Over at Deacon Tony’s, the good deacon has some interesting thoughts on nuns. He writes about the recent gathering of religious sisters in Kansas City, where one member noted:

“We have tired of the condescension and we have opted for ministry outside the church. Women religious are angry…not about the Eucharist itself — but about the ecclesial deafness that refuses to hear the call of the Spirit summoning not only celibate males, but married men and women to serve at the table of the Lord.” That has helped put religious women’s orders “on the verge of extinction”…

Say what? Is she saying that the reason they don’t have vocations is because they aren’t being allowed to be priests?

Putting aside for the moment that she really is talking apples and oranges — her vocation and a priest’s are radically different, and so is the call that summons them — is she unaware of what is happening around the country?

Is she oblivious to the boom on vocations at the Nashville Dominicans (seen in the photograph)?

Is she blind to the fact that this Benedictine house in Vermont is also growing?

Or, as Deacon Tony points out, hasn’t she heard that this hardy band of Dominicans has experienced 1400 percent growth?

There’s no question that women’s religious vocations are in crisis — as are all religious vocations. But something is happening here. Those orders that have remained true to their original mission are not only surviving, but thriving.

Call me an old fuddy duddy, but I can’t help but think part of it has to do with the habit. These women have embraced a radically different way of life and do not consider themselves to be simply pious social workers; they are betrothed to Christ. They dress differently. They live differently, in communion and in community, in a way that unapologetically proclaims their vocation to anyone who sees them. And I suspect that affects the way they see themselves, and the way they are seen by the world. And these women want that. They want to be countercultural. They want to be living witnesses to a life of sacrifice, service and love.

It’s all so simple. All the orders that are seeing a boom in vocations are those who have retained the traditional habit, and that have kept their eyes focused, first and foremost, on Christ. They have no desire to be priests. They want to be nuns.

Why don’t the sisters who are bemoaning the dearth of vocations — and grinding their teeth over the presumed sexism of the Church — realize that? Given the success other orders are experiencing, why don’t they try to copy it?

By the way: you won’t find a better or more eloquent advocate for nuns and their vocations than this gal, who knows her way around the cloister and, I’m sure, looks very fetching in a wimple.