[NCR’s Jamie Manson spoke at a VOTF meeting in Norwalk, CT on May 13th. This posting is a summary of Manson’s talk, "Being Bread for One Another in a Church in Famine," written by Jamie Dance, Co-Chair, VOTF Bridgeport]
Jamie is asked repeatedly why she remains a Catholic. She explains that she understands that she is marginalized by the Church because of things outside her control- her gender and her sexual orientation. However, for Jamie, there are three reasons for her resolution: 1) the social justice doctrine of the Catholic Church where the most radiant images of God are found in working among people in despair 2) the mystical and spiritual tradition of retreat and prayer that is centering, repetitive, and contemplative, finding the sacred in everyday life and 3) the sacramental tradition, where one may find infinite meaning in the finite things of life, and thus experience God in the world.
It is this last element that Jamie sees as a sad irony.
