Photo: Peter Lovino, 20th Century Fox

It’s time to build a new wing on the virtual convent of the Movie Star Sisters!

Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson, Kate Upton, and Larry David have entered the congregation of the MSS. I heard of this auspicious event in an ad for the upcoming Three Stooges movie. Welcome to religious life, sisters!

I can tell from the photo that you are prayerful, happy women, which is a characteristic of sisters! Even you, Sister Larry, although you are frowning in the picture. I’m sure that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is standing on your head in the picture, will help you through your doldrums. (BTW, once when I was talking to a friend, I mentioned a sister in my congregation, Sister Kevin, and my friend exclaimed, OMG, men can join the convent now! Hehe.)

The photo also indicates that running an orphanage is your ministry. For decades, many sisters have served in that ministry, caring for children who had no other place to call home. The sisters provided safety, love, and a sense of family. Although you, my Movie Star Sisters, are in ministry for the purpose of comedy, may you draw inspiration from the compassion and love of your foremothers in ministry.

I also find it interesting that you wear full habits. Only a relative handful of sisters in the U.S. do that today. Most wear regular clothes, and some wear a modified version of a full habit. As you know, there are many theological reasons for why sisters wear what they do. Perhaps you’ve read The Transformation of American Catholic Sisters, by Quinonez and Turner–a great source of info.

You and I know that the habit wasn’t meant to be an ad for super-holiness or a way to sell products like NunZilla and the Boxing Nuns. But old images die hard in the popular imagination. Do not be discouraged, my sisters. Get out there and serve God and one another as best you can, despite the stereotypes. You may find it edifying to see Prof. Bren Ortega Murphy’s recent documentary, A Question of Habit: The Image of Women Religious in U.S. Popular Culture. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll leave wanting more! I give it two thumbs up. Also, we interviewed her in one of our podcasts—you can listen to it right on our website, on the In Good Faith podcast page.

In the meantime, my dear sisters, enjoy virtual convent life. You’ll be in the good company of other Movie Star Sisters–please say hi to Meryl, Susan, Whoopi, and of course Julie for us. And if you ever want to visit a real convent, get in touch with us here at A Nun’s Life! We’ll be glad to show you around.

Blessings and Peace,
Sister Maxine

P.S. Sister Jane, your character in Talladega Nights totally rocks! Plus you are terrific in Glee. And Sister Jennifer, you can be part of our choir any time! Also a confession: I don’t plan to see the Three Stooges movie, as I’ve never been a stooges fan. But I’ll keep you all in prayer for a good opening day.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

Also a reminder — “Ask Sister” has moved to Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. Central Time. “Ask Sister” is a live broadcast where we talk with listeners about faith, community, ministry, prayer, and many other topics!

Big news it seems in the entertainment world. Natalie Portman has been outed as having turned down the role of a young nun in the movie Doubt because she couldn’t wrap her head around the character being celibate. Playwright John Patrick Shanley explained: “We asked Natalie Portman, and Natalie was very interested but kept saying she had a problem. And we finally nailed down as to what the problem was: she basically said she didn’t understand celibacy.”

As you might suspect, I have a few words of wisdom for Natalie, as well as for Amy Adams who eventually took the role. Celibacy, my friends, is not an easy thing to understand especially in our society, but it is worth wresting with.

First things first: celibacy is basically abstaining from sexual relations. For people who take a religious vow of celibacy (as Catholic sisters and nuns do), the meaning of celibacy goes deeper than “merely” not having sex. Don’t get me wrong, not having sex is a significant choice and is not for the faint of heart. But it’s more than that for nuns. When we profess a vow of celibacy, we make a conscious choice of how we want to BE in the world, how we want to comport ourselves and how we want to relate to people and to the world. It means that we choose not only to not have sex, but also to not engage in sexual activity or to have “romantic”, exclusive relationships.

Whereas a married, sexually-active person gives herself/himself to a spouse and to a family, a nun gives herself to her relationship with God which is expressed through her relationship with her religious community (her “family”) and her mission (the way she serves the world). Being celibate leaves a nun “free” to go where God and her community calls her to go (having children and a spouse can make this more challenging). There’s also a counter-cultural dimension to the vow of celibacy. A nun testifies by her life that sex is not what it’s all about. Yes, sex is good, but even for healthy, sexually-active people, it doesn’t define a person nor constitute who she or he is.

Celibacy is not all that a nun is about — there is much more, though celibacy is definitely the first thing that might hit you! Celibacy is lived within a community of sisters who support one another in this lifestyle. We also profess the vows of poverty (simple living, holding all things in common) and obedience (to God and to the mission of the Congregation) which combined with celibacy shape a nuns life and help her live her life-long commitment to God, her sisters, and the world.

There’s lots more to say about living celibacy as a nun, but I’ll stop for now with an invitation: if you are considering playing a Catholic sister and nun, don’t get hung up on the celibacy part of it. It’s worth wrestling with and you can always come by A Nun’s Life for some insight and advice!