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religious sightings
ReveRsing a decades-long decline, Catholic religious communities have enjoyed a 19 percent jump in the number of candidates preparing for religious life in the past three years, according to the VocationMatch.com Report on Trends in Religious Life, sponsored by Vision Vocation Guide.
That upward trend promises to continue, with fully 71 percent of communities polled reporting an increase in the number of people inquiring about entering religious life. in addition, Vision Vocation Guide reports through VocationMatch.com a 125 percent increase in the past year in the number of readers creating online profiles and requesting information from specific religious communities.
This increased interest in vowed religious life is found primarily among younger Catholics, with more than 50 percent of those considering a religious vocation under 30, though a growing number of Catholics over 50—nearly 18 percent of VocationMatch.com’s respondents—are seeking a formal relationship with a religious community.
What attracts people to religious life?
sixty-six percent of all respondents say they are most drawn to religious life by a “desire to live a life of faithfulness to the church and its teachings.” A preference for wearing distinctively religious clothing has also found favor among current discerners. Fifty percent of respondents feel that dressing in a habit is “very important” or “essential” to their vocation.
At the same time, 85 percent of those potential habit-wearing priests, brothers, and sisters want to be involved in active ministry in such fields as education, social service, campus ministry, parish work, preaching, healthcare, and prison ministry. vocation discerners also report “devotional prayer” and “praying with members of a community” as two of the qualities that most draw them to religious life. Forty-two percent believe living in community to be “essential” to their vocation. Fiftythree percent of discerners say they do not consider it important that they live with people their own age.
Those considering religious life are very aware of the challenges any life commitment poses. Fortyfive percent rate restrictions on personal freedom and the discipline of prayer as challenging or the most challenging aspects of religious life. A slightly fewer 43 percent rate simple living among the most significant challenges they face, and 41 percent rate celibacy as a significant struggle.
As for their impression of those in religious life, vocation discerners express surprise at “how normal” and “how happy” those in religious life are and express admiration for the “profound sense of joy” and “heroic generosity” of sisters, priests, and brothers.
response to climate change means care for creation
AFter leAdING A teAm of 20 Catholic men and women religious to a United Nations conference on climate change last November in Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. maryknoll Father John Brinkman said that “global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures . . . but protecting both the human environment and the natural environment” and following God’s command to “take care of other created beings with love and compassion.”
Quoting the late Pope John Paul II, Brinkman, a member of maryknoll’s commission on ecology and religion, said, “God has endowed humanity with reason and ingenuity that distinguish us from other creatures. It is very unfortunate that we have not always used these endowments wisely.”
FraNCISCaN FrIarS aNd SISterS of the renewal. the Franciscan Friars of the renewal have been in existence since 198.
The shape of things to come
ShOwING that relIGIOuS lIFe is still evolving, the Center for applied research in the apostolate identified 165 new groups in its study of new religious communities and lay movements, according to the spring 200 edition of HORIZON. Based on study data, Sister Patricia wittberg, S.C., a sociologist, drew the following conclusions about emerging religious communities:
2 Prayer and contemplation are important, with almost half of new communities reporting a complete or partial contemplative focus. 2 Simple living and ministry with the poor are hallmarks of expanding new communities. 2 Classic spiritualities are still popular, particularly the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Benedictine traditions.
love your enemy
When SiSter Mary Jo Kahl, F.S.M. was robbed of her car at knifepoint in April 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she probably did not imagine that two years later she would be meeting every few weeks with her attacker, helping him to stay clean. that night she was simply terrified.
For months the Franciscan Sister of Mary lost sleep, suffered flashbacks, and endured a bleeding ulcer. the police caught two men and were prepared to press charges.
Kahl worked with Milwaukee’s Community Conferencing Program, which is based on principles of restorative justice. Kahl met with the 23-year-old Fernandez, who admitted his guilt, while she learned about his drug and alcohol addiction, gang involvement, and disastrous family life. they worked out a contract by which Fernandez would receive a lesser penalty if he underwent drug rehab, earned a GeD, did
S A m Luc ER o
Mary JO Kahl, F.S.M. meets with raul Fernandez, her former attacker.
job training, and pledged nonviolence.
“this woman, for some reason that i don’t understand, has hope in you. You are one lucky man,” a skeptical judge told Fernandez at his sentencing in September 2005. two years later, Fernandez was out of jail and meeting every few weeks with Kahl, whom he calls “his angel.” “We continue to work on relapse prevention,” Kahl told VISION. “i am keenly interested in his rehabilitation and entry back into society.”
Did Kahl respond to her attack as she did because she’s a sister? “that’s what the DA’s office and the court say, but no, i just handled it as a baptized Christian. this is the gospel call every day.”
RogeR ebeRt was my best friend in 5th grade at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Champaign; we were both members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Urbana. each day during the lunch period we would devise skits to perform and entertain our classmates after lunch. our teacher was a wonderful nun who encouraged us; obviously Roger followed through.
–A friend of movie critic, Roger Ebert, who is recovering from cancer, in a posting to the Chicago Sun-Times website
NGOs Are tAkiNG ON the wOrld
For centuries religious orders have transcended national boundaries, so it is fitting that over the past 10 years some 60 of them have gained official status at the united nations in order to represent the poor and marginalized people with whom they minister.
“it’s our privilege as religious to be advocates for the most vulnerable people in the world. We speak here on their behalf,” says sister Lucianne siers, o.P., director of Partnership for Global Justice, a network of religious orders that has official u.n. status as a nongovernmental organization (nGo). About half of religious congregations that belong to the Partnership
also have their own nGo status. the united nations has more than 1,500 nGos that attend meetings, provide on-the-ground information, and lobby for action on their issues. For religious orders, having nGo status often means connecting poor people with whom they work with policy-makers at the u.n. “Just this past week we had nine young women who had been involved in human trafficking staying at our house and testifying at the u.n.,” says SIStEr DEIrDrE Mullen, r.S.M. (left) and Sister Luci- siers. the priests, sisters, and anne Siers, the united O.P. represent Nations. religious communities at brothers who are at the u.n. have also been involved in working for debt relief, help for iraq War refugees, and women’s rights. FAtHEr JAMES DILuzIO, c.S.P. has been able to combine his acting background with his priestly vocation through his parish mission proclamation from the Gospel of Luke.
–Trappist monk Thomas Merton Acting on a vocation
Art, MuSIc, athletics, writing, web design—whatever your talents, there’s a good chance you can make them part of a religious vocation, rather than leave them behind. take the case of Paulist Father James DiLuzio. In the days before he became a priest, you may have seen him on tV in a soap opera supporting role or as an extra, putting his ucLA masters of arts degree in drama to work.
When he became a lector and a member of the evangelization team at New York’s St. Paul the Apostle parish, DiLuzio encountered the stories of scripture in a new way and asked himself, “What stories are we telling? How do these stories impact human life?”
His priesthood—he was ordained in 1993—and his interest in storytelling have led him to become part of a unique parish mission experience: Luke Live (www.lukelive.com). Over three days he proclaims the first 15 chapters of Luke’s gospel by heart. Between his proclamations there is preaching, meditations, and music. recently he introduced Luke Live 2, which includes proclamation of the last 9 chapters of the gospel, stories of saints, meditations, and music. With Luke, DiLuzio told Paulist Today, “I find myself happily integrating my preordination work as an actor, singer, English and drama teacher with my priesthood and Paulist ministry, engaging the faithful in encounter with the gospel in ways that are culturally relevant and illuminating.”
Benedictines . . . a 1500 year tradition. Benedictines . . . a 1500 year tradition. “Run while you have the light of life.” Run while you have the light of life.”
