Religious Sisters Disagreeing With The Church

[cmaD2006]

:) Sr. Marie your answer rocks :)

[SNJM]

Sister - I think your community was featured on Fox News tonight! I hope I am thinking of the right Sister..,little Sistters of the Poor (?). !!! Well done segment & I'm so glad YOUR community ( if I'm right) is doing so much!!! God bless you ALL!
Rose

[nikita92]

Sister Marie, you input was the most helpful and insightful..Bravo!instead of lecturing BlueRose (Instead of shaking the finger at her so to speak)

[AccountDeleted]

Sister Marie's posts are always so full of wisdom and charity and perhaps that is one reason that I was so quick off the mark to warn against us criticizing any religious communities - she is a religious, as are several other posters in VS and we can show our respect and support for them all by keeping things charitable here.

 

I'm sorry if my post came across as lecturing or shaking the finger (I assume those comments were directed at me :) ) - but I was most impressed with Blue.Rose's simple response of 'Yes, thank you.' and I gave it props. It was a humble answer to my impassioned plea not to turn VS into Debate Table as has happened so often in the past.

 

For those posters who haven't been around for many years, in the past some threads have degenerated into attacks against so called 'liberal' communities and this has caused offence and even driven some posters away from phatmass. If I sounded too harsh, I apologize. But CMAD2006's early intervention and warnings have ensured that this thread did not turn into any kind of conflict. I hope we can keep it that way.

 

Sr Marie, one thing I really liked about your post was the suggestion to ask open ended questions rather than Yes/No ones.You are so right in saying that the open ended ones can provide us with so much more information than a simple yes or no. Thanks for reminding all of us of that. 

Edited July 9, 2014 by nunsense

[brandelynmarie]

I'm going to be copying the list of open-ended questions & using them when I start enquiring into/visiting communities again. Thank you, Sister Marie. :nun:

[nikita92]

I thought they were wonderful questions to write down as well!!;))

[BarbTherese]

I get what you are trying to ask by asking that question but I don't think it is a question that produces a lot of fruitful conversation for discernment.  Honestly, its too simple of a question for what you really want to know about the community.  

 

The first question you could ask is along those lines - "Are you a validly established community?  Are you a diocesan community or pontifical?"  Right away you know, if they are validly established and their Rules and Constitutions approved by the Church, they are with the Church.  That doesn't mean they don't have any problems - EVERY community has some problems because we aren't in Heaven yet - but that is the criteria for being a community in the Roman Catholic Church.  

..............edited for space only...................

 

There are an infinite number more but I think this style of questioning will give you more insight than questions like "Do you wear a habit all the time?" or "Do your sisters pray in latin?" or "Do all your sisters live in a convent all the time?"  Yes or no questions don't give you a whole lot of information.  Keep it open-ended and really listen with your heart.  Rarely is life very black and white and all communities are doing their best to balance the needs of the members, the needs of the people they serve, and the practice of their own charism... not an easy task in our world today.  

 

I hope you find what you are seeking!

 

 

Put this important post on file.  Thank you, Sister Marie! :)