Practicing the Rule

In October 2014, Fr Jose Kumar was sent in Holy Land to carry out his mission and form the international community wanted by the General Chapter in 2011. Since then, the community has been constituted and grows thanks to the availability of each religious. What follows is not the account of “an extraordinary growth or of a breath-taking announcement”, but a clear example of religious life... And, as all the Betharramites know, the Providence advances “with small steps that seem to lead nowhere. But then things keep growing gradually, quietly, for thirty years ... at Nazareth”

Article 64. 
We live our religious obedience in the perspective of the mystery of the Incarnation. United with Christ by the offering of our whole selves in love, we become free, in giving up even our most legitimate aspirations by fidelity to the mission of the community. Thus we truly become disciples of Jesus “who walk with hearts quickened by a holy joy, running and leaping in God’s service.” 

Article 65.  
Evangelical obedience leads to the growth of the person and the development of all his human abilities. It requires clear vision for a good discernment, a firm desire to live faithfully, and a heart totally directed towards mission. It calls for grace to recognise the call of God in events and people and to respond positively in faith to our superiors.

It was on 12th January 2015, as I began my effort to learning Hebrew language in an Institute in the city of Haifa in Israel, this jerky conversation occurred. “Why are you here in Israel?” asked my teacher. “My Superior General sent me here”, I replied. “What do you want to do in Israel?” further questioned my teacher. “God will tell me. I need to listen to him through the words of my Vicariate. As of now, not everything clear to me as an individual”, I replied once again.

Little puzzled by the terms like Superior General and Vicariate, having no prior knowledge about these distinct religious flavor, the teacher continued to interview me, as she along with the new Jewish immigrants to Israel in my class, were curious to know about me and my responses. I was almost certain that they didn’t comprehend most of my responses. However, at the end of the interview, the teacher laughed loudly in a sigh and surprise, and said, “Oh, only you people can do this. In this world of promising life, giving prominence to community will and not for individual desire is worth appreciating.” I was deeply pleased to receive such admiration from the class, but I knew deep inside my heart that it wasn’t as simple as the teacher comprehended about Obedience. I knew that it involves great share of meticulous reflection, conscious decision making and filial submission.

As I share my tryst with vow of obedience, let me take the mantle of introducing myself to the brethren reading this testimony. I am a Betharramite religious from the Vicariate of India, and was sent by the Superior General to the Vicariate of Holy Land. My arrival to the Holy Land in itself is a direct result of Betharramite obedience. Had the General asked me to come to Israel for a year of studies, it would have been just a matter of pleasure and a hilarious visit, because I was also interested in learning Hebrew. But when asked to come here for a longer period of time, my ability to respond positively involves a sincere call to fulfill the demands of religious obedience intertwined with clarified thinking on future mission.

At present, I live in a parish called St. Joseph Church, Shefamer that is located near Nazareth. We are three religious priests in our community: Fr. Firmin from France is the superior and Fr Eli Kurzum is from Israel is the parish priest. It is a small parish with almost 90 families. It is an Arab city and all activities in the parish take place in Arabic language. Though I can speak in Hebrew a little now, it is of no much use as far as pastoral activities are concerned. Therefore, most of my life participation does the dancing inside the realm of community life. And this demands from me and from all a great amount of recognition of community dynamism. Among them, that which gouges the happiness scale is the level of practice of vow of obedience.

This obedience yields its fruits in diverse faces. We manifest it in our community prayer, daily Eucharistic Celebration, Rosary, regular community meeting, and of course sharing the meal together. Here, how I as an individual and we as community respond everyday even to this small but integral part of community life is direct living of filial obedience.

The next legitimate thought would be to ask myself if the fruit of religious submission lead to my missionary spirit. The answer is an emphatic yes. Why? Because it is this attitude that alters my ideas of mission in an unknown land. Sometimes, I go to celebrate mass for the migrant Indian community that speaks the Konkani language. Couple of occasions, I had to celebrate mass for another Indian community speaking Malayalam language.

This is not a joke to do this task as I never learned these languages. I do have experience with these communities back in India, but that is in no way sufficient to offer spiritual services. Then, I place myself in the providence of God and submit my will to his great design. My community is supportive of my actions because it also believes in submission to God’s will. I must also acknowledge that my idea of obedience gets confronted and modification from the other members in the community. I do draw inspiration from the vast experience of the senior members of the community.
There is joy, sometimes, in sacrificing my intentions in order to do what the community demands from me. In the same breath, there is fulfillment, sometimes, in seeing how other members accommodate my views on certain project of life. Sometimes it is difficult to give up.

At the same time, that giving up gives birth to greater joy. Because, I hold that there is no real love and obedience if it does not pinch the false ego within me.

In conclusion, I am sure that my vocation is to put myself at the service of mission in a free and responsible manner learning how to pass from what pleases me to what pleases the Father. ‘There is no contradiction between obedience and freedom’ (Ref: Rule of Life, No: 63). But, realization of this fact is gradual process of my being as Betharramite missionary.

Johnrose José Kumar scj