New Religious Communities - A Poll

[TIWW]

Thanks for the Pole Nunsense.The yearning of Catholics today to enter into a deeper and richer relationship with God appears to me to be the work of the Holy Spirit , both in the life of the Church, and the individual. This longing is not one of a half-hearted effert, but one of sincere. loving, selfless giving and dedication to living Religious Life.

One of the things I've paid attention to,in new communities, among other things is the age of the foundress. Age being an issue for those over the ages of 35 to 40 who really believe God is calling them to live Religious Life. Though there are pitfalls for the more mature candidate, this call is no less valid.(In my mind, there are more pitfalls for those who try to commit when they are 18 yrs of age with no life experience and have not had a chance to reach emotional and psychological maturity.)

Another thing I've noticed is that Communities who seem to be committed to the original Charism and Vision of their Founders, regardless of the Order, even thought they have made adaptations and perhaps expanded their ministries, have done very well.This goes for established and newly forming communities. Part of this commitment includes faithfulness to private and communal prayer, or extending their daily prayer life to include the Liturgy of the Hours in it's fuller dimension. I was just looking at this recently, and orders who have pretty much given up much of their original Charism, and emphasized more social justice issues, have pursued personal vs communal goals, have not attracted new members. Maybe they have fulfilled their usefulness and place in the church, and will just naturally die off. Perhaps the swinging wide of the doors after Vatican II has reached the point where the pendulum is swinging back to the middle, and in balance these days. This is just my personal reflection.

[TIWW]

On a purely practical note, even established communities who are trying to expand and start new foundations in new locations do not have it easy. One huge issue is the lack of financial funding and resources, especially in today's economy. Another issue is the lack of personnel resources, ie Liturgists, Musicians, skilled resources needed to just maintain a household, building, chapel, car . . ..

[TeresaBenedicta]

A very interesting poll... Didn't see this when it originally surfaced. I'll have to think about my own opinion for a while. But I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's response thus far.

[HisChild]

I haven't read everyone's responses but I have discerned with a brand new community. I obviously didn't stay with them but it wasn't because it was new... this new community had everything that I wanted in a community: their prayer life, their desire for apostolate, (even thought their habits were still in the cross over stage from the beige habits they used to wear) etc. There was only one finally professed sister and 6 temporarily professed sisters. This community? You know them as the Sisters of Life.

[HisChild]

I just noticed this poll started in 09. I hadn't seen it before... so sorry I contributed to an old poll.