Beyond the Liberal Model（除了自由模型）.pdfVIP

40 B E Y O N D T H E L IBE RAL M O D E L By M A R Y J O L E D D Y NEW BOOK appeared on the shelf of our novitiate library in the fall of 1963. The title, The nun in the world, seemed rather strange to me at :the time. As I had just made the A decision to leave the world forever, I wondered what this title could mean. I sensed, even then, that it meant all the difference in the world. Those of us who entered religious life in the early 1960s would be the first generation formed almost entirely by the vision of Vatican II. Although I had entered a traditional form of religious life, within months I found myself taking up the challenge which Cardinal Suenens had articulated in his small book. In the years which followed, much of my time and energy was engaged in the process of shaping a more liberal model of religious life. Together with many other religious women, I experienced the profound joys and the real suffering involved in the struggle to renew our way of life. In recent years, my perspective on the liberal model of religious life has begun to shift. I no longer see it as an ideal but simply as an extremely important phase in the development of religious life. Because this liberal model is the predominant mode of religious life in North America, I would suggest that the future of religious life on this continent (and perhaps elsewhere) will depend on our willingness to explore the possibilities and limitations of this model in the hope of moving beyond it.