For many U.S. Catholic sisters and indeed for many Catholics across the U.S. and abroad, the Apostolic Visitation of American Women Religious that began in 2009 turned out to be a graced opportunity to reflect on apostolic, or ministerial, religious life. At the public helm of this reflection has been Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, professor emerita of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology/Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She has served as president of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and on te board of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America. Perhaps her greatest claim to fame, however, is that she is a person deeply grounded in prayer who has given her life to serving God, the Church, and the world. She is a person whom I am proud to call my sister.

At the time of the Apostolic Visitation, Sister Sandra stepped up, offering her reflections on religious life into the public forum. These were certainly not random thoughts and opinions but ones steeped in faith and “in decades of biblical scholarship, religious life scholarship, and lived experience in a congregation.” (Sister Maria Cimperman, OSU, writing about Sister Sandra). These reflections, originally published by National Catholic Reporter, are now collected in the book Prophets in Their Own Country: Women Religious Bearing Witness to the Gospel in a Troubled Church, published by Orbis Books.

A note about the title … We can be a bit sceptical about prophets, especially when one self-appoints oneself as a prophet! The job description for a prophet has never been public acclaim or celebration or even a pat on the back. It is perhaps one of the most arduous of callings that exists. Yet the Church recognizes that some callings are prophetic by nature. One such calling is religious life.

“Religious Life has, from its inception, been recognized not simply as a ‘work force’ in the church but as a prophetic vocation…. For a hundred years before the [Second Vatican] Council a process of institutionalization, standardization, and even domestication muted to the point of virtual silence the specifically prophetic character of the life. Religious began to rediscover that important dimension of their identity as they emerged into public life by their increasing participation in social justice issues in the 1960s and their enthusiastic espousal in the Church of the agenda of Vatican II. Intrinsic to the prophetic vocation within the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition is the tension between prophecy and institution.” (Prophets in Their Own Country, 22-23)

Though the Apostolic Visitation has faded from the news, the important articulations of who we are as women religious remain as well as the deep connection that women religious have across congregations and with the wider lay Catholic community (women religious are lay people after all). Sister Sandra’s book is a great springboard into deeper reflection on religious life as a gift to the Church and to the world.

Sister Sandra has joined us before at A Nun’s Life Ministry for our In Good Faith program, and she will join us again for a live broadcast on Tuesday next week, November 1, at 9 a.m. CST. We’ll talk with Sister Sandra about the saints as we honor All Saints Day. Join us! The event is one among many others to help kickoff the A Nun’s Life Ministry 1st Annual Fundraiser, and we encourage you to support this ministry that strives to promote religious life and to encourage people in living their calling. Please consider a one-time gift or a monthly gift to support the ministry.

Today’s Gospel reading is from Luke 2:22-35. It’s the first part of the story of the Presentation of Jesus which is when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to be purified and consecrated to God according to Jewish law. (The actual feast day is not until February 2).

Saint Simeon by Suzanne Reynolds

The story records how the family meets Simeon, who was “devout and just, anticipating the consolation of Israel” (v25). Simeon welcomes the child recognizing in Jesus “the salvation … prepared for all the peoples” (v30-31).

In light of today’s reading, what new insight or open door or inspiration has presented itself to you during this Christmas season?

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Please join us at 6:00 p.m. CST (your time zone) for Praying with the Sisters podcast, a ministry of A Nun’s Life. Visit aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

Thank you so much for your participation in the call for Nun Questions. The response was overwhelming. Here’s what’s been happening since you submitted the questions.

Since I’m in Monroe at my IHM Motherhouse attending meetings important to the life of our congregation, I thought I’d ask my Sisters if they would like to participate in A Nun’s Life by responding to questions from visitors about a variety of topics ranging from their favorite place in the world to their vocation. I took each question (some had to be edited a bit to fit on an index card) and posted them on a board in our IHM Motherhouse. Last night the meetings gave way to “pub night” (organized by the very talented Barbara, Marilyn, and Karin whom you’ll see later in a rare video interview about what it’s like to work for nuns). During the pub we invited Sisters to check out the huge board with all your questions posted and to take a question and respond on camera.

I am enormously grateful to these women, my Sisters, for participating and offering their experience and wisdom. Now, the videotaping was all me and definitely a work in progress. For example, you’ll hear some ambient sound coming from the pub party-goers who were playing Wii, singing, and having a great time.

Here is the first Sister who stepped up to respond to one of your questions. The question comes from Deerose: “Do you believe there are any prophets living today? If so, who is it and why do you think of this person as prophetic?” Sister Joan Mumaw, IHM, responds. Joan is currently ministering as the Vice President of our IHM Congregation. She has spent many years ministering in Africa and is a leader in addressing the issues around the global pandemic of HIV AIDS.