Buying the Field: Catholic Religious Life in Mission to the World (Religious Life in a New Millennium): Sandra M. Schneiders IHM: 9780809147885: Amazon.com: Books
Buying the Field: Catholic Religious Life in Mission to the World (Religious Life in a New Millennium) Paperback – July 1, 2013
by Sandra M. Schneiders IHM (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars 30 customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 starsBuying the Field
By Sally K. Severino on August 13, 2013
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While the primary intended audience for this book is Roman Catholic women Religious, I (who am simply a committed lay Christian) find this book exceedingly valuable in providing a framework for a spirituality of world-engagement, which our 21st Century so desperately needs.
This is the third in a three-volume work, Religious Life in a New Millennium. Volume 1, Finding the Treasure, addresses new ways to position Religious Life as a prophetic lifeform in relation to post-modern culture and the post conciliar Church. Volume 2, Selling All, addresses relationships that constitute the internal reality of Religious Life: to Christ in lifelong consecrated celibacy and to the community in the Religious Congregation. Volume 3, this volume, addresses how Religious Life affects the world.
Buying the Field is divided into four parts: Part One deals with the biblical and theological framework for a spirituality of world-engagement. Part Two concerns the economic dimension of the world. Part Three concerns the vow of obedience and its role in the construction of the alternate political system that characterizes the alternate world Religious create and live in and from which they minister. The conclusion synthesizes the entire three-volume work.
Part One, Chapter 1 of this book looks as the meaning of “world” and finds that the “role of all people of good will is to make this world a fitting home for all creatures by the progressive advance of good and the subversion of evil” (224-225). Chapter 2 looks at the choice of lifelong consecrated celibacy and the result, which is communities that reflect a transcendent and all-embracing relationship. Chapter 3 looks at full-time and universal ecclesial ministry as the distinctive way Religious live the mission into which all Christians are inaugurated by baptism.
Part Two, Chapter 4 describes a Biblical approach to poverty. Chapter 5 proposes that Religious vows narratively generate a different world—the Reign of God. This is not just a different way of living in the world, it is a different world. It is a gift economy where one is possessionless and totally interdependent. Material goods are resources to be shared. Chapter 6 focuses on the unitive dimension of the vow of poverty, that is, how the vow of poverty can function in the personal spirituality of the individual Religious to foster poverty of spirit in the quest for God, which is the purpose of life.
Part Three focuses on prophetic obedience and the politics of the Reign of God. No longer does the Church understand itself primarily as “an essentially hierarchical institution, perfect, finished, and unchanging, but as People of God on its pilgrim way to the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring” (613). Religious Life is in an ongoing process of renewal.
The book concludes with an exceedingly valuable synthesis that pro
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5.0 out of 5 starsSr. Sandra completes this great work!
By Baltchik on July 21, 2013
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Since this reviewer is a nun I can tell you how deeply grateful I am for Sr. Sandra's scholarship, writing and witness in today's religious life. This is her third and final volume on "The Life" and it completes the deep work on the Vows and the cultural climate in which the vows are lived (both within the specific congregation and out in the 'world').
I find Sr. Sandra's writing so captivating that it carries me through her dense scholarship painlessly. This trilogy on the vows and religious life today is a 'must have' for any woman's religious community, any college or university and as a deep guide of discernment for anyone who feels The Call deep within.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSuperb - as expected!
By MARY O'BRIEN on September 24, 2013
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This book - third in the Trilogy by Sandra Schneiders IHM - is another classic. Dealing with the mission of apostolic Religious in the contemporary world, it is a MUST READ for all Religious and for those who care about the future of Religious Life in the Catholic Church. It is solidly grounded in Scripture and in the Catholic theological tradition, brilliantly written (with copious notes and references) and engaging. To my knowledge, there is nobody doing (or even attempting to do) the work that Sandra Schneiders is doing today in service to Church, particularly by articulating a theology of Consecrated Apostolic Life. For this we warmly thank her.
This book is not an easy read, but it is a rewarding one. It is meant to be studied, discussed and assimilated. I welcome the promise of a Study Guide to accompany this Volume. Congratulations, Sandra!
Mary T. Brien PBVM
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5.0 out of 5 stars"Buying the Field" by Sandra Schneiders, IHM
By Marilyn Kofler on September 2, 2013
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The author, Sandra Schneiders, IHM, is highly recognized for her brilliance and profound insights into Religious Life as it is evolving in the 21st century. The reader of "Buying the Field" is not disappointed by this third volume of Sandra Schneiders' scholarly interpretation of Religious Life, but is challenged to grasp the deeper meaning of this lifeform in today's world. Although not an easy read, this book (along with the earlier two volumes) is a valuable resource for anyone who is serious about probing the theological underpinnings of where women religious in the United States find themselves in the ongoing transformation of the lifeform they have chosen by their religious profession.
I would recommend this book to members of women's and men's religious congregations as well as to Bishops and priests who care about the Church in the United States.
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5.0 out of 5 starsexcellent; good historical review of Church and religious life; well written; good for "seasoned" and new religious
By Amazon Customer on August 15, 2013
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excellent! good historical review of Church and religious life; well written; good for "seasoned" and new religious; good sequel to the two previous books
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4.0 out of 5 starsBuying the Field: Catholic Religious Life in Mission to the World by Sandra Schneiders, IHM
By Elizabeth on February 9, 2014
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There are very few authors who can give awe, reverence and respect to the three vows which Religious men and women make at their profession. While some parts demand more thought and consideration than others, Sandra Schneiders addresses this theme in a way which is pertinent and understandable. This was recommended to me by a very good friend, a missionary in Haiti. I am pleased with it and it will be a long time before I can even think of lending it. Thank you, Sandra.
Sister Elizalbeth Ann
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5.0 out of 5 starsRead the other two also.
By Jo Ann Creten on February 15, 2014
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Wonderful book for those in religious life and for an academic study of that life. Schneider has again shown that she understands the life she has lived and is very capable of transmitting that knowledge. I have read Finding the Treasure and Selling All and was waiting g to purchase this latest book. She doesn't disappoint, although this work must be read slowly and often to fully absorb.
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