Refocusing the Vision is the revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara Fiand's best-selling book, Living the Vision. Fiand revisits this earlier work with the eyes and experience of ten years. In Living the Vision, Barbara Fiand mapped an agenda for nuns living with the reforms set forth by the Second Vatican Council. These reforms included relaxing the rules regarding dress and living arrangements. Today many nuns live in apartment-style convents and dress in secular clothing. In addition, many nuns have eschewed traditional roles such as teaching and missionary work in favor of more fulfilling careers in social action and spirituality. Many nuns today even run parishes where no priest is available. In this new edition the reader will find three added Appendices, but by far the most revision and expansion will be found in chapter 4. The questions raised there are provocative and may be disturbing to some.
| Preface | 9 | |
| 1. | Turning Point | 17 |
| Culture in Crisis | 19 | |
| Dualism | 21 | |
| Thinking into Our Myths | 25 | |
| Refounding Our Myths | 30 | |
| Toward a Holistic Paradigm | 40 | |
| Conclusion | 51 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 53 | |
| 2. | What Matters Is Vision | 54 |
| No Longer Set Apart | 56 | |
| Implications | 58 | |
| The Primacy of Disposition | 66 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 74 | |
| 3. | Blessed Are the Poor | 76 |
| The Question of Solidarity | 76 | |
| Called to Self-Sacrifice | 80 | |
| A Personal Yes | 83 | |
| True Poverty | 86 | |
| The Unity of Interiority and Justice | 88 | |
| Toward Softness of Heart | 91 | |
| Some Reflections on Our Existential Situation | 92 | |
| "Haves and Have-Nots," | 95 | |
| Personal Responsibility for Justice | 100 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 102 | |
| 4. | Community, Celibacy, and Intimacy | 104 |
| Revisiting the Issues | 105 | |
| Celibacy | 105 | |
| Community | 111 | |
| Models for Group Living | 117 | |
| Our Gathering Priorities | 123 | |
| Relationship and Intimacy | 126 | |
| Called to Vulnerability | 133 | |
| Taking Ownership of Our Feelings | 135 | |
| Living the Tension | 139 | |
| Some Reflections on Our Existential Situation | 140 | |
| Encountering the Shadow | 143 | |
| Further Reflections on Intimacy | 145 | |
| Our Homesickness for God | 150 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 159 | |
| 5. | Creative Fidelity | 162 |
| Facing the Crisis | 164 | |
| Authoritarian Obedience | 166 | |
| The Consequences of Authoritarian Obedience | 170 | |
| Co-authority and Co-obedience | 174 | |
| Autonomous Obedience | 176 | |
| Creative Fidelity | 180 | |
| Unifying Force for All Three Vows | 183 | |
| Fiat People | 185 | |
| Some Reflections on Our Existential Situation | 187 | |
| Prayer | 188 | |
| Obedience That Touches the Universe | 191 | |
| Authority | 193 | |
| Conclusion | 196 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 197 | |
| 6. | Conversion toward Increase | 200 |
| Expectations and Assumptions | 206 | |
| The Stress Factor | 210 | |
| Drawn to Prayer and to Community | 213 | |
| Organic Incorporation | 217 | |
| Questions for Focus, Reflection, and Discussion | 220 | |
| Epilogue | 223 | |
| Appendix 1 | Conversion of Consciousness | 227 |
| Personal Maturity | 235 | |
| Cultural Maturation | 237 | |
| Participatory Consciousness | 240 | |
| Appendix 2 | Paradigm Shift | 246 |
| Foundations of the Modern Worldview | 247 | |
| The Values of This "Modern" Worldview | 248 | |
| Discoveries and Theories of Post-"Modern" Science | 250 | |
| Implications for Religious Self-Understanding | 252 | |
| Appendix 3 | Religious: A New Way of Living, a New Way of Dying | 256 |
| Notes | 263 |
Overview
Refocusing the Vision is the revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara Fiand's best-selling book, Living the Vision. Fiand revisits this earlier work with the eyes and experience of ten years. In Living the Vision, Barbara Fiand mapped an agenda for nuns living with the reforms set forth by the Second Vatican Council. These reforms included relaxing the rules regarding dress and living arrangements. Today many nuns live in apartment-style convents and dress in secular clothing. In addition, many nuns have ...