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Sandra Schneiders, religious life “rock star”
Rock star! That’s how National Catholic Reporter described the response of Catholic sisters to Sr. Sandra after her talk last Saturday in Notre Dame, Indiana. Rock on, Sandra!
Sandra’s insights into religious life are music to the ears! Her rendition of religious life past, present and future is one of the clearest and most articulate that I’ve ever heard. The NCR article does a good job of highlighting her key points.
I especially like Sandra’s explanation of why the works of Catholic sisters have changed over time. She describes how the changes in ministry affect the way that Catholic sisters live, what they wear, how they pray, etc. She also offers a compelling vision of religious life for the future – and there will be a future! (She opened her talk with, “Reports of the demise of religious life, to paraphrase Mark Twain, are greatly exaggerated.”)
I appreciate how Sandra links the past to the present, then suggests directions for the future that are already emerging. Here’s an excerpt about that from the NCR article:
Increasingly, religious women have taken their expertise into ministries that, while still in continuity with those of the past and arising directly out of their communities’ charisms, are not ones most Catholics tend to associate with “the Sisters.” Schneiders grouped them into four “clusters”:
• Social justice ministers focused on systemic or structural change, whose “theological glue” tends to be Catholic social teaching. These include social scientists, activists, lawyers, political and community organizers, economists and sociologists, urban farmers and legislators.
• Ministers who work directly with the victims of social injustice or natural disasters, whose theological glue is deep compassion for the suffering Body of Christ. These include chaplains, social workers, counselors, literacy tutors, providers of child care or elder care, managers of low-income housing, those who work in homeless shelters or with victims of torture or sex trafficking.
• Intellectuals, scholars and artists, whose theological glue is faith seeking understanding in our time. These include composers, performers, journalists, writers, teachers and researchers in theology, philosophy and the sciences.
• Ministers who address the thirst for meaning and transcendence, with the theological glue of spiritual nourishment and growth. They work in spirituality centers, campus ministry, spiritual direction, retreats, holistic healing, or as popular writers or speakers on the lecture and workshop circuit.
I encourage you to read the article and to share your responses to it!
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{ 3 comments }
The practical side of living the gospel is one of very hard tracks, even a traipse. Let it be known that the more practical the guidance is, the better.
May God Bless You All.
On a listserv, I read one person’s comment that maybe one day, Sandra Schneiders will be a doctor of the church!! Sounds like a good idea!
Wow! There is so much here! Thank you, Sr. Sandra, for your insights and for the bigger historical picture.