The Church Outside the Walls
- Apr, 09 2009
- By jamiemanson
- Church Reform, Writings
I first felt called to the priesthood at the age of 13. It was my first Holy Thursday liturgy. And at that moment, at the close of the liturgy, when the “Pange Lingua” is chanted and every fragment of the Eucharist is carried outside of the church, I experienced something that was both irresistible and quite scary.
I wasn’t sure what I was feeling, but I felt compelled to dedicate my life to whatever was unfolding before me.
Read More...The Grace of Living on the Margins
- Nov, 20 2008
- By jamiemanson
- Church Reform, Most Popular, Writings
For more than 15 years now, I’ve felt starved by the Roman Catholic authorities. But lately I wonder if they haven’t done me a favor.
Since the age of 14, I have felt called to the priesthood. The only real opportunity I’ve been given to discern this call was through my studies for my master of divinity degree (at a Protestant divinity school, of course).
Perhaps it was the insurmountable heights of the ivory tower’s walls or the unshakable hope of feminist theology that clouded my judgment, but it wasn’t until graduation that I realized that an openly lesbian, unapologetically liberal Catholic woman with a M.Div. had somewhat limited career possibilities.
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