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Religious Life: Writings

Religious Life | Reflections

In her book, "Finding the Treasure" Sandra M Schneiders says:

I am proposing...that religious life is a lifeform...I am trying to suggest a holistic model that will enable us to see the internal structure and dynamics of the life as simultaneously sociological, theological and spiritual...there will be a recognizable continuity between the present phenomenon...and this lifeform as it has existed throughout its history. (P54, 55, 56,57)


Many people ask "Why religious life? Aren't all Christians called to live as Jesus did?

Joan Chittister says,

It has become unfashionable to say that the one and only purpose of religious life is the single-minded search for God...only to seek God. The answer stuns in its simplicity... the fact is that the answer, simple as it may be, uncompromising as it is, cannot be improved upon...the idea of seeking God and God alone takes on new power in life.
(Fire In These Ashes P44-46)

People today question the future of religious life.

Catherine M Harmer has a response for them:

I believe completely and unreservedly that it does (have a future). What I do not believe is that it has much, if anything to do with numbers. It has to do with people being dedicated to the work of God; to the people of God and their needs...We are meant to be the leaven, the yeast, not the flour. Any baker knows how small an amount of yeast is needed to make a lot of bread.
(A Vocation to What P10)


What do you think? Click here to join a forum about the issues raised in these quotes.