I have always had the deepest respect for women religious. It seems to me that we unjustly joke about them or ridicule them. Critics will complain about sister hitting them with a ruler but say nothing about the learning and discipline that made their later successes possible. (By the way, a nun who is four-foot-something tall controlling a class of 50 plus boys might take a broken ruler or two!) These women often did without so that they might make a difference in people’s lives. They gave themselves to God’s service as his brides. Now that so many of them are elderly and sick, we need to remember them with love and respect. They pray in worship to God and in petition for those whom they love.
COMMENTS ABOUT THIS POST
Gladys
I so agree with you, Father!
Randall
The trouble is not that religious communities are dying and the membership is aging but rather that they are not dying off fast enough. Given that this situation most afflicts the dissenting nuns, the Church will be better off without them.
Gladys
I will be sad to see them go.
Randall
While the numbers of women religious is way down, the national collection to support them goes up. If it were just for nursing care it would not be so bad but the news has been leaked that radical sisters have used some of this money for their activist agenda. That is stealing, pure and simple!
Gladys
Mostly this is not the case.
Randall
The consecrated religious women who signed the NETWORK letter in support of Obama’s pro-abortion healthcare plan should be censured by their bishops and by Rome. Those who dissent on abortion and mock ecclesiastical authority should be stripped of canonical status and shown the door.
Gladys
Maybe we could dialogue with them first?
Randall
I do not know why the Church plays games with these women. The Pope should pointedly tell them, “Wear your habits and live in community or else!” Some like that nun who insulted Pope John Paul II back in 1979 should have been forcibly stripped of her status. Instead, she has gathered admirers and has sowed the seeds of rebellion for 20 years.
Gladys
He probably forgave her and daily prayed for her.
Terry
Father, I am very glad to see that you are back in the Land of Blog. Your humor and common sense have been greatly missed. Ad multos annos!
Thomas
I was educated in the 1960′s by the Sisters of St Joseph (Boston) through 8th grade. They displayed exceptional dedication, as well as wearing full habits. We are lucky (in NH) to have the Sisters from the Missionary Sisters of the Word order locally. They wear habits and are quite orthodox. They are missionaries here from Mexico to the U.S. And it’s sad to say, they are desperately needed.
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