Monasticism in The Books Store

Controversial author Sandra Schneiders asks the question, does being a religious still make sense in today's world? Her answer is yes, that religious life has a future full of hope but that it must be rethought and remodeled within the radically new context of post-Vatican-II postmodernism. Situating religious life both within a historical-cultural setting and within the Catholic Church, Schneiders addresses major questions of meaning, identity, and boundaries that have arisen over the past decades.

With tremendous cohesion, she examines issues about celibacy, permanent commitment, formation, community, vows, and prayer, as well as issues of particular concern to women: patriarchy, feminism, the role of women in the Church, and female ordination. The years since Vatican II, she says, have been a "Dark Night of the Soul" for religious life; she uses this paradigm to make sense of what has happened, the purification and transformation of religious life from dinosaur to songbird.

Making his struggles and his happiness practically tangible on these pages, Merton was never a better writer than in his journals. His gifts are as abundantly clear in this volume as in its predecessors."'Publishers Weekly

"Merton at his best: sophisticated, honest, humorous, and mystical."'Kirkus Reviews