Consecrated Life Revisited

CONSECRATED LIFE REVISITED This book is not only about religious but about all consecrated persons, that is to say, about religious, priests, members of Secular Institutes and the like. There is an observable lack of confidence in traditional forms of dedicated service to the People of God. The healthiest and most creative dedicated persons are seriously debating whether the styles of convent, monastery, or presbytery are any longer appropriate. The consecrated person, is a professional lover of God and his people. If this is so, he/she is distinguished in the people of God first and foremost by interpersonal relations to the Lord and to his people. We diminish their personal dignity if we describe them primarily by their function. They are before all else lovers of God and other persons and drinkers of beauty. In other words, the consecrated person stands in deep and intimate interpersonal relationships to the Lord and to his people. This book can serve as a travel brochure for consecrated persons. It may entice those who have never taken this particular route to come along. For those who have been on the road, it points out some of the high spots as well as the pitfalls. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART ONE. N ATURE OF CONSECRATED LIFE CHAPTER ONE NATURE OF CONSECRATED LIFE IN GENERA! 1.1. Consecrated Life as the Life of Professional Lovers of God 1.1.1. Support from Scripture 1.1.2. Support from the Teaching of the Magisterium. 1. i .3. Support from Canon Law. 1.1.4. Support from the Opinion of Theologians. 1.1.5. Support from Theological Reasons. Community, the Reason for Consecrated Life? Apostolate. Not the Reason for Consecrated Life Witness. Not the Primary Reason for Consecrated Life Consecrated Life as Exclusive Commitment to God-Quest Religious lite. Typified by Other Major Religions. as Pursuit of God-Experience Consecrated Life as a Life-Form Geared to Making People Spiritual Geniuses : Consecrated Life as a Contemplative State by Its Very Nature All Consecrated Life as Monastic in the Theological and Spiritual Sense Celibate Solitude as the Root of Immediacy to God Celibate Consecration as an Expression of Spousal Love for Christ Consecrated Life as Communion with God and Humans Consecrated Profession as Covenant with God. Analogy between Consecrated Life and Married Life Consecrated Life as Charism. Consecrated Life as Prophetic Vocation. Consecrated Life rrH Expectations of the Laity Distinction between Seeing God in All Things and Seeing All Tilings in God Consecrated Life as True Way to Freedom Consecrated Life r.". Separation from the World. 1.2. Consecrrted L; e as the Life of Professional Lovers of Humans CHAPTER T'tVO NATURE OF CONSECRATED LIFE >N PAKTICUIAR 2.1. Nature of Religious Life Origin of Religious Life Canonical Definition of Religious Life Theological-Spirit al Meaning of Religious Life Meaning of Religious Vows 2.2. Nature of Priestly Life 2.3. Nature of "Secrlar Institute" Life PART TWo LIVINGOFCONSECRATEDLIFE CHAPTERTHREE LIVING THE LIFE OF PROFESSIONAL LOVERS OF GOD 3.1. How Should Diocesan Priests Live the Life of Professional Lovers of God? 3.2. How Shou Id Religious Live the Life of Professional Lovers of God? 142 3.3. How Should Members of Secular Institutes Live the Life of Professional Lovers of God? CHAPTER FOUR LIVING THE LIFE OF PROFESSIONAL LOVERS OF HUMANS 4.1. Greater Love for Enemies 4.2. Greater Love for the Loveless 4.3. Greater Love for Strangers 4.4. Greater Love for Acquaintances 4.5.Greater Love for One's Family Members 4.6. C .eater Love for Celibate Friends CHAPTER FIVE PASTORAL CONSIDERATIONS 5.1. Religious Life in the New Millennium. 5.1.1. Does Religious Life Have a Future? 5.1.2. For New Models of Religious Life 5.1.3. For a New Approach to Formation. 5.1.4. For a Renewed Life of Contemplation 5.1.5. For^a Renewed Sense of Heterosexual Relationship. 5.1.6. For a Renewed Life of Poverty 5.1.7. For a Renewed Living of Asceticism. 5.2. Conscience and the Religious Rule. 5.2.1. Qualities of Good Constitutions 5.2.2. Unity in Variety 5.2.3. Respect for God's Grace in Others 5.2.4. Keeping the Rules. Rules of Two Kinds Keeping Disciplinary Rules. Following Spiritual Directives Exception to the Rules Breaking of Rules The Spirit of Our Observance 5.3. Religious Habit and Ecclesiastical Dress 5.3.1. Value of Religious Habit and Ecclesiastical Dress 5.3.2. Arguments in Favour of Freedom Positive Arguments Answer to Objections 5.3.3. No Connection between Ugliness and the Service of the Lord 5.4. Consecrated Persons and Psychosexual Maturity.0 5.4.1. Nature of Psychosexual Maturity 5.4.2. Risks of Immaturity in Consecrated Life 5.4.3. Consecrated Person ; and Degree ofMaturity 5.4.4. Specialized Therapeutic Facility lor Priests and Religious 5.5. Consecrated Life in the Life of the Laity WHAT CONSECRATED LIFE MEANS TO ME 6.1. What Priestly Life Means to Me 6.2. What Religious Life Means to Me