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Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives
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Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives |
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Religious Life Index |
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| The
Apostolate of Religious Witness …I suggest that we look at the following aspects of our subject — keeping in mind that our focus of attention is on Christ, the first religious, and that, like Him, religious are to both practice the counsels and give witness to the world. |
| Come
and See The invitation of Jesus, "Come and see" (Jn 1:39), is the golden rule of pastoral work for promoting vocations even today. — Vita Consecrata, no. 64. All believers share the responsibility of promoting the gift of the priesthood, the religious life and other forms of consecrated life. The Church cannot survive without the witness of those who follow Christ with "an undivided heart." Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten the "golden rule." |
| Institute
on Religious Life (Letter) I believe the breakdown of religious life in the Western world is a phenomenon unique in the history of Christianity.There have been, since the last half of this century, more departures from Catholicism, more closings of Catholic churches, more dioceses that have been secularized than ever before in the history of Christianity. |
| Vocations and the Commitment Crisis With the dwindling number of entries into seminaries and novitiates, we naturally ask, "What happened?" And we are inclined to put the blame where it does not belong, on a lack of vocations. It is high time we took a hard look at the facts and draw some obvious, even though painful, conclusions. |
| The Crisis in Religious Life—A Crisis of Faith in the Church's Teaching Authority My purpose in the next few pages is to get just one idea across—a crucial one on which everything else depends: to show that religious life in the United States today is going through the most serious crisis in its history. I am not ready to say the crisis is either good or bad. Only the future can tell. I am not even prepared to say what brought the crisis about. I am only sure that a crisis exists and that we ought to do something about it. |
| The History of Religious Life: New Testament Origins of the Religious Life – Part 1 There are many reasons for beginning our study on the History of Religious life by paying some attention to its origins in the New Testament. Whatever else Religious Life means, it should mean a complete and whole soul’s dedication of oneself to God. But this kind of commitment is impossible without strong motivation. The higher the demands, the stronger must be the motive to meet them. And the strongest motives a Christian can find for making the sacrifices the religious life calls for - is the belief that the foundations of this life are in Divine Revelation…Why do we say that Jesus is the first Religious? |
| The History of Religious Life: New Testament Origins of the Religious Life – Part 2 What did the Church tell us? And we go back to Christ Himself and His immediate followers. Three kinds of totality, we are told by the Church, identify religious life as first practiced by the Savior and His immediate followers and to be somehow imitated by all who since the first century claim to be religious. Totality of Sacrifice, Service and Duration. |
| The History of Religious Life: Christian Perfection in the First Two Centuries after Christ We’re on the Christian community in the early post-Apostolic age. My reason for doing this is to give some historical context for seeing what happened immediately after Christ’s Ascension into Heaven and, indeed, after the apostles had gone to their reward and the Church began, as it were, on Her own. We first note that from the very beginning that early Church which, for our purpose, would extend from Pentecost up to, say, the end of the third century. So it’s about the two hundred fifty years after Pentecost by which time, as we shall see, we have the first beginnings of organized religious life much more as we know it now. |
| The History of Religious Life: Origins of Christian Monasticism - Part 1 Our purpose is very specific: to identify what may be called the spiritual patrimony of the early Church as the foundation on which all future living of the evangelical counsels was built. |
| The History of Religious Life: Origins of Christian Monasticism - Part 2 The date of St. Benedict is 529. Our intention is to see in historical sequence the early development of what may be called structured religious life; but all before St. Benedict, the Founder of Western Monasticism. To get our bearings and keep them, we should first divide the matter to be seen into something like logical parts each preceding, somehow meeting, the future part on which, then, it will build. Part One: To look at something of the persons whose life and practices set the pattern for Western Monasticism; second, the features of the life of these persons and third, the organization in established Rule. |
| The History of Religious Life: St. Augustine and the Religious Life The subject of our lecture, therefore, is the contributions of St. Augustine to the doctrinal principles and community structure of religious life. The best way to approach St. Augustine’s doctrinal teaching is to see what were the principal heresies that he had to combat during his day. |
| The History of Religious Life: Saint Francis of Assisi and the Witness to Evangelical Poverty - Part 3 By Franciscan theology we mean of course the reflection on the faith as has been done over the centuries by the great masters of theology in the Franciscan order. So Franciscan theology is the theology of the Franciscans, but who have been true to the spirit of Saint Francis. The four great names always after Saint Francis, that may be said to be the founders of Franciscan theology, are Alexander of Hales, who are the earliest, blessed Raymond Lily, Saint Bonaventure, and Duns Scotus. |
| The History of Religious Life: St. Teresa of Avila and the Carmelite Reform Notice we call this Teresian spirituality and not precisely Carmelite spirituality. The reason for the importance is first of all that the Church’s authority stands behind the person whom she has either canonized or beatified and above all has approved that person’s writing, soundness of doctrine, and for our purpose, way of sanctity. When the Church canonizes people, she infallibly declares two things: one, that the individual is certainly in heaven in the glory of God; and secondly, the effect this person’s way of life is a secure and effective means of also attaining holiness. The spirituality therefore has to do with that tried and approved means of growing in holiness. |
| The History of Religious Life: St. Frances de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal Frances de Sales built on St. Ignatius, notably of course, his spiritual exercises and Ignatius stress on human liberty.…The real difference between saints and would be saints: there are those who are saints [because they] voluntarily cooperated with God’s grace. The has beens, pardon me, the would have beens, are those who had the grace but did not cooperate. |
| The History of Religious Life: St. Vincent de Paul: Apostle of Charity Vincent de Paul was a hardheaded realist. His, I dare say, is the most down to earth spirituality you are going to consider in these two semesters. In time, he discovered that the great needs, the social needs of the people, were minor compared to their spiritual needs. And there he felt that if I’m going to do what needs to be done for the faithful, I must help the priests. |
| What is a Religious Vocation? There is more than passing value in stressing the fact that a religious vocation is a grace. It is, therefore, a gift and an opportunity that must be freely responded to if the grace is not to remain sterile and ineffective. |
| Sacrifice and Vocations Every vocation is born of sacrifice, is maintained by sacrifice and is measured in the apostolate by the sacrifice of those whom God calls to the priesthood or the religious life. This should not be surprising, once we realize that it was by His sacrifice that Christ redeemed the world. The servant is not greater than his Master. In fact, the more intimate is one's vocation to the service of Christ, the more demanding will be the sacrifices required. |
| Community Religious Life as the Living Experience of the Counsels in the Mystical Body of Christ We know and the Church has been teaching us that religious life is part of Christian revelation, indeed, that it is a mystery. And, like all other mysteries, religious life is not only to be believed, but as far as is possible with God’s grace, to be understood. In fact, to believe means to understand, to see with the eyes of faith what the natural man cannot comprehend.…Our focus of attention in this study is on community and more specifically on religious community. |
| The Apostolate in Every Vocation to Follow Christ Religious life is not an abstraction. We can talk about it in the abstract, but it is not lived out in the abstract. It is either lived out in a specific community with a specific apostolic purpose, or it soon becomes a religious community only in name.…Focusing on four specific aspects of the overall theme of how the apostolate is essential to every vocation, the first area is the meaning of vocation in general, in a very broad perspective. Then, the meaning of vocation and the special following of Christ. Third, the relationship of a vocation to the religious life and the apostolate. And finally some theological implications. |
| Religious Life: A Prophetic Vision (Book Review) Diarmuid O’Murchu’s "Religious Life: A Prophetic Vision" is a revolutionary book. …O’Murchu is a social psychologist whose published writings reveal a radical mind. He claims that what Catholics still call the religious life can no longer be contained within the framework of Christianity. Otherwise, in his own words, the vowed life is doomed to stagnation and death. He devotes over two hundred and fifty pages to outline the revolution that must take place in consecrated life in the Catholic Church. My plan in this analysis is to identify the main ideas on which O’Murchu bases his thesis. After each presentation, I will evaluate these ideas from the perspective of authentic Catholic doctrine. |
| Analysis of the Problems in Religious Life Today and Some Proposed Solutions In making this analysis, it seemed best to first set forth the dominant problems, along with an explanation of why they are problems. Then some solutions will be offered to each set of problems. And finally, the problems and their hopeful solutions will be arranged in the order of what is considered their priority on the practical level. Each problem area will be given a title to help focus attention on its basic features. |
| Chapter Two: Community Life In the history of the Church, community life has existed from apostolic times. The community of Christians living at Jerusalem after the Lord’s Ascension set the pattern for the future, and no community since then can afford to ignore this biblical paradigm. St. Luke, disciple of the peregrinating St. Paul, has left us a cameo description of how this first community lived. |
| The Eucharist and Vocations The Eucharist, therefore, is the best way to foster vocations. This means that persons who attend Mass, receive Communion and invoke Christ in the Blessed Sacrament obtain light and strength that no one else has a claim to. |
| Mary, Mother of Vocations When Mary told the angel at the Annunciation, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word," she became the patroness of every priest and religious until the end of time. Her acceptance of God's invitation to become His Mother made her the Mother of all vocations to the priesthood and religious life. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 1: The Crisis in Religious Life My purpose in the next few pages is to get just one idea across---a crucial one on which everything else depends: to show that religious life in the United States today is going through the most serious crisis in its history. I am not ready to say the crisis is either good or bad. Only the future can tell. I am not even prepared to say what brought the crisis about. I am only sure that a crisis exists and that we ought to do something about it. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 2: Community Life In the history of the Church, community life has existed from apostolic times. The community of Christians living at Jerusalem after the Lord’s Ascension set the pattern for the future, and no community since then can afford to ignore this biblical paradigm. St. Luke, disciple of the peregrinating St. Paul, has left us a cameo description of how this first community lived. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 3: Comparative Religious Life There is so much to say about religious life in the Catholic Church that it must seem like an intrusion to talk about anything else. But I think we can wait a bit before going on with our subject. There can be real profit in looking for a while at the equivalent of the religious life as it is practiced outside of Roman Catholicism, and has been, in same instances, for centuries before the time of Christ. What we want, of course, is all the light available on the essence of the religious state. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 4: Constitution, Rules, Customs Some of this evaluation and examination is essential to the success of this work; however, the purpose is more refined. We want to convince ourselves that community life without institutional form is a nameless utopia; that some kind of structure is essential to community life as seen in the whole of the Church’s past history; and, that the task before us is not to remove these forms. That would destroy the religious life! But it is to improve them, up-date them, and make them more compatible with the crying need of today: a communal life that does not stifle personality but helps it grow in mature sanctity and makes for a more effective apostolate. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 5: Vocation, Vows, Commitment and Apostolate In any discussion of the religious life two words are invariably associated: vocation and vows. They should be associated because they belong together. However, there are two other words that should join their company: commitment and apostolate. These form what I consider the inseparable combination: vocation and commitment, vows and apostolate. The interrelation of these four concepts is not a human invention, nor even an ecclesiastical construct, but derives from the divine plan of salvation and rests on nothing less than the supernatural providence of God. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 6: The Eucharist The religious life and the Eucharist are so closely related that the one can scarcely be conceived without the other. In the history of the Church, religious life began with the Eucharist; different orders and congregations took their root in the devotion of their founders to the Eucharist and, in the course of time, the spiritual vigor of religious communities and their apostolic effectiveness have been measured by the Eucharist. As the one flourished the other flourished, and as the one waned and grew less significant, the other also became weak or even died altogether. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 7: Confession Until recently the subject of Confession among religious was not much discussed. The Church’s legislation that "religious should approach the Sacrament of Confession at least once a week" was taken for granted. (Canon 595,3). Occasionally an article or even a book might be published on the subject, like Die Häufige Beicht (Frequent Confession) by the Benedictine Archabbot of St. Martin’s Abbey in Germany. But the focus was on how to make frequent Confession more profitable. It was not whether weekly Confession was profitable. That was assumed, and perhaps presumed too lightly. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 8: Poverty, Chastity and Prayer If there is one theological development that has come out of the Second Vatican Council, it is the concept of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. This means more than saying that the Church professes to have a sacramental system, from Baptism to Holy Orders. The Catholic Church claims to be itself the great Sacrament of the New Law. The logic behind this profession stems from the general principle that although God can perform by His own power all that is effected by created natures, nevertheless, in the counsels of His providence He has preferred to help men by the instrumentality of other men’s work; so also He makes use of human aid for that which lies beyond the limits of nature, for the salvation and sanctification of souls. |
| American Religious Life in Historical Perspective - Chapter 9: Silence, Habit and Daily Order We come to the last phase of our analysis of religious life and personality development. The plan is to see under one theme those features that give strong external witness of religious dedication and communal living, and are a special sign of religious obedience. Why concentrate on silence, habit and daily order? Because these three have always characterized religious life as approved by the Church and they are intrinsic to any authentic religious life that develops in the future. |
| Poverty We distinguish between natural poverty and supernatural poverty. The natural poverty which is binding by the natural law, requires that we respect other people’s property, whatever they own; that we not only do not steal with hands, we do not even steal with our hearts, otherwise known as greed or covetousness. |
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