The following story first appeared in the Autumn 1999 Glenmary Challenge.
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Build It, and They Will Come!
Reinventing Religious Life
By Father Jerry Dorn  

Having been in vocation ministry for many years, I want to share some of my thoughts about call—and how it relates to what many refer to as our contemporary vocation crisis.  

I believe that each and every one of us receives a call from God. This call is an invitation, an imperative, to be holy as God is holy (Leviticus 11:44). Simply stated, each and every person is called by God to do something with his or her life that will help that person become holy and live forever in the wholeness of God. In every age only a minority have sought out priesthood or religious life as their particular way to respond to that call to holiness and wholeness.

But why are so few choosing religious life today? My hunch: We are not ready for them. Remember that line in the movie Field of Dreams: “Build it, and they will come.” Maybe we must build—or rebuild—religious communities before new members will come.

People born after 1961 are often called “Generation X” because no one has yet coined a specific name to capture the identifying feature of this age group. But one characteristic comes through in what many write about these young people: They are a generous generation. They love God and are seeking ways to give depth and meaning to their lives. Many appear to work harder at a relationship with God than I remember doing when I first joined Glenmary in the early 1960s.

So why don’t they enter religious life—that time-tested method of seeking holiness? These young people, as a group, are not joiners. They are skeptical about institutions. They seriously question most forms of church, of civil society and of family. They have seen “breakdown” in every aspect of their lives: divorce, frequent moves that fracture any sense of rootedness and scandals that undermine confidence in public and church officials.

This may mean some readjustment—some new construction—for religious communities eager to attract members of Generation X.

Those of us in religious life focus on our community’s particular work, our mission, our founder’s dream. Glenmary’s mission, for example, is to serve the spiritual and material needs of rural America.

But in the minds of Generation X-ers, the “work” is secondary. They are convinced that the mission of the Church will be served only if they first become holy people. They can’t understand how they can give what they don’t have.

That means religious communities must refocus on personal spirituality, prayer and a faith steeped in a simple lifestyle. In addition to our “work,” we must emphasize how our lives as religious lead to personal holiness and a participation in the wholeness of God.

I believe that communities of vowed religious are already places where men and women can find the support and encouragement they need to respond to God’s call to be holy. I know this because I experience it in my own life. The issue is how to convince a new generation this is so.

If my hunches are correct, the secret lies not in developing new and expensive ads and videos. Rather, our commitment to an ever-deepening spirituality must become more obvious. Our lifestyle must more clearly proclaim that we are not of this world but decisively in it.

Is God still calling each of us to holiness. Yes! Are some still being called to religious life as a way of responding to that call to holiness? Yes! But I am equally sure that the way young men and women today will respond to that call may look nothing like what we have seen before.

I pray, and invite all supporters of Glenmary to pray with me, that this generation of spiritual seekers—tired of brokenness, divisiveness and isolation—can find in our lives as Glenmarians an invitation to holiness, a taste of God’s wholeness. And I pray that, young and old together, we will be able to sustain a vital missionary community to share the Good News with the neglected and forgotten of our country.