A Life Uncommonly Blessed: Consecrated Life Today, Challenges and Trajectories
Loading...
Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
Undoubtedly, all over the world, consecrated life is going through a difficult moment of transition. The society of today has changed enormously. This change that can be best described as pluralistic, multicultural, post-modern, post-Christian, globalized, and the one shaped by modern information and communication technologies, producer of new forms of poverty and exclusion. In this new context, any form of life centered on God and self-giving to others is considered clearly countercultural. Religious evangelical counsels do not seem appreciated, much less understood. They are considered inhuman and limiting human beings from true maturity and fulfilment. In other words, the evangelical counsels are something from which to free ourselves. Religious life appears in such an environment to be a sign counter to a variety of contemporary values, including (and not limited to) money and materialism, hedonism and body worship, individualism, and any form of authoritarianism. In short, religious life is very much challenged today; it is in a crisis. This paper aims at giving a theological insight into this crisis; it also proposes some reflections to map the way forward for consecrated life.
Description
Keywords
Consecrated Life, Challenges, Trajectories