~ Considering the Scores of Lay Movements in the World Today

Back in the day, sodalitries and confraternities were a big deal on Jesuit campuses like Seattle U. and Gonzaga Prep. Often these were split up by age and gender but some groups were coed and they all practiced various religious devotions and acts of charity or service.

These sodalitries go right back to the times of Ignatius and beyond as religious lay groups were a big deal throughout medieval Europe. When these groups found themselves around Jesuits then there was often a link into the Spiritual Exercises – usually in a preached format more helpful for folks whose lives were busy with work or school. St. Ignatius loved getting groups of women friends together and the Marian Congregations have quite a history for someone to explore.

Fast forward to the 1950′s and many of the sodalitries in Jesuit works were after-school clubs under the direction of a young and overworked Jesuit scholastic. This was certainly the case for the freshmen sodalitries. Campus ministry offices developed during the transition time and gifted lay women and men built structured retreat programs as co-curricular to the integral education of young people. But for years the organizations themselves seemed to disappear, until recently.

One of the great developments of our time has been the resurgence of lay movements for both youth and adult. Check out the list on site of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity. From the the Movement of Communion and Liberation to the Sant’Egidio Community, lay groups are a powerful fact and testimony to the faith in our contemporary Church. Those who pay attention to vocational discernment are likewise paying attention to these groups as more and more people seek them out and discover great opportunities to participate.

The Christian Life Communities (CLC) are huge at Loyola Marymount in LA but for some reason have never taken off in the Northwest. Most folks know about World Youth Day but do they know that its organization and planning is entirely a collaborative lay movement?

There’s no doubt that many people are finding their participation in lay movements as meaningful and life-giving. Do these have a role to play in helping form a vocational response? Statistics show that a great number of young religious have participated in these movements and events like World Youth Day and so the question in not entirely academic (see CARA Recent Vocations to Religious Life Report). What do you think?