For years I have been thoroughly frustrated by the direction and attitudes I see in many of the nuns I have come in contact with. I believe firmly that religious orders are conceived by their founders with the intent to pursue a spiritual direction toward the heavenly Kingdom if not radically different from what the world offers, at least to a great extent at odds with it. If this is not the case, then joining a particular convent is merely a convenience, not different from joining a social club that offers a particular philosophy, activities, or the convenience of easy access to fellowship, companionship, and communication with others of like-mind for people who might not on their own find that to be an easy task.
Throughout the history of the Church there have been religious communities that have radically veered from the original purpose of their founders, and there have been as well movements of reform that have attempted to bring back such communities to their original purpose, which in the end is to serve God in a more complete way, either free of the cultural distractions of secular life, or in a life where sacrifice, obedience and the gift of oneself to a higher purpose. Anyone who has seen the excellent Spanish movie periodically shown on EWTN about the life of Teresa of Avila can identify this.
The point is that the religious life is, and must be, a life of personal sacrifice dedicated to the love of God and neighbor. However, what we see presently, especially among some of the religious communities in the US, and more so in those where the nuns have for some time abandoned the original ideals of the community and are out in the world, practically indistinguishable from the laity in conduct and dress, is at time not only un-edifying but outright shocking.
It is true that those who choose the married life may not be a paragon of fidelity to the chosen vocation itself; it is said that even among Catholics the rate of divorce hovers around 50%. However, those who marry do not consciously go into the marriage with the intent of swearing fealty or an oath to a particular religious house whose rules and guidelines were sought from and initially allowed and sanctioned by the ruling body of the Catholic Church. In my view, leaving the rule and life dictated by the order then, is akin to seeking and obtaining identification with one of the major social or service clubs, with a prominent political party or organization, then abandoning its charter to pursue one’s own political and social ends - even opposing or misrepresenting the charter- while still claiming to be a member in good standing.
My experience with heterodox nuns -except with the likes of the beyond liberal Joan Chittister who has been prominently featured in PBS documentaries and makes what must be a handsome living in the quasi-Catholic lecture circuit- has not been extremely negative, though not positive or edifying either. At some point in my life I had a deep religious re-conversion to my faith and thought it prudent to contact one of the nearest convents for guidance and fine-tuning. On the one hand, the Irish nuns who guided my children’s school were in deep discord with the pastor -a highly abrasive man at the time, visibly more interested in the finance angle of his parish than on the spiritual direction- and were ultimately the losers in the conflict, hence soon to be packed back to their country. The nun who replaced them came from the nuns of Notre Dame de Namur, an order I believe is associated with ND University, and we know how orthodox that place is, don’t we?
To my dismay this nun was somewhat New Agey, focused on the ‘Centering movement’ as preached by Karl Keating, Basil Pennington and Thomas Merton, when what I needed was someone along the lines of precisely Teresa of Avila: single minded, strong and faithful to the Magisterium and the mission of the Church. This nun lived in her own apartment and wore no habit. Further, she seemed either confused or antagonized by my spirituality.
The nuns of the school of my childhood, though still in habit and living in community, were not much better. When I related to them the fact that after many years of unhappiness, deep inner conflict and search for the meaning of life I had found peace, knowledge of myself and a relationship with God in a tacitly miraculous manner, they looked at me as to a mental institution. From that I surmised they themselves did not have any idea of what spirituality was if it hit them upside the head. I was lucky to have the inspiration to persevere on my own in the path I’d found and to have books, along with the Bible, that seemed to appear as if by magic with just the perfect word that put my experience in context. If I had relied on those nuns I would still be waiting for guidance, or would have been misled.
My point is, finally, that the Church itself has done a poor job of educating and guiding the faith of many its ministers, and of channeling their initial impulse to serve. In many cases what we have is a warehousing of people who at some point end up coming face to face with the sterility of their commitment, their lack of understanding of themselves and others, and ultimately end up abandoning that commitment while remaining in some state of suspended religious animation perhaps at best neither good to themselves and, at worst, a bad example to others.
Caution here, I am not generalizing. There are plenty of emerging orders that seem to be excellent, such as the ones in the Carmelites of the Renewal (?), and the sisters whose mother house -I cannot remember the name- is in Ann Arbor, MI to mention the most recognizable ones because they are on TV. I’m sure there are many more all over as well. But the ones who seem to be most faithful and committed are recognizable because they wear the habit and are not afraid to be stared at in the present ultra-secularized world.
, and there were a number of postulants and novices present.
A change is in the air and it is coming from our youth they are tired of being lied to.
