Comments on: What does “growth” mean in terms of religious communities?

By: prefer not to say

prefer not to say — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:11:13 +0000

Is it the story of Gideon or Joshua where [Gideon or Joshua] prepares to go into battle, and God says, “Wait a minute — you’ve got too many men for this operation. Thin out the troops a little before going forward.” I think the test for whittling the group down was to have them drink water, and to send the ones home who leaned down to the river and drank with both hands.

Oh my goodness. I hope someone knows this story better than I do. But it does seem like a pretty clear Biblical endorsement of the idea that strength doesn’t always lie in numbers.

By: reggiehudson

reggiehudson — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 06:03:32 +0000

Oops, just dawned on me I never informed you I’d changed my site so all of my posts are linked to the old site which is no longer valid. This post should work though. Have a good day sis

Reg

By: reggiehudson

reggiehudson — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:38:19 +0000

Unfortunately we live in a society that equates numbers with results. That works quite well for the secular world but it’s far short of the standard of measurement for the spiritual world.
EPHESIANS 4
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the STATURE of the fulness of Christ:
That’s the standard of measurement you and I measure ourselves by…..It has nothing to do with numbers, except maybe the number one and by that I mean each of one of us individually has to view this as our standard of measurement. The actual success or downfall of any Spiritual community depends on how it measures it’s self . What it uses for a measuring stick per say. From an old fool, yet from an old fool that’s found Grace in The Eyes of The Lord.

Your Brother In Christ,

Reg

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 19:56:33 +0000

For nostaglia sake I must admit I love seeing a nun in habit–full or modified. It is that wonderful visually obvious example that I grew up with. Yes, now in my 60′s I know, understand, and believe that it makes absolutely no difference what you wear when you serve the Lord and His people for you wear Him. I have sought out orders that might be willing to take such an ‘old lady’ as I but have also come to realize that I love and serve Him just as I am. There are lay associates to many orders and there are many ways to be dedicated outside of the ‘community’ (we all belong to the One that counts). However, that ongoing closeness and commonality that a community nurtures is awesome. So for those of us in the laity I say, find or start your own faith community, link it to an existing order if you can or want but do it, in His name JUST DO IT!!

By: Maryann

Maryann — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:35:34 +0000

All life perpetuates itself.

By: susan rose, csjp

susan rose, csjp — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:09:58 +0000

Thanks for continuing the conversation Julie! Your post inspired a post on my blog where I said:

“As a new member of a religious congregation that has had by my count 9 deaths of Sisters this year alone – and it’s only June – this is certainly something I’ve been thinking about. If I didn’t think that our spirit and charism was alive and well, if I didn’t sense life and vitality and growth, I don’t think I’d be here. But the thing is … I do. And it has nothing to do with numbers. It has to do with the sheer joy that fills the air when we are gathered for community events. It has to do with the words of wisdom that are shared, the depth of our common prayer experience. It has to do with the new, different and continuing ways our founding mission is carried out today. It has to do with the men and women who join us as Associates and collaborators. It has to do with hope and trusting that God’s in the mix, the Holy Spirit is with us, and our charism of peace through justice is not only alive in us, but it is alive in a world that desperately needs our presence.”

I love your line about not existing to perpetuate ourselves. That says a lot.

Peace,
Sr. Susan

By: JeanneG (Sister JEM)

JeanneG (Sister JEM) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:44:07 +0000

I am thrilled that there are more religious vocations – been praying for that for years! I’m hoping to see a religious vocation among my offspring, but of course that’s between them and our Lord. I agree that religious life isn’t about numbers. Folks can go into accounting for number-envy. Does the order’s hierarchy reflect your ideals?

There are orders that accept older vocations?

Blessings, Sister Julie. This is a great blog.