What are the reasons for shortage of new Religious Sisters?

[Sister_Helena]

Part of the reason too is that we, as Christians, and Catholics in particular, have used “ecumenism” as a scapegoat and often hide our Catholic piety and devotions under a bushel basket. We don’t want to “stand out” and appear to be “holier than thou” among non-Catholics or non-believers that we risk lacking zeal and fervor… I think that’s why WYD and other charismatic and prayer movements are so popular these days. There is that unabashed, unapologetic display of Catholicism that many young people, who are strangers to old Catholic traditions and piety , are looking for. Young people are also cause-oriented, and if we don’t make true practice of our Catholic Faith part of our daily lives, we (religious) run the risk of being invisible even to those who are members of the same household or flock.

 

[beffer19050]

Hi sister. I’m a senior in a Cathoilc high school.

The most attractive orders are the ones who don’t focus on their work, but on their identity as brides of Christ. Focus on who you become when you enter, not what occupies your time/ what you do.

For example, Nashville Dominicans seriously appeal to the youth (and me particularly) because of their rootedness in their identity as brides of Christ. They know who they are. They are joyful about it. They made that awesome DVD with salt+light productions that moved me to tears. You can feel & see their passion for Christ. Watching that DVD made me consider the religious life like nothing else I’ve experienced (including visiting with at least 4 orders of sisters in my area-- more turned me off)

The orders that are most visible in our community (presentation & benedictine) have their mother house basically functioning as a nursing home. I stayed overnight there and went with an open mind. I will never enter there. Your vocation is supposed to be this wonderful adventure and journey that God wants to take you on-- Not the end of your joy and happiness like I think entering the Benedictines would be.
Visiting the Sisters of Mercy was better but the ones I saw live 4 to a country house.

Sorry for the tangent. To sum up, focus on your identity as brides of Christ and the joy that brings you & how you express that joy.
Also, market that. I would have never heard of the Nashville Dominicans had it not been for that DVD.

Feel free to message me anytime.

 

[Sister_Helena]

If you want to be frank about, the overall state of the Catholic Church today is not going to produce a lot of religious sisters. The vast majority of Catholics don’t know their faith or even attempt to follow it. On just sheer numbers alone, if 90% of Catholics were faithful, you would probably have a lot higher number of vocations.

I also believe that vocation to religious life is not given to a majority. It is a particular lifestyle requiring particular graces. It is not just a call to doing good (apostolic work), that can be done without entering the religious state, but is a call to a life of sacrifice and ultimately counter-cultural. It is a lifestyle that will always be answered by a minority. It may attract many but when all the talks, excitement and exuberance settle down, few will commit themselves to it. The times we live in just make it even more difficult.

 

[misscharlene85]

Hi everyone,
I’m fairly new to CAF. I have been browsing the forums for a few months now, but this will be my first reply. It’s amazing how you sometimes come across something at the exact moment you are thinking and praying about it. I have been thinking about the religious life a lot recently and it looks so appealing to me. As a child I would read The Lives of the Saints and I always said to myself, “if I lived back in the days of St. Teresa of Avila (or whoever), I would have joined a convent just like she did.” Well, if I believe God would have called me then, and I would have said YES!, why would I not say the same now in this day and age? Though the religious life looks attractive to me, I’m afraid I’ve discovered this a little too late.

I am a married woman and am a new mother and I have recently been struggling with the guilt that God was very likely calling me to be a Sister and I chose my will above his. In college, I fell in love with a good, Catholic man and chose to get married and have a family because that is what I wanted for myself. I’m not saying that marriage is a bad thing or that it cannot lead to holiness, but I have found in my case that it is challenging to be holy because there is less time to devote to prayer and improving my spiritual life.

I pray for vocations for the church but sometimes feel like a hypocrite because I think God did call me and I didn’t respond. I guess now all I can do is to be the best mother and wife I can, and continue to pray for the Church and vocations, and encourage those around me who I believe might have vocations. Perhaps if someone said that to me my life would be very different…?

 

[sixlittlesaints]

I think in large part it has to do with the culture and poor catechetical training of he last generation. Maybe this stems rom Vatican II or maybe not. I’m not sure about that. In my family my oldest brother expressed interest in becoming a priest. My mother would have none of it as she said he would be lonely without a wife. When I developed an interest in entering a religious order I said nothing of it for fear of her disapproval. I remember secretly looking at the ads for religious orders in the back of the Catholic Digest but I never ordered any information. Now I’m married with 6 beautiful children. My marriage is not doing so well so I wonder if I chose the wrong vocation. Still my children are blessings. When they grow up I will certainly make religious life an option to them.

 

[JReducation]

I think in large part it has to do with the culture and poor catechetical training of he last generation. Maybe this stems rom Vatican II or maybe not. I’m not sure about that. In my family my oldest brother expressed interest in becoming a priest. My mother would have none of it as she said he would be lonely without a wife. When I developed an interest in entering a religious order I said nothing of it for fear of her disapproval. I remember secretly looking at the ads for religious orders in the back of the Catholic Digest but I never ordered any information. Now I’m married with 6 beautiful children. My marriage is not doing so well so I wonder if I chose the wrong vocation. Still my children are blessings. When they grow up I will certainly make religious life an option to them.

If God gave you six wonderful children, you’re exactly where you belong. God called these children into existence through you, because he chose to do so, not because you twisted his hand. God doesn’t work that way He made you a mother, because that was his plan for you.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[sixlittlesaints]

If God gave you six wonderful children, you’re exactly where you belong. God called these children into existence through you, because he chose to do so, not because you twisted his hand. God doesn’t work that way He made you a mother, because that was his plan for you.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank yo, JR. I needed to hear that tonight.

 

[23eagle23]

Sister a couple of comments:

I am a life long catholic, 8 years of catholic school, taught by nuns.

I have a son and daughter who went to catholic schools as well. (they were not taught by nuns) lay people. Only one nun at the school and she was always to busy to spend time with the children. She tried but it was just impossible for One person.

Question: Where are all the nuns ? I am involed with my parish, and community and I dont see any sisters around ? My daughter only sees nuns on EWTN and knows only what her mother and I have taught her about sisters.

Many have made a comment that sisters work with the poor, great, what about us middle class faithful people ?

Sister, with all due respect…

How do I teach my daughter about a religious life, when there aren’t any examples to point too?

I havent spoken to a sister, in many years. The one sister I did speak with (many years ago) I didnt even know i had spoken to a nun. Why ? becuase she looked like any other holy women at mass…

Question: I have prayed with my parish Preist and Deacon, I can’t say the samething about a Nun…

So I ask, Where are all the sisters ?

 

[Sister_Helena]

Sister a couple of comments:

I am a life long catholic, 8 years of catholic school, taught by nuns.

I have a son and daughter who went to catholic schools as well. (they were not taught by nuns) lay people. Only one nun at the school and she was always to busy to spend time with the children. She tried but it was just impossible for One person.

Question: Where are all the nuns ? I am involed with my parish, and community and I dont see any sisters around ? My daughter only sees nuns on EWTN and knows only what her mother and I have taught her about sisters.

Many have made a comment that sisters work with the poor, great, what about us middle class faithful people ?

Sister, with all due respect…

How do I teach my daughter about a religious life, when there aren’t any examples to point too?

I havent spoken to a sister, in many years. The one sister I did speak with (many years ago) I didnt even know i had spoken to a nun. Why ? becuase she looked like any other holy women at mass…

Question: I have prayed with my parish Preist and Deacon, I can’t say the samething about a Nun…

So I ask, Where are all the sisters ?

That is exactly the same question that this thread poses. Many of our posters have indicated reasons why we have the shortage of applicants and reasons why applicants don’t stay. Parish education system and healthcare are two of the most obvious forms of religious ministries and we are definitely have a crisis there. Sisters are now aged and infirm and with no replacements. Same with healthcare. There are many federal and State regulations which make our presence in these two fields very challenging. I know because we minister under Federal and State regulated facilities. The challenges are tremendous and with this economic recession we are currently having, it has become even worse.

 

[JReducation]

Sister a couple of comments:

I am a life long catholic, 8 years of catholic school, taught by nuns.

I have a son and daughter who went to catholic schools as well. (they were not taught by nuns) lay people. Only one nun at the school and she was always to busy to spend time with the children. She tried but it was just impossible for One person.

Question: Where are all the nuns ? I am involed with my parish, and community and I dont see any sisters around ? My daughter only sees nuns on EWTN and knows only what her mother and I have taught her about sisters.

Many have made a comment that sisters work with the poor, great, what about us middle class faithful people ?

Sister, with all due respect…

How do I teach my daughter about a religious life, when there aren’t any examples to point too?

I havent spoken to a sister, in many years. The one sister I did speak with (many years ago) I didnt even know i had spoken to a nun. Why ? becuase she looked like any other holy women at mass…

Question: I have prayed with my parish Preist and Deacon, I can’t say the samething about a Nun…

So I ask, Where are all the sisters ?

You’ve also hit another important nail on the head. Many of the religious communities of men and women who are still getting vocations no longer minister to the middle and wealthy classes. There is a reason for this. Originally, many sisters ran schools and hospitals for the poor. In this country it was common to run schools and hospitals among immigrants, because they made up the poor classes of our society. As these communities made economic progress, many religious congregatoins had to leave and minister elsewhere.

Vatican II made it very clear that religious had to recover the spirit of their founders. Most founders targeted the poor, not the middle class or the upper classes. Francis of Assisi wanted his sons and daughers only among the poor, indigent, immigrant, poor sick, homeless and marginalized members of society. The same was true for St. Vincent de Paul, St. John Bosco, St. John De la Salle, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Neuman and many founders of apostolic communities.

There were religious congregations that did not have these restrictions: Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Jesuits and a few others. But these were not founded as teaching communities. They had diverse ministries. That’s why you see more Dominican sisters in schools than any other group. They did not have the mandate from their founder to serve only the poor.

I hope this helps answer some questions.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Sister_MM]

Sister a couple of comments:

I am a life long catholic, 8 years of catholic school, taught by nuns.

I have a son and daughter who went to catholic schools as well. (they were not taught by nuns) lay people. Only one nun at the school and she was always to busy to spend time with the children. She tried but it was just impossible for One person.

Question: Where are all the nuns ? I am involed with my parish, and community and I dont see any sisters around ? My daughter only sees nuns on EWTN and knows only what her mother and I have taught her about sisters.

Many have made a comment that sisters work with the poor, great, what about us middle class faithful people ?

Sister, with all due respect…

How do I teach my daughter about a religious life, when there aren’t any examples to point too?

I havent spoken to a sister, in many years. The one sister I did speak with (many years ago) I didnt even know i had spoken to a nun. Why ? becuase she looked like any other holy women at mass…

Question: I have prayed with my parish Preist and Deacon, I can’t say the samething about a Nun…

So I ask, Where are all the sisters ?

Well, I know where this sister is! I’ve been working in the Catholic schools serving the middle class for 20+ years. For the last 12 years, I have been alone, and I could use some help!

 

[mgbenner]

I’m not sure if I have any real answers to this question, but I will share a bit of my belief and experience. I began my real journey in the Church fairly late in my life. I was 21 years old when I was confirmed. Two short years later, I entered a religious community. I had many illusions about religious life that were very quickly dispelled. First, I held the belief that all clergy and religious were wonderful, holy people specially blessed by God. Second, I thought that by donning a religious habit, I would become one of those people. Third, I believed that by becoming a sister, I would finally be “accepted” by God and the Church. What I learned during the three years of my formation amazed and transformed me. Regarding my first belief that **all ** clergy and religious were wonderful, holy people…well, what I discovered was that each of us was irrevocably human. We were all flawed, struggling, straining toward holiness, just as everyone in the laity was doing. What I had battled outside the convent in terms of temptation was still there for me to battle inside. And those women that I had held above all others as untainted and holy were struggling just like me. Regarding my second belief…wearing a habit did not turn me into a saint as I had believed it would. It set me apart from the laity in a visible and concrete way, but again, I realized that my struggle to become holy would continue, and now I felt an unbelievable pressure to be what I had always envisioned a religious to be - better, holier, and closer to the Lord than the average Jane. I felt with every breath that I was disappointing the Lord by not instantly being transformed into the most pious of souls. Third, I realized something fairly profound about being accepted by God. It wasn’t dependent upon my entering religious life. It had happened at the instant of my baptism. In short, what I discovered was that for me - there was nothing about religious life in terms of deepening my life with the Lord and with the Church that wasn’t available to the laity. I feel that there is a lot more to say, but at the moment, I’m not able to articulate it properly. In short, I think that there is a belief among the laity now that has been lacking at various points in Christian history - that we are ALL specially blessed by God. That we are called to perfect holiness but have not yet achieved it. I wonder if people aren’t entering religious life now because they don’t see it as being any different from lay life in any real measurable way? There are individuals in the world who lead deep, prayerful contemplative lives while working full time and raising families. And in religious life, there are worldly and secular souls who lead lives vastly contradictory to the spirit of religious life.

Sigh.

I wish I knew how to answer this question. I can only pray that each of us answers the Lord’s call to do HIS will no matter what our state in life.

 

[JReducation]

I was recently looking at the site for the Conferences of Major Superiors of Women (I hope I go that right). I noticed an interesting detail. Those congregations and religious orders that belong to this particular conference are not struggling for vocations.

Many of these religious congregations are fairly new. The orders the belong to it have been around for centuries. But they all have certain things in common which the religious communities that belong to the Conference of Women Religious seem to be lacking and is probably why they’re struggling.

The sistes who belong to the CMSW have the following:

1. Very structured community lives.
2. Still live in community
3. Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharist, silence, and time built into their day for devotion and adoration
4. The religious habit, which reminds them of what they should be. It does not make them holy, it calls them to holiness.
5. Centralized government with a high priority to obedience.
6. Very strong commitment to the Holy Father, the bishops and the Magisterium. The nonsense about “my conscience” does not exist. The only conscience that exists is the conscience formed by the Church…
7. A strong awareness of a shared apostolate between the sisters of each community, not individual projects and apostolates.
8. A strong sense of history. Those communities that are orders or are part of an order, such as the Nashville Dominicans, actually study the Rule of St. Augustine, which governs Dominican life. Their constitutions are based on the rule of Augustine, Franciscans base their constitutions on the rule of Francis and so forth. The congregations, which have never had a rule per se, have a constitution that is rooted in the vision of their founder. Even though the constitution can be edited, unlike a rule, they take great care not to touch the vision of the founder, such as the Sisters of Life. I noticed that everything they do they refer back to Cardinal O’Connor’s vision. The Missionaries of Charity constantly refer back to Mother Teresa’s vision. These are two examples of congregations, not orders. Even though they don’t have a rule, they have a vision that has been handed down to them as their patrimony.
9. I am favorably impressed by their strong femininity. They’re not trying to do what male religious or priests do. They’re very feminine in how they dress, walk, talk, the activities in which thy engage and even in how they see themselves. They don’t come off as dragons. They come of as someone’s mother or sister.
10. Finally, they are truly poor. They have no interest in having great institutions or positions of authority outside of their communities.

I strongly recommend their latest book for both male and female religious. They have a lot to teach.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Sister_Helena]

I am a married woman and am a new mother and I have recently been struggling with the guilt that God was very likely calling me to be a Sister and I chose my will above his. In college, I fell in love with a good, Catholic man and chose to get married and have a family because that is what I wanted for myself. I’m not saying that marriage is a bad thing or that it cannot lead to holiness, but I have found in my case that it is challenging to be holy because there is less time to devote to prayer and improving my spiritual life.

I pray for vocations for the church but sometimes feel like a hypocrite because I think God did call me and I didn’t respond. I guess now all I can do is to be the best mother and wife I can, and continue to pray for the Church and vocations, and encourage those around me who I believe might have vocations. Perhaps if someone said that to me my life would be very different…?

One of the sign of a religious vocation is that God, having called a soul to follow Him, will also give the corresponding grace to accomplish it. The fact that you did not receive this grace to pursue the call, meant to me that you were called to another state in life. If we believe that in God’s plan there are no second causes, no accidental happenings, no full-misses, then we can accept how the events in our life fall together. Attraction to religious life is very common. Attraction to a spirituality is a way God builds on our nature. We are attracted according to our preferences, views in life and religious inclinations. Continue your pursuit of holiness in the life God has called you. Bloom where you’re planted! In the end, whether Religious life or married life, it is the Will of God that matters and giving our best efforts to conform to it.

 

[Sister_Helena]

I’m not sure if I have any real answers to this question, but I will share a bit of my belief and experience. I began my real journey in the Church fairly late in my life. I was 21 years old when I was confirmed. Two short years later, I entered a religious community. I had many illusions about religious life that were very quickly dispelled. First, I held the belief that all clergy and religious were wonderful, holy people specially blessed by God. Second, I thought that by donning a religious habit, I would become one of those people. Third, I believed that by becoming a sister, I would finally be “accepted” by God and the Church. What I learned during the three years of my formation amazed and transformed me. Regarding my first belief that **all ** clergy and religious were wonderful, holy people…well, what I discovered was that each of us was irrevocably human. We were all flawed, struggling, straining toward holiness, just as everyone in the laity was doing. What I had battled outside the convent in terms of temptation was still there for me to battle inside. And those women that I had held above all others as untainted and holy were struggling just like me. Regarding my second belief…wearing a habit did not turn me into a saint as I had believed it would. It set me apart from the laity in a visible and concrete way, but again, I realized that my struggle to become holy would continue, and now I felt an unbelievable pressure to be what I had always envisioned a religious to be - better, holier, and closer to the Lord than the average Jane. I felt with every breath that I was disappointing the Lord by not instantly being transformed into the most pious of souls. Third, I realized something fairly profound about being accepted by God. It wasn’t dependent upon my entering religious life. It had happened at the instant of my baptism. In short, what I discovered was that for me - there was nothing about religious life in terms of deepening my life with the Lord and with the Church that wasn’t available to the laity. I feel that there is a lot more to say, but at the moment, I’m not able to articulate it properly. In short, I think that there is a belief among the laity now that has been lacking at various points in Christian history - that we are ALL specially blessed by God. That we are called to perfect holiness but have not yet achieved it. I wonder if people aren’t entering religious life now because they don’t see it as being any different from lay life in any real measurable way? There are individuals in the world who lead deep, prayerful contemplative lives while working full time and raising families. And in religious life, there are worldly and secular souls who lead lives vastly contradictory to the spirit of religious life.

Sigh.

I wish I knew how to answer this question. I can only pray that each of us answers the Lord’s call to do HIS will no matter what our state in life.

Although not presuming to know the full sentiment you were trying to explain, I think I can say that I understand your meaning. Everyone who entered Religious life had illusions, in a small or large degree. It is an ideal of union with God and holiness which every created soul longs for. We were created for Him and so our hearts look for Him and crave for union with Him. The reason we believe that Religious life is a gift to the Church is because it is that- a gift. We do not deserve it. It is an open invitation, a counsel, to embrace a life of poverty, obedience and chastity, for the sake of others. One does not PRIMARILY enter religious life for one’s self but for the sake of others. It is its essence- “greater love no man has but to give one’s life for his friends”- as Jesus proposed.

Religious life is a PERSONAL call, granted lived out in the context of Community. But holiness and transformation depend on the person’s own generosity and faithfulness to the life she/he is called. Holiness is not a membership privilege. I know what you mean about shattered illusions, and how easy it would have been for me to have turned around, if it wasn’t for the grace of God. But in the spirit of Carmel, we fix our gaze on our Spouse, who has called us, and are humbled by the sight of human struggles to remain faithful. You are right also when you pointed out that HOLINESS is a universal call. But we can best achieve holiness in the state God calls us to. In the words of the psalmist: :God gives each his place…" We cannot pick and choose where we want to serve God. Part of our life’s purpose and reason is to discern with humility and openness the place God has intended for us from all eternity. This consists part of our happiness. Vatican II has just called us back to this reality that we can all be holy.

 

[barb_finnegan]

One of the sign of a religious vocation is that God, having called a soul to follow Him, will also give the corresponding grace to accomplish it. The fact that you did not receive this grace to pursue the call, meant to me that you were called to another state in life. If we believe that in God’s plan there are no second causes, no accidental happenings, no full-misses, then we can accept how the events in our life fall together. Attraction to religious life is very common. Attraction to a spirituality is a way God builds on our nature. We are attracted according to our preferences, views in life and religious inclinations. Continue your pursuit of holiness in the life God has called you. Bloom where you’re planted! In the end, whether Religious life or married life, it is the Will of God that matters and giving our best efforts to conform to it.

I hope that I’m not going off-topic…I just wonder what is ‘God’s plan’ for my life.

I’m in my mid-fifties, with debts I can’t hope to pay off and in fragile health. I never got married, and have lived alone since my mother died in 2004. Why is it that religious life is barred to women of my age? After 35 they [meaning the ‘good Orders’] won’t even give us a second look.

I don’t even know what my ‘vocation’ is-singlehood is certainly NOT A VOCATION! It’s the only thing left if you don’t get married or become a religious. We are the ‘great invisible demographic’ in the Church. Unless one is ‘super-active’ and a ‘big organizer’ in the parish or community at large, you’re nothing or nobody!

 

[sanctasofia]

I hope that I’m not going off-topic…I just wonder what is ‘God’s plan’ for my life.

I’m in my mid-fifties, with debts I can’t hope to pay off and in fragile health. I never got married, and have lived alone since my mother died in 2004. Why is it that religious life is barred to women of my age? After 35 they [meaning the ‘good Orders’] won’t even give us a second look.

I don’t even know what my ‘vocation’ is-singlehood is certainly NOT A VOCATION! It’s the only thing left if you don’t get married or become a religious. We are the ‘great invisible demographic’ in the Church. Unless one is ‘super-active’ and a ‘big organizer’ in the parish or community at large, you’re nothing or nobody!

Barb - please don’t think that way - it leads to anger and/or despair. Your age isn’t as important as the fact that you say you have debts and fragile health - these are more impediments to religious life, as it is important that each member of the community be able to contribute physically as well as spiritually, at least when they enter.

In your situation, it is still possible to contribute to the Church in many ways. Mother Teresa founded her co-workers in the beginning with people who could not do any physical work because they were disabled or ill or had other obstacles to joining as religious. She said that each one of them was a “second self” for the sisters, and offered up their suffering for the spiritual welfare of the work of Missionaries of Charity. I am sure that there are many communities who would be pleased if you offered your own prayers, penances and sufferings for them and their work, especially newer ones that are trying to get off the ground against great obstacles. There is a spiritual warfare going on all the time and the Church needs soldiers of love like you.

Start with prayers to the Holy Spirit to guide you to some meaningful relationship within the Church, especially in support of a religious community where you already have an affinity. There is so much need in the Church today for people who will support Her with their prayers and their sufferings… you are most certainly needed and wanted by Jesus for His Church - even if you don’t have any formal association right now. Prayer is the most powerful force on Earth - so never think that you have nothing to contribute or that you don’t have a vocation - everyone has a vocation to pray! May God bless you for your loving heart.

 

[JReducation]

Barb - please don’t think that way - it leads to anger and/or despair. Your age isn’t as important as the fact that you say you have debts and fragile health - these are more impediments to religious life, as it is important that each member of the community be able to contribute physically as well as spiritually, at least when they enter.

In your situation, it is still possible to contribute to the Church in many ways. Mother Teresa founded her co-workers in the beginning with people who could not do any physical work because they were disabled or ill or had other obstacles to joining as religious. She said that each one of them was a “second self” for the sisters, and offered up their suffering for the spiritual welfare of the work of Missionaries of Charity. I am sure that there are many communities who would be pleased if you offered your own prayers, penances and sufferings for them and their work, especially newer ones that are trying to get off the ground against great obstacles. There is a spiritual warfare going on all the time and the Church needs soldiers of love like you.

Start with prayers to the Holy Spirit to guide you to some meaningful relationship within the Church, especially in support of a religious community where you already have an affinity. There is so much need in the Church today for people who will support Her with their prayers and their sufferings… you are most certainly needed and wanted by Jesus for His Church - even if you don’t have any formal association right now. Prayer is the most powerful force on Earth - so never think that you have nothing to contribute or that you don’t have a vocation - everyone has a vocation to pray! May God bless you for your loving heart.

I agree with St. Sofie 100%

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Salonika]

barb finnegan:

I I don’t even know what my ‘vocation’ is - singlehood is certainly NOT A VOCATION! It’s the only thing left if you don’t get married or become a religious. We are the ‘great invisible demographic’ in the Church. Unless one is ‘super-active’ and a ‘big organizer’ in the parish or community at large, you’re nothing or nobody!

I’ve been catching up on some CAF threads including this one. And something that came into my mind not long before reading Barb’s post was that there could be a correlation between singlehood being more acceptable than it used to be and the reduction in the number of religious sisters.

I am sure that for some women becoming a nun was more socially acceptable than being unmarried and being the “elderly maiden aunt” probably dependent on living with relatives and having a dubious status in the household.

Single women now, especially the younger ones have more options and some of us older ones do consider that our vocation is singleness in the world and continue to hold this belief despite the aspersions we get from some people about being selfish/self centred for our choice.

 

[Dancelittleewok]

Thank you, Sister Helena, for a great thread topic!

Reading through this thread, I am encouraged and find truth in many of the posts written. Right now, I’m discerning between a lay secular or a religious, but I’m still looking for more information about the Dominican spirituality and have sent for an informational packet in regards to the Third Order secular. (I’ve visited some of the Dominican religious sites here which look traditional but I’m cautious about sending for information or voicing an interest.) I’m not even sure I know how to discern in the first place but I do feel this call. I’m more of a Dominican (from what I’ve read) with Franciscan tendencies or maybe it’s vice versa.

I have had a bad experience with nuns at a catholic college. They seemed more concerned with promoting the feminist movement in the church rather than the founder. I still don’t understand how a nun can be the bride of Christ but seek to subvert Christ’s own Church.

I’ve always viewed the religious order as one who witnessed to the laity about what it means to give oneself wholly to Christ by mirroring Christ’s own obedience, poverty and chastity and thus sanctifying the Church through self-denying and loving sacrifice.

Sometimes I feel like St. Peter. He sees our Lord walk on water and wants to follow. St. Peter keeps his eyes on our Lord, mirroring his steps and walks with Him. It is only after he falters that St. Peter plunges in the deep. Yet sometimes I feel like Our Lord is asking me, just like he did the rich man whom followed all the commandments if I will keep up all my attachments (my dog, my boyfriend, other luxuries) and follow Him.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that for those that feel any call to be a priest, religious nun or brother or secular order, there’s the grace of fortitude to accept it and approach that radical grace, keeping our eyes on Him and picking up that cross.

I hope my contribution made sense and God bless you on your spiritual journey.