Envision a website dedicated to attracting young women to life as a nun. I look to the Nashville or Ann Arbor Dominicans as examples of flourishing and vibrant young communities leading the way. So when I visited the Catholic Nuns Today website that is what I thought I would find. I was wrong.
What I found is … this.
And that is the best part. The rest of the website is a bad acid trip down irrelevant lane. Take this pitch for instance. “Come be a nun, don’t worry it won’t get in the way of your day job.” Think I exaggerate?
Does being a Sister limit your career opportunities?
Not at all. And, our life is much more than a career. Our professional gifts are focused in service of God and of others. We use our gifts as physicians, teachers, missionaries, spiritual directors, social workers, psychologists, advocates for social justice, lawyers, counselors, ecologists, musicians, writers and artists to fulfill our vocation and our call.
Now meet Sister Linda Gibler, OP, of the Dominican Sisters of Houston. Sister is a former waitress who felt something was missing. Thank goodness she found it.
When I came to the Dominicans, I already had my BA in Sociology. I later received a Master’s in Pastoral Studies. My first jobs as a Sister were as a chaplain in a county hospital and in parish ministry. Later, when I saw the first of the pictures from the Hubble telescope, the beauty of the Universe overwhelmed me and I wanted to learn more about the relationships between philosophy, science, and religion. I went on to receive another Master’s in Philosophy & Religion. As I was studying, I investigated the “cosmocentric” aspects of Roman Catholic celebrations especially the use of water, olive oil, and fire in the sacraments. My Dominican congregation was extremely supportive of me and very encouraging throughout my eight years of discovery. I have just obtained my Doctorate in Philosophy & Religion with a concentration in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.
Now you might have noticed that none of the nuns look like, well, nuns. That, they think, is a selling point.
Where have all the habits gone?
For many years, Sisters wore the long habits which were fashioned after the common dress of pious women in Medieval times. Even those Congregations founded in more modern times adopted similar styles of dress. The styles were handed down for generations, with only a few modifications, until the renewal of religious life following Vatican Council II in 1965. Since then Sisters have had the option of retaining the traditional habit or changing to a simple, modest contemporary style of dress. Some Sisters still prefer the traditional habit. You may recognize a Sister who does not wear a traditional habit by some small sign, a cross or pin, that is a distinctive emblem of her Congregation.
Were I doing this piece as parody, I bet some people would write in the combox that I overdid it. The future lies in growing traditional communities. Cosmocentric T-shirt Communities of 1972 like the Dominicans of Houston are the past; they just don’t seem to know it. I suppose the dinosaurs on the verge of extinction didn’t know their number was up either. Catholic Nuns Today? I don’t think so.
April 15, 2009 at 2:48 pm
A little charity here please. These women are actively committing their lives in service to God and His people. You want to disagree with their fashion sense? Fine. You want to mock their vocational pursuits? Okay. But at least respect the fact that they are doing SOMETHING to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters in ways in which they believe God is calling them. That deserves at least a modicum of charity from us. My prayers are with them.
April 15, 2009 at 3:34 pm
The thing about cosmology and cosmocentrism is not as silly as you are making it. In the Middle Ages there were a slew of “De Anima” treatises, many written by Cistercians, that considered the notion that the human soul is a microcosm reflecting the four elements. Thus the connection between cosmology and consciousness is not necessarily a “far-out” or “new-age” idea.
April 15, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I dunno, Anonymous, most of this ad seems to be me, me, me, my, my, my, my discovery, my journey, support me, blah, blah, blah, like a 16-year old’s facebook.
And why Anonymous?
April 15, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I think it’s telling that none of the pictures show a young sister. All of the sisters shown appear to be no younger than 40, and many look to be in their 50’s and 60’s.
This could be a big turnoff for younger women. We live in a culture where young people look to their peers more than their elders. I don’t think this website will help a lot of young women to give serious thought to a vocation, as it shows religious sisters old enough to be their mothers and grandmothers. There’s absolutely no mention of what it means to be a young person with a vocation.
April 15, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Sounds like you would not care much for Susan Boyle since appearance is so important?
http://deacbench.blogspot.com
April 15, 2009 at 4:05 pm
“Broad brushes are all I have. Besides, these broads need some brushing.” Groucho couldn’t have said it better.
April 15, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Anonymous @11:01
I did not make fun of their appearance. I poke fun at their choices. Read my post, I said nothing about their appearance other than their reasons for choosing t-shirts over habits. Somehow I doubt whether you care what I actually wrote.
April 15, 2009 at 4:36 pm
The essence of religious life is the consecration of the person, the setting aside of her life to God. An effect of this is that one becomes a sign of eschatological realities. But if the consecrated person becomes indistinguishable because of her secular attire, then the symbolism is obscured if not lost. So, showing that they are reserved for God by a religious habit has value. They don’t have to look like the flying nun but if the Moslem women can wear veils, why not the “brides of the Lord”?
April 15, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Quick! How many here have read Perfectae Caritatis, which guided the reform of religious in the Church? And how many of these sisters are taking it seriously??
(crickets)
April 15, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I think people are being too judgmental. Yes, some modern sisters are radicals and heretics; others are dedicated servants of God who provide essential services in their communities. I guarantee you you can’t tell which are which by looking at their photos on the websites.
Does anyone know of more traditional orders where the sisters continue with or develop professional careers in law, medicine, academia, etc? One of the major barriers to women’s vocations is that many traditional Catholic women also have successful and intellectually challenging professional lives and don’t want to give that up (and it would be great for the Church to have more orthodox religious college professors, attorneys, doctors, etc).
April 15, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I pity these women more than anything. Yes they are lost in a lot of bad teaching from the 60s and 70s, but then again, these women were young then and were taught this stuff. They were taught that habits were demeaning to women etc. I have a good family friend (kind of like a grandmother) who is a SM, no habit and on the liberal side. She however runs a education center for unwed mothers and young mothers who need help with life skills. Is that not a fitting ministry for a sister? She does fine work for the Lord even though her theology is a little messed up. We should pity many of these women. That time period messed up a lot of people and we are only now fixing it
April 15, 2009 at 6:41 pm
One of the major barriers to women’s vocations is that many traditional Catholic women also have successful and intellectually challenging professional lives and don’t want to give that up.Bollocks. Formidable women from all strata and classes of society have been founding religious orders for centuries, many with unique charisms. Now, more than ever before, women are free to develop apostolates which are both new and orthodox. If they’re so brilliant, let them act. Here is a former successful lawyer, night-clubber and sports car driver who just founded a religious congregation in Perth, Western Australia. Note the attire, note the inspiration.
April 15, 2009 at 7:02 pm
It is like a who’s who of dying religious orders…how sad.
April 15, 2009 at 7:09 pm
You might do well to re-read your Good Friday post. I found nothing odd about the advertisement. There are many ways to serve God’s people.
April 15, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Contrast that with the Benedictines of Mary (benedictinesofmary.org) where the average age is something like 23, and they are growing so fast they have to double up on cells. It’s just funny that these convents see the lack of traditional habits and traditional ideas as a big positive in their vocations campaigns. You’d think they’d look at what is actually working and then go with that.
April 15, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I actually feel sorry for these Sisters. They think their “relevant” appearance is a draw for devout young women. It is not and that is why they need marketing like this website. Young woman discerning the religious life do not want something “cosmocentric”. They a community that us Christcentric.
Instead of mocking these Sisters, many of whom I am sure love Christ and his Church more than us here,but let us pray that they rediscover the charism and habits of their order.
April 15, 2009 at 9:29 pm
“these broads need some brushing”
Hey now, I used the B word here once and got chastised!… 😉
I especially like the chubby one with the trombone.
By the way, their site mocks old fashioned nuns with habits and rulers. Why can’t we mock new-fashioned nuns with bad haircuts and civvies?
April 15, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Seriously though, what’s the point of being a nun if you still have a day job? I thought people with day jobs were called “lay people”. They could join any number of lay organizations related to religious orders, such as Opus Dei. What’s the point of a “religious” that doesn’t work and live as a religious?
The more challenging and demanding the call, the more attractive to new recruits. Leave your nets, leave your boats, etc.
Is this like the military reserves? One weekend a month kind of a deal?
April 15, 2009 at 11:04 pm
As a young, intelligent Catholic woman discerning a possible-probable oh let’s just admit it vocation to religious life…
What the…?!!!!!!!
It is just so sad… not that they don’t do good work… just that they have forgotten *what they are*. Good people, pious people… possibly material heretics… but they have forgotten that they are religious.
Plus, what is the point if you don’t get the habit? ;-). The wimple, bring back the wimple!!!
April 16, 2009 at 12:56 am
I have never met an “out of the habit” sister who was orthodox in her beliefs. Have you?