Nameeta Renu

Is silent prayer about praying amidst a peaceful external environment, or does it mean being silent within? Is it merely about keeping one's mouth shut or about listening?

Si alguien ha podido diseñar una bicicleta funcional con ruedas cuadradas, ¿por qué no intentar "reformular" nuestra forma de pensar sobre el futuro de la vida consagrada en sí misma?, reflexiona la hermana Nameeta Renu.

Why does Paul seem to contradict himself when he insists that women in Corinth should have their heads covered for praying and prophesying publicly in their liturgical assemblies? 

As the ratio of females to males shifts among India's Christian population, we cannot ignore sociological factors contributing to the rise or decline in vocations. But isn't vocation basically "God's call"?

"The bride of Christ" was one of the titles given by early Christian church fathers to the church itself and virgin martyrs. Yet these titles had various theological underpinnings and nuances. Were they always sound and healthy?

If someone could design a working bicycle with square wheels, then how about trying to "reshape" our thinking about the future of consecrated life itself?

La hermana Nameeta Renu, miembro de la Orden de las Vírgenes Consagradas en Bombay, cuestiona si el Ordo virginum tiene una identidad propia y un futuro, especialmente en medio de ciertas problemáticas introducidas por algunos sacerdotes con "una mentalidad patriarcal, misógina y sexista". En su columna, la religiosa ofrece una perspectiva actualizada y desmitificadora sobre esta vocación que está experimentando un crecimiento significativo en Occidente.

Today, new religious acquaintances express amazement and curiosity about my vocation in the Ordo virginum, often requesting more information and exchanging numbers so we could become friends. Is the Spirit inspiring us?

Although we often tend to be dualistic in our thinking by seeing a dichotomy between the "sacred" and the "secular," both belong to the same reality, and the secular is also sacred.

Will opening the possibility of holy orders to women resolve the church's crises?

We've all been talking a lot about synodality. But I've been reflecting whether the church has been journeying over the centuries in the right direction, according to God's will.

As a child, I believed the huge church bells were special alarm bells to wake God up from sleep. When I grew up, it was Jesus who woke me up when I was tempted to close my eyes to what was happening in the world.

Old Testament descriptions of the word "nephesh" as "wide jaws and open mouths" evokes the painful images of suffering COVID-19 patients.

Perhaps a new paradigm of consecration that is radically creative and relevant could bring a springtime of vocations in every existing and new form of consecrated life.

We draw our life-sap through the roots of our faith in Jesus Christ. Will the church realize its beginnings with greater understanding and become a protagonist and witness of women's liberation?

"Herstory" is mostly unwritten, distorted or erased by men from Scripture as well as tradition. But I firmly believe that the early church was a feminist movement, although its mission was not limited to feminism.

In the third millennium, St. Hildegard's concept of viriditas can illumine our hearts and minds to penetrate the depths of the mystery, as greenness of God's finger creates and re-creates consecrated life.

St. Hildegard of Bingen saw God's living power of light in creation and named it viriditas. What was extraordinary about her theological compositions and spirituality of viriditas, to make them relevant for all times?

An encounter with a woman — crying, hungry and wearing shabby clothes — brings to mind images from daughter Zion, a "Hindu" widow.