ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains why the exhilaration of joining such a 'glorious' enterprise so often gave way to the grinding discontent. Juan de Ribas began his religious career in the eremitic province of San Gabriel, and then volunteered to join Martin de Valencia on the first official mission to the New Spain, coming down from the figurative sycamore tree of contemplation in order to serve in an intensely active ministry. The biblical and the patristic origins of the term instead emphasized the personal spiritual renewal rather than the institutional change, the re-formation of one's tradition and the practice in each new era to match more closely the example of saints bygone, the lifelong quest to make one's life and soul correspond to the image of God that dwells within.
