Fourth Talk
The fourth talk was delivered by Sr Judette Gallares, RC, the only woman speaker in the symposium. She spoke on the issue of spirituality of consecrated life and how it was impacted by the post-modern culture. She began by commenting that we in Asia had been using the term “postmodern” for a number of decades and yet had not come to a proper understanding of it.

The question which Sr Judette sought to answer was, “How do we [religious] become models of hope where people are so confused and discouraged?” The diversity present in the world today with its multiplicity of experiences and options, according to the speaker, had turned the world into a supermarket of ideas. What followed such a phenomenon was, therefore, a relativistic worldview in which subjectivity reigned.

A result of this confusion was that people had begun reacting to the need for some rootedness and certainty. The breakdown of belief systems had led many to pander to a form of fundamentalism in their religious beliefs. Whilst this may have been unhealthy and misrepresentative of the heart of religion, it also represented a new search for spirituality among people.

The speaker affirmed that there was a relevant form of spirituality for the postmodern times, and that the religious could be “joyfully reoriented” into this form of spirituality. This new form of spirituality entailed a renewed perception of God. This new perception of God, she explained, was such that it believed in a God who moved us not by determining what we were going to do or by external threats, but rather, by seeking to inspire us towards better ways of being.

Sr Judette affirmed that the young people of today were hungry for authenticity and would not settle for pretences or mere ritual. This, she said, posed a challenge to the religious to walk the talk in order that the young people might find their spirituality attractive and authentic. She encouraged the re-reading of the Gospels from the postmodern perspective, such that the life and experiences of Jesus could come alive to the reader in an inspiring way.

In all this, the speaker encouraged the religious to be open to a joyful reorientation of their spirituality in order that they might be relevant to the state of spirituality in the postmodern world and the prospects it presented.