Good News For Religious Life: Results of CARA Study

I just returned from taking Rich Jasper, one of our soon-to-be novices, to the airport.  He along with two others, Joe Murray (Villanova) and Carlos Medina (California) will be received into the novitiate on Friday in a small ceremony during Evening Prayer.  We Augustinian friars have been blessed with more men lately having serious conversations with us about religious life, some of whom are ready to take the plunge and enter. 

God is indeed doing something new in our world; in fact, more women and men are exploring religious life than has been in recent years.  Just today, the results of a study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) have been released to the press.  It's the first of its kind, as it surveyed 4,000 women and men who have entered communities in the U.S. since 1993.  While the findings are not at all that surprising, the study gives data that supports what many have experienced in newer members.  Here are some of the findings:

• diversity, diversity, diversity in ethnicity, age, and experience
• community more than ministry attracts: newer entrants are looking for a particular way of life, out of which ministry flows
• common apostolates, which promote greater visibility, are preferred among newer members; most want to live, work, and pray with members of their community
• while there is a great diminishment in the number of religious, newer members tend to be attracted to communities that are clear and confident about their identity and hopeful about the future

To see the full report, as well as good follow-up material, go to www.nrvc.net.  I'm curious to hear what others think.  Does the study support your experience?  As I take more of the study "in," I hope to reflect more, specifically on how the spirit of the Augustinians addresses it. 

Oh, and continue to pray for women and men to open their minds and hearts to God's call.  In particular, keep Rich, Joe, and Carlos in prayer as they begin their novitiate year on Friday.