text: I'm not so sure that the future of "religious" life is the conversation that needs to be had. I'd be much more interested in expanding the discussion to include what it means to live a consecrated life in this day and age. That would include various emerging models of Church like small faith communities, the developing relationship between the laity and clergy, living out healthy sexuality, etc.
  
  I have deep respect for the religious men and women I know today and those who helped shape my life in the past. But that doesn't mean we should perpetually work out of a paradigm that developed in the middle ages. Contrary to what some seem to believe, in every age the Church has adapted to meet the needs of the times and it must again if it is to stay relevant.