Commitment-shy young people need mini tasters of consecrated life

Pope Francis has asked that 2015 be devoted to prayer and consideration of the consecrated life. It started on the first Sunday of Advent, 30 November, and will go through to February 2016. With numbers in both male and female religious orders declining, we need to ask why this is happening and offer an alternative. The norm for many years has been of entry to the novitiate in the late teens, early twenties, with a commitment made on final vows for life-long attachment, if the person is accepted by the community. But life-long commitment is not an easy choice at a time of relative immaturity. Our societal pattern is now short-term in so many ways, whether it be where one works or where one lives. High material expectations add to the pressures on men and women making life decisions. Tr