的重心。這邀請不會強加在我們身上，而會讓我們自由選擇、渴望、回應。我們承諾將天主的關係放在首要，這關係會導引我們與別人所有的關係。

祝聖的貞潔若能好好遵守，可以帶來內心的自由、喜樂、以及一顆寬宏的愛心。

Consecrated chastity is a response to a call, an invitation, heard deep within one’s heart to make God the center of one’s life. It is not something that is imposed on us. It is something that we freely choose, desire and respond to. We commit ourselves to the primacy of our relationship with God, which in turn directs all of our relationships with others.

Consecrated chastity lived well leads to inner freedom, joy and a generous and loving heart.

 

服從 Obedience

服從這個詞來自拉丁OD-audire，意思是「仔細聆聽」。這是選擇幸福，是一個恭敬的聆聽，以探討天主的旨意，祂召喚我們每個人來生活，活出生命的全部。這不是沉悶或被動等待別人告訴你該怎麼做。相反的，要與其他人一起，積極的傾聽和探索，天主要我或我們要做的。如何在一個特定的環境或情況下，回應天主子民的需求。

The word obedience comes from the Latin words od-audire meaning “to listen carefully.” It is a choice for happiness. Obedience is a respectful listening for the purpose of discovering the will of God, who calls each of us to life, life to the full. It is not a dull or passive waiting for someone to tell you what to do. Rather, it is an active listening and searching, together with others, for what God is asking of me, or us, in a particular situation or circumstance and in response to the needs of God’s people.

 

服從是一個共同承擔責任的誓言，表達對福音的忠實。有時，這會牽涉到犧牲。也可能要做一些我們通常不會去做的事情，但這也意味著對天主的忠誠，祂是我們生活以及各項關係的中心。

服從若好好的遵守會帶來誠實和平和，即使在面對困難和挑戰也不會改變。

Obedience is a vow of co-responsibility in fidelity to the gospel. It will likely at times involve sacrifice; and of doing things that we may not have ordinarily chosen to do, but it also always means fidelity to God who is the center of our life and our relationships.

Obedience lived well leads to integrity and peace, even in the face of difficulties and challenges.

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救靈的熱忱 Zeal

作為善牧修女，我們要發第四誓言:拯救靈魂的熱忱。這個是我們的使命，結合使徒和默觀二方面，指出了我們和所做的一切的目的。救靈的熱忱是我們修會的核心，引導我們去尋找那些受傷和被世界遺留在後面的人。

As Sisters of the Good Shepherd, we take a fourth vow of zeal. The vow of zeal gives a special dynamism to our life of consecration for mission. It unifies the contemplative and active dimensions of our life, giving a singleness of purpose to all that we are and all that we do. Our vow of zeal, which is at the heart of our vocation, leads us to search out the wounded, those left behind by the world.

 

在個人層面上，是指永不放棄一個人，意味著無條件的愛和接納:承諾來想盡一切辦法協助每個人來發揮他/她的全部潛力，不管付出多少代價。在倡議時，這代表抱持著創造性和忠實的工作心態來推翻不公正的系統，以使個人能自由的生活和工作，因為不公正的系統對人的尊嚴和與生俱來的權利有負面的影響，。

On an individual level, zeal means never giving up on a person, it means unconditional love and acceptance, a commitment to leave no stone unturned to assist each person to come to her/his full potential, no matter what the cost to me. On an advocacy level, it means creatively and faithfully working to overturn the unjust systems which impact negatively on each person’s dignity and humanity and innate right to live and work in freedom.

 

救靈的熱忱引導我們去做我們所能做的，以帶領其他人來經歷並認知他們是天主的兒女、由天主以祂自己的形象所創造。

Zeal lived well leads to commitment to do all that is in one’s power and capacity to bring others to experience and know that they are children of God, made in God’s own image.