Is vowed religious life relevant today

I ask myself again: What relevance does such a commitment to vowed life have in our twenty-first century world of globalisation, consumerism and secularisation? Isn’t the prevailing paradigm one of self-advancement, immediate gratification and attention to the here and now, on what can life give me now? For many in our world, even in Catholic Philippines, where a recent survey showed that one in eleven Catholics is leaving the Church, God is dead—or at least ailing badly—and God is not deemed to be so relevant in the daily activities that fill up the airspace between people. The din of the world around them blocks out any capacity to know God. In my own country of Australia, the faith of many people is sorely tested by the sexual abuse crisis. My reflected response to this question of relevance is that perhaps such a commitment is more significant than ever before. There is still an underlying yearning in people for an authentic spirituality. On a universal scale this has been evident in the global interest in the election of Pope Francis. The desire for spiritual leadership has been articulated strongly.