A Burning Love Ignited
The Experience of Call in Religious Life
Keywords:
Religious Life, Call in Religious Life, Love Ignited, religious life in the US, ecology of selfAbstract
This essay reflects on the experience of a call to religious life beginning with the current generations in religious life in the US describing the pervasiveness and depth of change in this life-form. It primarily explores contemporary understandings of vocation from the perspective of the ecology of self and community, self and God, and on vocational choices developing, expanding, and changing over time. There are at least three conversations going on: between self and God, within oneself with one self, and with self and community. An evolving approach to vocation is adopted drawing on the work of Fredrich Hudson on self-renewing adulthood. Particular attention is given to women’s experience as often being conditioned by others and recognizes that discovering one’s vocation from within may be more difficult because of these external pressures.
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