Living the Vow of Poverty through Solidarity
Sr. Kathleen Long (back, left) and some of the staff members at the Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. From the time of St. Dominic, poverty was an essential partner of the preaching, a necessary testimony to the message of the gospel (Constitution, #14, 36).
St. Dominic, our leader, our holy founder, before Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, and Mother Bonaventura Groh, OP, taught us to embrace a lifestyle to give witness to the radical life and message of Jesus. St. Dominic asked his followers to live simply, to walk with the people in need, to share their way of life. By our very profession, we choose obedience to a disciplined life focused in God’s love and mercy. Our life is an expression of ourselves. What I value, I live out and express in many exterior ways: my clothes, my office, the belongings I have, the way I shop, my vacations, the glasses I wear, the books on my shelf, the CDs and documentaries I own. As for my laptop or PC . . . these are all part of me, part of my vow of poverty. Additionally, I see my spirituality and my philosophy of life as integral to my vow of poverty.
Currently, I live in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, and I am director of Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development, a cross-cultural, immersion center. Last August, I visited the home of one of our Mexican staff members, Hermelinda. She works in housekeeping at our center. I was shocked to see her house, so poor, so humble. It had a dirt floor, two walls not finished, no running water. Her house consisted of two rooms, a separate bathroom and a kitchen, living room, and bedrooms altogether. She lives in poverty, a poverty not chosen. She is one of many here whom I know well and who live day-to-day struggling to feed their children, to pay their bills.
How can our lives as Dominican Sisters give testimony to the message of the Gospel? First, I understand the key message of the Gospel is love of God, love of persons. Second, I see that Jesus calls each of us to work for human dignity and social justice. By our vow of poverty, we promise to be poor in spirit and simple in our way of life. We choose community of goods. We commit ourselves to responsible use of necessary things and personal concern for the property we hold in common. As Dominicans of Sinsinawa, we make our own choices each year as we budget and each day as we live in our specific locations. Our day-to-day, lived realities are varied and dependent on our places of ministry.
Living here in Mexico, I am challenged to live authentically as a Dominican. Many in my midst are desperately poor, struggling to pay for education for their children. Here in my ministry, our center is able to assist some families with school costs. We are able to connect our U.S. and Canadian guests with families in need. We eat simply. We shop at the public market, eating fresh fruits and vegetables regularly. We do not shop at Walmart, though prices are less.
Father Gustavo Gutierrez, OP, writes about what to be poor and oppressed means: “. . . to die of hunger, to be illiterate, to be exploited by others, not to know you are being exploited, not to know you are a person” (A Theology of Liberation). The vow of poverty, apostolic poverty, is essential to solidarity. I make choices about consumption, purchasing power, ownership, in relation to where I live and with whom I am in community to change the face of poverty. My life is a witness to work against this oppression and poverty lived by the majority of people. Here in Mexico, 70 percent live in poverty.
Dominicans live a life of vowed poverty as we preach that all people have dignity and have a right to basic needs. Through our ministry and community life, we Dominicans work to eradicate the poverty which dominates so many in our world. We promote education so all have the possibilities to learn. We work against exploitation of women and children, of families caught in structural injustice. This is how I express my vow of apostolic poverty. I choose to be in solidarity with those who are poor. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz wrote, “Solidarity is not a matter of agreeing with, of supporting, or liking, or being inspired by the cause of a group of people . . . solidarity has to do with understanding the interconnections that exist between oppression and privilege, between the rich and the poor, the oppressed and the oppressors” (Lift Every Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside).
In my spiritual journey, I try to live the Gospel and understand the call, the mission to live simply. It is not easy. The call to live out my vowed life in community of goods is a blessing. My Sisters help me. The choices are ours each day, each year. We learn more clearly how to be together in solidarity.
To be in solidarity with those who struggle is a part of our mission, preaching and teaching in order to build a holy and just society. Solidarity engages us to know the oppression in our world and to act with urgency and passion to create a new reality. In our Congregation, the Sisters receive salaries and stipends, and all share via our common fund to meet the needs of the Sisters. Those with higher salaries are able to contribute more to our common fund. This is a blessing for all. Those with lesser salaries contribute a small amount as part of the common effort. Thus some can study, some work in administration for the Congregation, and some receive minimal salaries and are supported by others. Together we support our elderly Sisters and provide health care and special needs. Our life in community is the focus for our sharing of economic resources. Our life in community is our spiritual identity. We choose to share what we hold in common, a gospel imperative for us. Through the common fund which we share, we are each freed to be on mission.
I am grateful to be in Mexico. My ministry engages me in relationships which I value. Our common efforts throughout the Congregation provide opportunities for each Sister to be in solidarity. I am grateful to each Sister and the common effort to live simply in the footsteps of St. Dominic.
Sister Kathleen Long, OP