The Vatican II decree on the adaptation and renewal of religious life “Perfectae caritatis” describes two conditions for the renewal of religious life: return to the sources and “Aggiornamento” (adaptation to the changed conditions of our time). In my contribution, I would like to apply these principles to the topic of the colloquium and go back to the beginning of theological reflection, which is characterized by mystagogy and monastic theology. In my opinion, these provide important elements and methods for dealing with the phenomenon of a return of religion and for theological reflection of the phenomenon. Mystagogy is related to religious experience even before a possible interpretation and offers a way of helping people to express their experience, to find images, words, comparisons, symbols etc. and thus to arrive at an interpretation for their lives. Monastic theology is also related to experience and is not interested in theological speculation; it takes place in the context of everyday life and thus provides models for critical reflection on everyday religious experiences (e.g. discernment of spirits).
Michael Plattig (Wed,) studied this question.