“The fact is that religious life was never meant to be a labor force in the church; it was meant to be a searing presence, a paradigm of search, a mark of human soul and a catalyst to conscience in the society in which it emerged.”
--Joan Chittister
The paradigm shift in religious life the 21st century is an effort to “reclaim a deep, ancient wisdom inscribed in both monastic and apostolic forms of the vowed life largely subverted by the ideology of the patriarchal hero.”
--Diarmuid O’Murchu
“Theology is useless unless it can be transmitted to the body of the faithful in language that clarifies rather than obfuscates, that speaks to present-day reality rather than to a worldview and reality no longer relevant. The power of Christianity is tested in the hearts it reaches and the transformation it effects.”
--Barbara Fiand
"At the core of every refounding there is a person of faith who offers something beyond simple repair of cosmetic cracks in the façade. A rebirth springs from the way that person grasps the power of the original mystery.”
--Michael Crosby
Dunn, Ted, Graced Crossroads: Pathways to Deep Change & Transformation, CSS Publications, 2020, pp. 279-290
