The Vows of Religious Life in a Secular Society

What are the prospects for a renewed engagement of vowed religious life and secular society today? Merkle trains a keenly perceptive eye upon the contours of consecrated religious life today, including key challenges relating to the themes of autonomy and pluralism, as well as vocation, charism and mission. In the search for a renewal of integral wholeness in religious life today, the abundant resources within this volume will surely be decisive. * Thomas Massaro, Fordham University, USA *This is an illuminating reflection on the meaning of vowed religious life in our contemporary world. Drawing on rich experience, personal reflection and a wide range of contributions in theology, philosophy and sociological and psychological theory, it offers a profound understanding of how religious vows make possible a life of wholeness and service. * Robert Gascoigne, Australian Catholic University, Australia. *Drawing from a wide variety of disciplines from Psychology and Sociology to Theology and Philosophy, Merkle analyzes the challenges of modern secular society, where religion is simply one choice among many others. This “contingency,” she says, leaves a void, a hunger to touch and be touched by a wholeness beyond the competing plethora of transitory goals. Religious virtuosity in every faith tradition throughout the ages has thrived when it answered the particular hunger(s) of its society. Vowed religious life, too, will thrive through its witness that “something real is there.” * Patricia Wittberg, Indiana University Indianapolis, USA *

Judith A. Merkle recently served as Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University, USA. She is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.