A spiritual autobiographical reflection on priesthood
Spiritual autobiography of priesthood November 2022 From the time I first began to imagine myself as an ordained priest, sometime in my early 20’s, the worker priests in France were models of what I thought my ministry could be. A ministry aimed at the poor and the outcast, those who could least afford it, seemed most attractive to me. I was inspired by the stories I read about the emerging ministry with those who are dying, hospice as it emerged first in England. Such were the dreams of ministry I thought and talked about. My earliest memory of the Episcopal Church was of my uncle’s music ministry in Quincy, Illinois. He was the organist for the Cathedral there. I was proud that I had family connections with this grand church, “grand” at least to my 10 year old eyes. But along with that is the earliest memory I have of Episcopal preaching. The priest spent the whole sermon explaining why the church flag in front of the narthex stood one step higher than the American flag. I thought...