Fruitfulness and Barrenness
The promise of the religious life is a promise of abundance
Written while on retreat at the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, TN.
As I began my retreat in preparation for Solemn Vows (which means I will be a member of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, until death) I have been reflecting on the nature of consecrated religious life. Again and again I have returned to the themes of fruitfulness and barrenness. And so it seems fitting that given the barrenness of this blog in the past year, that I should return to share some of the fruits of this contemplation.
Why do men and women today still choose the consecrated life? Why do they choose to make vows of Celibate Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience? In a world which offers so much, why choose this life of service, sacrifice, and prayerful devotion?
The only possible answer: fruitfulness.
The only reason to choose this life, the only reason that shall allow us to endure and to flourish in this life, is the Hope of God’s bountiful abundance; that he will remember us as he has remembered Sarah, Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, and all those many others who have waited longingly for the Lord.
They waited longingly for the Lord, for the Lord to fulfill his promises to them.
And they were not forsaken. They were not left bereft or alone.
God heard them. God answered them. God loved them.
If we look at the lives of those around us—consecrated religious, lay men and women, priests, etc.—we shall find both those who are deeply fulfilled and those who feel tragically, embittered towards life.
What makes the difference? Simple: Perceived barrenness versus fruitfulness.
We become embittered when we feel that our sacrifices, our devotions, and our loves are unreturned, unseen, or are somehow barren of life.
This barrenness is what causes despair, it is this supposed lack of life which causes us to doubt the Lord’s loving mercy, his tender compassion towards us.
Hannah saw her barrenness and she was mocked for it by her husband’s other wife. She almost gave up hope.
Sarah was shocked into laughter to hear that at long last the Lord would provide for her and Abraham a son. It seemed impossible and unbelievable.
Either of these stories or a dozen others could have gone the other way; these characters could have given into despair so easily. They could have thought themselves forsaken by the Lord.
Much as we sometimes are tempted to do.
We begin to doubt or simply to forget the promises the Lord has made to us. Promises of comfort, of abundance, of life. These promises begin to pale before the reality in front of us. And so we turn our eyes to enduring, to getting by, or to getting whatever life we can from ministry or work. Thus, we begin to forget the promises.
But Jesus does not forget.
He is the One who keeps His promises, who remembers His love forever. Who grants life and fruitfulness to all who entrust themselves to Him.
The Prophet Isaiah speaks well when he says:
Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”
For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. -Isaiah 56:3-5
We fear that we shall be a dry tree, life-giving sap spent and wasted. The wind howls around us, the sun beats down on our heads, and there will be nothing to show for our efforts, no remembrance for us.
But the Father of Mercies and the God of Consolation does not forget. He cannot. He promises that his Beloved Ones will enjoy an everlasting memorial.
Isaiah goes on,
“You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight and your land Espoused; for the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married” -Isaiah 62:3-4
The Lord delights in his people. He delights in those who are consecrated to Him.
His consecrated ones are like crowns and diadems of beauty by which the glory and love of God are made known to all the world. This is God’s vindication for those who commit themselves to Him.
We fear that we shall be dry trees, lacking in life or fruitfulness.
God’s fear (if God can be said to have a fear at all) is that we will refuse to even imagine the fruitful abundance that he wishes to pour out upon us.
We fear that our branches will be empty of flowers or fruit. We fear our prayer or our apostolates shall fade to nothing, our work forgotten.
My brothers and sisters, if we commit ourselves to God as His Beloved Ones we shall find far from being empty, our branches and boughs shall be near to breaking with the weight of our fruitfulness.
Cry out and remember: the Lord has made this promise and He does not go back on his Word.
And what does this abundance look like? It is the Face of God, of The Lover revealing himself to His Beloved.
“Sing, O Barren One who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud you who have not had labor pains! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.” -Isaiah 54:1
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. Amen.