1. "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Matthew 19:21). "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:4). "And they left everything and followed him" (Luke 5:11). "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Luke 18:22).

2. The way of the commandments is basically the way that all Christians must follow and that he who fulfills these ten commandments really comes to perfection. Jesus tells us in Matthew, chapter 22, verses 37-40 that:

   "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

   And then Jesus goes on to say in Luke, chapter 10, verse 28: ... do this, and you will live."

3. The ten commandments are summed up in these first two commandments. We keep the ten commandments out of love of God and out of love of neighbor. Live these commandments and you will have life to the full. These two commandments are so demanding that we shall never fulfill them completely nor be able to accomplish more than they ask.

4. The Second Vatican Council made it very clear to the Church that there is only one Christian vocation, the call of Jesus Christ to come, follow him. As consecrated women, with private vows of simplicity of lifestyle, celibate chastity, obedience, and compassion, we are moved by the same inspiration that moves all believing Christians. What we wish to stress is baptismal grace as the root of our consecrated life. "For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). As consecrated lay women, we are not the only ones who try to live faith in Jesus Christ nor are we the ones who try to give it shape in the most perfect way in our contemporary world. Our emphasis is the unity of all Christians who journey on the one path which is the narrow path of Jesus Christ himself.

5. The private vows of simplicity of lifestyle, celibate chastity, obedience and compassion that we make are a specific expression of our Christian way of life. The life of the vows can only be fully understood through faith. In each of the vows, we sacrifice an important human value. But it is in this sacrifice that we demonstrate our love of God and our dedication to Jesus and to spreading his kingdom.

6. In accepting the call of Jesus to come, follow him in this state of life, we accept the probability of being socially compromised because of our alliance with Christ. As Jesus tells us, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you" (John 15:20).

7. We strive to distinguish ourselves as consecrated lay women by living out the essentials of our life together, celibate chastity, simplicity of lifestyle, obedience and compassion to the full in such a way that we do indeed witness to our vows.

8. We realize our lifestyle is a limited one and so we are careful not to take into our life those values which are good in themselves but not in conformity with our state in life. It would be a sign of immaturity on the part of a Sister to take as her own everything that may seem to be worthwhile. It takes wisdom to see and appreciate the good of various things without desiring them for ourselves. We do not have contempt for those values that are not in conformity with our state in life because, "Everything created by God is good" (1 Timothy 4:4).

9. To live this life, we need each other, the mutual support of one another. We need community life. Our life together calls us to respect the uniqueness of each person and to give one another the freedom and space to be themselves. Our life together is a mutual challenge to walk the narrow path that is Jesus Christ himself. For as he says, "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14). We offer one another the service of this challenge. Our ultimate concern is Jesus Christ himself. It is because of him that we are called to this way of life.

10. By living out the basic values of our life, we can help people see that God does exist. Through the living out of simplicity of lifestyle, which is a real value and which we must live, being happy with not having everything, we can help people see that God does exist. The same can be said about celibate chastity. Through the living out of celibate chastity, we show that human fulfillment can take place by truly dedicating oneself to Jesus Christ. The living out of our obedience is a genuine attempt to do the will of God in total openness, generosity and surrender. Through the living out of compassion, we bring the healing forgiving love and mercy of Jesus to the world. All of this can only be done when rooted in prayer which is itself a witness.

Our Mission and Purpose.  

1. Our mission and purpose is the mission of evangelization.
   

2. We have been called to be women of faith who help others to believe and to pray. Our life in community is given over to a two-fold service, one primary and the other secondary.
   1. The primary service we give is simply to be women of faith, living genuinely our vows and being truly, deeply, persons of prayer. This basic service of living our faith and, thereby, helping others to believe is a service that we can give in any profession.

   2. Our secondary emphasis is very closely related to the first and that is our mission of direct evangelization, taking the full Gospel itself directly to the people in order to bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and incorporate them into the Church, the Body of Christ.

3. We strive to be witnesses of faith to the world by living genuinely our faith and being truly, deeply, women of prayer who help others to believe and to pray. Jesus Christ is our main concern. It is because of him that we have chosen this way of life. And so our goal is always to strive to be women whose hearts are always poor, empty, hungry and thirsty because of our passion for God. For as Jesus says in John, chapter 6, verse 35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." And again, he says in John, chapter 7, verses 37 and 38,

   "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me ... Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive ...."

   It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to live out our call to strive always to be women of deep faith, living genuinely our vows, and becoming deeply persons of prayer.

The Need.  

1. The greatest need in our modern world today is the need for faith. We live in a post Christian society and the general atmosphere of our society is one of secularism, a growing loss of the sense of God. For too many people, it is very difficult to believe. Numerous questions are wrestled with: Is there a life after death? Has prayer any sense or is it just some form of introspection? What about the Eucharist? Is Jesus really and truly present, body, soul, and divinity in this piece of bread? Can a person really believe the bible? Does God really exist at all? And the questions go on and on. We want to be witnesses of this faith to the world.

2. This crisis of faith has far-reaching consequences. When there is no faith, the very meaningfulness of life becomes a question. And when there is no purpose or value to life, any suffering becomes too great and despair becomes the prevailing disposition. When faith is weak or missing, people experience loneliness as a greater threat. In a society imbued with faith, people are drawn to solitude where they can find God. But when God is perceived as dead, solitude is experienced as lonesomeness, and so people would rather gather and talk together so that their loneliness can be driven away. We want to be witnesses of faith.

3. When faith and a sense of the spiritual is lacking, this can lead to an overemphasis on busyness and accomplishments giving rise to a work oriented culture rather than a God oriented one. This leads to greater suffering since those unable to work feel worthless and useless. But even for those who work, lives become filled with frustration and misery as their work situation and its time demands take them more and more away from their marriages and family life. We want to be witnesses of faith to the world.

4. The Church, herself, can lose some of its interior strength and inspiration when the spirit of faith and prayer weakens in the faithful. The result can easily lead to an over-emphasis on externals which may cause unevangelical suffering to individuals and harm to Church credibility, which in turn can reinforce in a vicious circle the crisis of faith. We want to bring interior strength and inspiration to the Church by our being witnesses of faith.

5. The serious injustices that continue to grow in the world at large seem to have some connection with the weakness of faith that appears to be growing in our society. When faith is weak, injustice grows and quickly becomes institutionalized. Lack of concern for these injustices in the world by countries thought to be Christian makes faith unacceptable to those of the non-Christian world. We want to be witnesses to the faith so that justice may prevail.

6. Why such a life? Fr. Van Breeman states it so well and I quote, "I see a small, radical band of people who really want to follow Christ with their whole heart . . . we find them in communities everywhere. They will be liked by the people because they are one with them and really belong to them. They are available -- and yet, at the same time, they are strange, cannot be fully understood. They have a mystery which they carry within themselves and to which they witness. And they are happy in doing so. The people living that radical, incomprehensible life radiate joy -- and they do 'refer' to God.

Formation Process.  

1. Because our charism is direct evangelization and community life which go hand-in-hand in identifying us as Sisters of the New Covenant, our formation process is focussed on our charism and, therefore, has two primary purposes:
   1. The formation of disciples of Jesus Christ called to be witnesses of faith and prayer and bearers of the Good News of Jesus Christ through our way of life and our mission of direct evangelization; and

   2. Called to live out authentic sisterly love in community.

2. Zeal for the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and its acceptance in the heart of God's people "leading to a new manner of being, of living, of living in community which the Gospel inaugurates" (EN 23), is strengthened by our living an authentic way of life in community characterized by loving sisterly relationships.

Three Major Goals of Formation.  

1. There are three main goals to our formation process: human development and authenticity; holiness of life; and loving interpersonal relationships in community.

2. The first two goals go hand-in-hand because growth in holiness of life presumes an integrated, authentic human personality. The outcome is persons capable of interacting lovingly with others in community.

1. Because grace builds on human nature, we believe that a major goal of formation must be the development of an authentic human person who possesses inner freedom, affective maturity and psychological balance, an integrated personal identity and a healthy personal autonomy that is in conformity with being a follower of Jesus Christ.

2. As a major goal of formation, this is emphasized in every phase of formation and becomes an important criterion for discerning the suitability of the Candidate for vows and community life.

1. Because there is only one Christian vocation, the call of Jesus Christ to come, follow him, the goal of all formation in the Christian life is holiness of life which is summed up in the great and first commandment.
   1. Jesus tells us in Matthew, chapter 22, verses 37-40 that:

      "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (CE Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

   2. And then Jesus goes onto say in Luke, chapter 10, verse 28:

      "...do this, and you will live."

2. This call to holiness of life is found in several places throughout the Scriptures.

   "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:5-6).

   "But as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

   "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust ... You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:44-48; cf. Luke 6:35-36).

   As Sisters of the New Covenant, we take this Christian command seriously as the single hearted pursuit of our entire life and the emphasis of every phase of formation and life.

3. Holiness of life is the result of grace at work in the believer who responds in self giving love to the Father's love, revealed in Jesus Christ, under the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is the result of the Christian's cooperation with the gift of the Holy Spirit in putting on the image and likeness of Jesus, especially in his sacrificial love. As St. Paul says:

   "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man/woman should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

   "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and en-durance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:1-5).

4. Holiness of life calls a Sister of the New Covenant to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33) in her own personal life through a deep commitment to prayer (personal, communal, and liturgical), to exemplify in her life the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and to exercise the virtues of faith, hope, love, prudence, fortitude, knowledge and piety to the glory of God and the service of his people. Holiness of life is further realized as a call to live in the present moment where God is found (Matthew 6:34).

1. Fostering authentic interpersonal relationships within the community is a priority that is emphasized throughout every phase of our formation and is seen as the foundation of community -- a foundation that is continually built by each Sister through authenticity, mutual respect, sisterly love, trust, faith, genuine sharing, fidelity to one's words, responsibility and accountability.

2. The relationship of those responsible for the formation of Candidates is that of master/disciple -- a role model for the Candidates -- one who strives to be a real spiritual mother to the Candidates, knowing them and serving them with a mother's heart through guidance, counseling, and intercession.

3. Our final goal of formation is geared toward preparing our Candidates:
   1. To become full members of our community through the profession of private vows of simplicity of lifestyle, celibate chastity, obedience, and compassion.

   2. For their future professional ministry as vowed sisters of the community given to the mission of direct evangelization.

   This goal embraces:

   1. Knowledge and appreciation of the nature and essence of our way of life and our consecration and surrender of life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ through the vows.

   2. Knowledge and appreciation of our consecration to Jesus Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary who has been given to the Church as our mother and model for living the Christian life.

   3. Specialized training in our charism and mission of direct evangelization as well as education and training in a specialized profession.

Consider Journeying With Us.  

1. Journey with us as computer engineers, technical analysts, economists, etc., to carry out the mission of bringing the living Word of God into every level of society, and through its influence facilitate the transformation of humanity from within, making it new.

2. We are committed to helping one another and every one we work with in ministry. We invite women who are generous and courageous to join us in bringing about the evangelization of persons, families and the society in which the community exists.

3. Come as a trained professional or be trained professionally and theologically to serve locally and internationally as a consecrated woman with private vows of celibate chastity, obedience, simplicity of lifestyle and compassion.

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