Grace on the Margins is a weekly column from award-winning writer Jamie Manson.
Part two of a three-part series.
The dwindling number of vocations to priesthood, religious orders and monastic life make it clear that traditional religious life no longer speaks to newer generations the way it has for centuries. But some young people still long for lives of service, prayer and simplicity that are the hallmarks of monasticism.
This is part one of a series.
Although the term "new monasticism" has been floating around ether of the contemplative world for several decades, it has remained difficult to define.
Catholic incarnations of the new monasticism movement have sprung up since the 1970s in Europe and the United States. Some have come in the form of third-order or lay associates programs in religious communities.
Although I am loath to talk about something as traumatizing and violent as rape as if it were an ideological issue, given the national conversation taking place about abortion in cases of rape and incest, it is important to continue the conversation in the pages of NCR.
In the 18th century, they crossed the Atlantic in small ships, fending off pirates along the way, to get to this country. Once they were here, they ministered to the wounded on the battlefields of the Civil War and provided aid to victims of the great San Francisco earthquake and the influenza epidemic. From humble beginnings, they managed to establish the largest private school system in the country, 110 colleges and universities, and more than 600 hospitals in the U.S.
As we move toward the eve of what is undoubtedly the most important general assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the organization’s history, it’s remarkable to take note of how many articles, commentaries, blogs, and cartoons have been dedicated to the Vatican’s scrutiny of women religious.
If last week's elevation of Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, Calif., to archbishop of San Francisco proves anything, it's that attacking marriage equality puts a man on the fast-track to promotion in the Roman Catholic Church. A quick survey of the hierarchy's most recent, high-profile appointments reveals a common denominator.
As NCR reported Monday, communities throughout the country offered special liturgies this weekend to honor Mary Magdalene, whose feast day was Sunday. A community in San Diego invited me to preach at its celebration of "the Apostle to the Apostles." Rather than choosing a Gospel narrative about Mary Magdalene, they chose instead the story of the Samaritan woman in chapter 4 of John's Gospel.
"We are the 99%, made in God's image, seeking God's justice."
So declares the Facebook page for Occupy Catholics, one of the latest additions to the pantheon of Catholic church justice movements. But rather than emerging out of Vatican II or in direct response to a particular crisis within the institutional church, Occupy Catholics might be the first progressive Catholic group to grow directly out of a popular movement.
It was no surprise when, last week, Bill Keller's New York Times column declaring that progressive and liberal Catholics should leave the church, received a seemingly endless screed of online comments, as well as Facebook shares, tweets and recurring spins on blog rolls.
With the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's very public battle against same-sex marriage and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's recent condemnation of Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley's sexual ethics book, Just Love, it seems hard to remember a time when the Roman Catholic Church wasn't fixated on LGBT issues.
In "Taking a Chance on God," Irish-born filmmaker Brendan Fay reminds us that not only is this struggle relatively new in church history, but the momentum behind the movement began with one courageous priest and his groundbreaking book.
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