I have always remarked on the singular insistence of St. Matthew in his gospel that conversion to following Christ had to be for real. You will remember the words of Christ in that gospel: unless the house is built on rock it will fall (Mt.7:21-27). That is what Vatican II meant by renewal when it met almost fifty years ago with its call for universal holiness.
The Council, in line with its call to all Christians to be authentic, urged the religious congregations to look to the charism of their founders for renewal. The Religious Sisters wholeheartedly undertook that renewal, sometimes to the anguish of many who saw them often abandon teaching in schools and the religious habit to work among the poor, the shut-ins and the ill, as their founders had initially wanted them to do. Many of the nuns have never been reconciled to the loss of the distinctive religious habits, but that makes us wonder if we didn’t confuse a costume with the following of Christ. Christ put it well when he said, ‘by their fruits you will know them’ (Mt.7;20).
I remember once attending an international summer course on communication at an English University. It was just after the Council. There was one Benedictine nun attending, dressed in all the full glory of her religious habit. She was an erudite lady, who had her own weekly TV show that was broadcast across the United States. The prejudice of some people was first shown by their dismissing her as a simple woman – because she was religious – and later by their insistence – once they discovered just how brilliant she was – that she should leave the Order or at least abandon the habit. She would laugh and say she could only wear it as long as she attempted to live the Christian life with faith in Christ.
One weekend myself and this Benedictine nun shared the same railway carriage on the way to London and I learned that she was meeting Harold Pinter, the famous playwright. The following Monday, both of us back at the course, I was curious and enquired how her meeting with Pinter had gone. It appears he was rehearsing a TV play, Cyrano de Bergerac, at the BBC studios and she had accompanied him down to the rehearsal area after their meeting. It was the dress rehearsal of the final act of the play, which is set in a 17th Century French Convent. There were many actresses dressed as nuns moving around the set, and at one stage one of the technicians asked her if she was out of Act 5 or if she was for real. She beamed as she repeated her confident reply, that she was for real.
John Looby, Editor