I’ve received quite a few comments and emails (for which I am grateful) following the TIME article in which my blog and I were referenced. There’s a common theme that keeps creeping up and I thought I’d address it head on.
There seems to be this idea that religious life and the viability of a religious community is measured by NUMBERS — numbers of vocations, numbers of people who want to wear the traditional habit (BTW, is this phenomenon in men’s communities?), numbers in the novitiate, etc. Numbers seem to be the only measure of a community’s attractiveness, mission, ability to sustain itself, and future.
I find this utterly preposterous. Somehow we got stuck with this idea that religious communities should be large, ever-growing bigger, with novitate buildings that are as big as city blocks. We think that this is the sign of “success” and, dare I say, God’s favor. I am truly happy for communities that experience this kind of growth in their communities today. But, this is not the norm, nor should we expect it to be so. Religious life was never meant to be measured in size. In fact, the first communities were made up of a handful of people. Religious life was highly countercultural which meant it really wasn’t attractive to the vast majority of people. It wasn’t a popularity contest then or now.
Jesus himself said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). He did not say, “Where institutions, buildings, and popularity abound, there I am.” Certainly, Jesus is there wherever and however many we are. No question about that. But size was not the criterion for following the gospel, being a viable community, or pursuing a mission that God planted in people’s heart. We have no right to proclaim that a religious community is dying because of its numbers. No right whatsoever. Where only two or three are gathered, we must not assume that they are dying or that they have somehow failed in their mission (if they failed the popularity test, then I take this as a sign of health). God is at the heart of their community, their vocation, and their future. I for one would not want to suggest that God is incapable of inspiring any community because they are “too small” or “too old” or “not attractive enough.” I think such comments are more a reflection on our own assumptions and limited imagination than it is about the community.
Such thinking about numbers and religious life is disturbing to me on another level as well. When the focus of religious life becomes the religious community itself or the individual herself/himself, then something has gone terribly wrong. Religious life is not about any one of us or our community. To get caught up in such navel-gazing is to neglect the whole reason religious life exists: to serve the world and Church. It’s about MISSION. Without mission, it doesn’t matter how many people come through the convent doors or how consecrated you look or what lofty ideals you subscribe to.
So what’s the measure of a religious community? Serving the poor, caring for the sick, praying for the needs of the world, being open to God’s Spirit, striving for holiness, encouraging others …. It’s about following the Gospel, plain and simple.
Archived Comments
- November 17, 2006 at 11:15 am
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How right you are in your blog about nuns and numbers. God does not choose the qualified woman, God qualifies the one choosen. The whole focus of religious life is on the mission and our dedication of caring for those forgotten and rejected by our society. Our mission is the same mission of Jesus.
- November 17, 2006 at 11:46 am
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Amen Sister!!!
- November 17, 2006 at 11:56 am
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I was a member of a religious community. I don’t think religious orders are dying because of numbers. I do question if orders are dying. I didn’t find the focus to be community, prayer, and mission. I felt the order had become very secular.
For example, it was all to common to hear that working with the poor didn’t mean physically working for the poor. Many sisters worked in very affluent jobs. Then they said that money went into the common pot to help the poor… so the money they made got distributed. I’m not sure that was what my foundress meant. She had inherited great wealth. She didn’t give her money away, she physically worked for the poor so that the money could be stretched further. There were always one or two sisters who did work with the poor, but the numbers of them were diminishing. I felt that this was due to the aging community and the community needed more money to take care of the elderly. Not sure I believe this because the senior sisters would tell me to never let them get in the way and not to worry about them. I knew of 2 sisters who were asked to take a job that paid more rather than work with the poor by the leadership so I’m sure there were more since many probably wouldn’t have told me. But the mission statement was working with the economically poor.
So, I question whether religious life is dying if it’s compromising values. I don’t necessarily think religious life is dying because of all the senior sisters dying. I think it is dying because of the values religious life is placing on being secular and giving into the views of today.
- November 17, 2006 at 12:37 pm
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I completely agree with what you say about numbers. Our Foundress Jeanne Chezard de Matel said that we were never meant to be a big order. I’ve heard people say thaey would never visit a convent where the Sisters don’t wear a habit. It seems that the prettier the habit, the more numbers. That is o.k but it odesn’t mean that the rest of us who have the option to wear it, or do not wear it at all, are not Church. Numbers are not representative of the future of the congregation…
- November 17, 2006 at 2:00 pm
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Jenn, I would like to quote a phrase from your reply, “I think Religious life is dying because of the values Religious life is placing on being secular and giving into the views of today.” I do not agree with you. I know many sisters from several communities and I can’t say any of them are giving into the views of today. Religious are up front in the struggle against poverty and the fight for peace and justice. I agree with you that community is about support. I live alone and the only sister in a Catholic school.ButI have to admit,I feel more connected to my community in Michigan and the other sisters through e-mails and our webpage. The support comes from being apart of a community who cares about you and trusts you to be a woman of prayer and commitment. When I entered, I lived in convents of 10 to 25 sisters and didn’t feel the support as I do today. Religious now are nore mature who know what they are about, and are happy to be religious sisters.
- November 17, 2006 at 2:48 pm
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I hear you (and agree) BUT (for argument sake) success in our culture is defined by quantity not quality. Look at universities who brag about how many students they enroll and how many graduate; or companies who have monthly production tables on how they did this month compared to the same month in the previous year and then compared to the projection for that month. It’s all ridiculous, but we’ve become programmed.
I listen to people from the big churches in the south bragging (and there’s no other term for it) about how many thousands of members they have. Yet, how many souls are really tuning into the spiritual message from their pastor or whomever.
So when a prominent magazine, like TIME, highlights nuns after mainstream news have been reporting with glee that there is a decline in the priesthood and the bankruptcies of the diocese, people are fascinated by the message in the article that “wait, all is not lost because look there are young, happy nuns still answering the call.” But really can your spiritual value be measured numbers and dollars?
- November 17, 2006 at 3:15 pm
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I love your last paragraph…that’s for all of us too, not just Nuns. I am visiting each blog I link to today, and sharing a hug. Have one from me xx
- November 17, 2006 at 4:19 pm
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Thank you Julie. I appreciate your insight about how focusing on the size and numbers of a community can distract from its mission and purpose. You are a good communicator.
- November 18, 2006 at 11:32 am
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Although I heartily agree that numbers are not the stuff religious life is made of ( they are rather like the Marines; the few, the proud) they do help. If a community is all over 80, with members dieing and no knew memebers coming in, then it is going to be very hard for that order to continue their work (weither it be with the poor, teaching, nursing, ect.)You dont have to get hundreds of postulents every year, but you do need a few new members to continue the work and care for the elderly of the community.
- November 18, 2006 at 9:21 pm
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I think you made some good points, but someone else had commented somewhere and pointed out that God does the calling… so if more women are called to the more traditional communities, then maybe that does mean something.
On the other hand, large numbers are actually the opposite of the Carmelite way, which states that community numbers not exceed 21. And I love the Carmelites and they definitely have an awesome awesome mission.
I think people look at numbers for an important reason, and that is that we trust God to call people, and if we aren’t trusting God, and if he is speaking to us in numbers, that could be a problem and it needs to be considered.
As far as habits go, I do not agree at all with Sr. Mary Helga about the prettier the habit the more vocations. (Traditional) Habits are not in and of themselves stylish or trendy. They aren’t clothes that women look at and think, is that going to flatter my figure? Rather, they are a symbol and the worth is in the people underneath the habit and what they stand for, not the habit itself. But just it being beneficial for a church to be recognized as a house of God from the outside, so is it important for a nun.
- November 19, 2006 at 3:40 am
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Julie, came across your blog by accident, and haven’t seen the Time article yet. My own community, Society of the Divine Word/Divine Word Missionaries, a male missionary community that has actually grown since the original hiatus in the late sixties and early seventies, is the largest strictly ‘ad gentes’ missionary community, with a membership that is over 50% Asian and with one of the lowest median ages of any male community. We stopped bothering about the habit way back in the seventies, and depending where we work ‘clerical dress’ is optional, or given the cultural and/or climate conditions inappropriate. Thankfully nobody makes a lot of noise about it, and also thankfully we have none of the ‘young fogeys’ who seem to be increasing among the clergy in the USA. This overweening concern about habits for nuns and/or sisters seems to me rather sexist. If a community is true to its founding principles and charism it will give the witness the Church, and the world needs, and those who can see beyond such superficial elements as the habit will support that community in many and various ways including considering membership. Finally, on an historical note, the average lifetime of a religious community is two hundred years; as some communities grow so others die, as some, in response to the needs of true and authentic Gospel witness, renew themselves and see new life in unexpected places, others unable to see where they are called to now witness to the Gospel, or due to the exigencies of time disappear into the twilight.
I write from the margins, over thirty years here in Japan. Rome and the neo-conservatives in USA and Europe don’t understand Asia or its needs but the Church grows slowly and the majority of our vocations are Asian, so maybe that is enough proof that the Holy Spirit is working with, in and through us. We give thanks every day for each small sign that we witness not in vain.
- November 19, 2006 at 11:38 pm
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Julie, I so appreciate your articulate reflection. I agree with you and have also experienced the troubling feeling that the numbers game is so often used to disguise the real issues. There are friars, brothers, sisters, nuns and lay members of religious orders continually joining and pursuing the call that God has planted in their hearts.
I agree with Brendan as well (well put, Brother!) that the question about habits seems to have some sexist overtones. Of course the history of the habit may resonate with that comment too.
When I was a novice, a fellow Dominican, a friar novice, told me that I should be out doing more to bring more sisters into the community. I replied then, and believe now too, that if it is God’s will that I be the last of my congregation, I will gladly close the door on the past and step over the threshold to whatever God calls me to next. Life, Death, Resurrection: it’s what Jesus was all about, and it’s what I want to be about too.
Thanks for representing sisters/religious life so authentically. I’m grateful for your blogging.
- November 20, 2006 at 1:53 am
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I wanted to respond to CC about her comment: “Rather, they are a symbol and the worth is in the people underneath the habit and what they stand for, not the habit itself.” It IS a fact that communities with habits are getting a lot more vocations. I never meant to say that Sisters with habits do not have any worth, or that the worth is in the habit. I really meant to say what I said, habit = more vocations. I have nothing against the habit, I wear a modified habit and veil myself. Like you said, it is God who does the calling and therefore, God also called the Sisters who don’t wear habits. Big numbers aren’t important, perseverance, love of God, service to God’s people is.
- November 20, 2006 at 1:36 pm
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Hi sister Mary Helga, I have talked to you on phatmass! It is always interesting to see what accual nuns (or sisters) have to say about the habit. God IS the one doing the calling, but is there a reason that he is calling more women to orders that wear the habit? Or is it that he is calling women to something about a community, and they just happen to wear a habit?
- November 20, 2006 at 2:19 pm
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Hi Lily, I believe God does the calling. I don’t know if there is a resoning behind why more women join orders that wear habits. I do not believe that most young people are only about habits. I have met people who have very deep reasons to wear it, but I have met others that just plain like it. Ultimately, that answer is up to every single religious or person called. In my case, it was the spirituality. I come from a country where nuns were not allowed to wear habits to teach until very recently. Therefore, for me the habit was the last thing in my mind. However, I have come to love our habit and the story behind it.
- November 20, 2006 at 4:17 pm
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Sister Mary Helga, It is times like these when I have learned to just shut my mouth and appreciate the mystery of God… I will admit sometimes I spend far too much time trying to “figure Him out” if you know what I mean. I want to know all the answers and I just can’t. But I do believe that all that are called, are called based on what is best for them. If God has it in mind for someone to teach, He probably isn’t going to call them to the enclosure. I often go back and forth between cloistered contemplative communities and apostolic communities, wondering which is the “right one.” I have to remind myself that all of God’s calls are different according to each of His creations, and that we all make up the hands and feet of His body. I think the traditional habit vs. non-traditional habit is not really as big of a deal as most make it out to be, but sometimes I do question what some of the reasons are for not sticking with the traditional habit. I think that I am drawn to it for no other reason than that God is calling me to a community that wears it. I guess I can ask Him when I get to heaven. =) No use fretting over it while there is too much to be done.
- November 20, 2006 at 4:23 pm
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CC, Just let your yes be YES, God will take care of the rest. Praying for you and your vocation!
- November 20, 2006 at 4:30 pm
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I refuse to use the terms “traditional” and “modern,” or whatever epithet people are using at the moment to describe religious life. I think there’s a place for both cloistered and apostolic orders, and that they’re both valuable. I wonder, though, if the rise in communities with a habit is more due to the fact that they’re usually more contemplative than apostolic. The contemplative dimension of our faith is one which isn’t emphasized in a lot of parishes, and I think there’s a need for it.
- November 20, 2006 at 4:51 pm
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Jen, repectfully, I disagree. I have seen (and visited!) quite a few orders that have a very active spirit, wear habits, and are growing, I dont think it is just the cloistered contemplatives. (I do agree that there is more of a need for contemplation in the general world, though).
- November 20, 2006 at 7:30 pm
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Oh nononono, Lily. That wasn’t my point at all. I’m saying that perhaps the rise in vocations to contemplative orders is a sign that there’s something missing in the societies where they’re growing. We definitely need both apostolic and contemplative orders, and we’re all richer for their vocations. My point was that the issue of whether an order is growing or shrinking probably has nothing to do with the clothes they wear, but is part of a host of larger issues. (Contemplative vs. apostolic being only one of them, and I realize that a lot of orders have both, such as the Dominicans–one I’m more familiar with, since I go to a Dominican parish.)
- November 21, 2006 at 8:50 am
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Oh, now I see what you were trying to say, Jen, sorry for messing that up!
- November 21, 2006 at 12:16 pm
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One of the things you ask in your posting is whether men’s communities are experiencing an upsurge in members wanting to wear the habit. From my experience as a former Dir. of Vocations, I would definately say yes. Young(ish) men coming into religious life, even in communities where the habit has not been given or worn in any official way for years, are requesting to wear it. As I questioned some of these men about their reasons for wanting the habit, it seemed to stem from a sense of belonging and wanting to be identified by it in some public way. I always felt that one did this by words, deeds, and attitudes.
You are right on target about numbers. According to recent studies done on seminary life in the last century, there was a blip on the screen post World War II when seminaries were filled. Many institutions built massive buildings in the vain hope that this trend would continue. The numbers we have now in our seminaries is much more in keeping with our history in North America, especially the United States and Canada. In the history of religious life, communities have come and gone. Somtimes it was because the mission or need within the church they were founded for was accomplished or no longer needed. There have probably been some that disbanded because of poor management, scandal and all the other reasons any institution dies. After all, the Spirit will do what the Spirit will do. In our time now, there are new communities coming into existence who see a mission or a need and are responding. They may have 5 members or 90. It does not matter. What matters is the life and vitality, the organic nature of religious life that continues to live and die.
- November 21, 2006 at 3:46 pm
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I always liked the titles of Van Zeller’s “WE” books, “We Sing While There’s Voice left”, “We Die Standing up”, “We Live With Our Eyes Open,” “We Work While The Light Lasts,”
Religious life is about the “We”. That is why I came to relgious life, and that is why I have stayed through the chaos of the 60′s, and radical changes till now. The “we” is why I renew my vows daily and regularly examine my practice of those vows. I bring my mind and heart back to my initial reasons for choosing religious life, and refresh my resolve to be true to those reasons.
For me it never was about a habit. I sought and found a community working for one goal– to be a communal instrument in God’s hands, so He could transform the world. Yes, religious life is about the “WE.”
If young women today look deeply at their reasons for seeking religious life, they will realize that, Sisters old or young, in habit or not in habit, forge on…. “We Sing While there’s Voice left”, “We Die Standing up”, “We Live With Our Eyes Open,” “We Work While There’s Light left,”, There is plenty of mission for all of us to do. Our aim is to work our way out of a job! May the Kingdom come!
- November 23, 2006 at 4:49 pm
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I do wish that more religious and priests would wear their habits and cassocks. In my community, we all wear habits, but not when we go out shopping. Also, the seminarians in my diocese are told not to wear cassocks or clerical shirts. I’ve talked to a few about this and most of them wish it would be otherwise.
