More than twenty-five years after Vatican II, religious congregations of North America continue to struggle with their lifestyle and with their formation programs. What is the most appropriate formation for those who are entering religious life? Spurred on by the need to examine this question in the light of her own experience as a novice director, Mary Kay Kinberger explores the importance of grounding religious formation in a theological foundation and proposes Bernard Lonergan's theology of conversion as one possible foundation. This text is essential reading for those who are involved in the challenge of living as religious today and committed to preparing the religious to move into the future.
"Dr. Kinberger set out in her work to provide assistance to religious congregations for grounding their novitiate programs on solid theological foundations. This book is creative and important both as a demonstration of the pastoral fruitfulness of Lonergan's grounding of theological foundations in conversion and in the orientation it provides for novice directors in setting up concrete, highly fruitful directives and specific goals for the realization of maximally effective novitiate programs." (Dr. Bernard Tyrrell, S.J., Gonzaga University)
"The pastoral quality of this book makes it a useful tool for formators. Sr. Kay Kinberger affirms the work of novice directors and provides a framework for them to examine closely the programs they direct. Her affirmation is also a challenge to maintain quality, clarity, and integrity within those programs. Those in authority and all religious will find this book to be a rich source of information and reflection on novitiate formation and on the future of religious life being shaped by that formation." (Joel Giallanza, C.S.C., Maryhill Revewal Center)
"The pastoral quality of this book makes it a useful tool for formators. Sr. Kay Kinberger affirms the work of novice directors and provides a framework for them to examine closely the programs they direct. Her affirmation is also a challenge to maintain quality, clarity, and integrity within those programs. Those in authority and all religious will find this book to be a rich source of information and reflection on novitiate formation and on the future of religious life being shaped by that formation." (Joel Giallanza, C.S.C., Maryhill Revewal Center)