THE OLD CATHOLIC MISSION IN SUSSEX

It is important for Catholic Christians to observe Lent as a particular time of spiritual devotion.  Observing Lent is not just about "giving up" but also about "taking on."  The purpose of our observance of Lent is to prepare ourselves to more fully appreciate the Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary and to celebrate more joyfully the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  Making personal sacrifices during Lent help us to appreciate the great Sacrifice Our Lord made for us on the Cross, it will also help our celebration of Easter when we will be able to enjoy those things which we sacrificed for Lent, again!

The most important aspect of Lenten Observance is one's motivation for it... Faith, Hope and Love...  these three things should colour and guide our observance and all that we "take on" or "give up" should reflect them.  Whatever we do in Lent should increase our Faith, our Hope and our Love so that we may grow more closer to God and His Son, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Rules of Fast

The laws of fast apply to persons between the ages of twenty-one and fifty-nine. On a fast day one may eat one full meal and two light meatless meals, which together would not equal the main meal. Meat may be taken at the principal meal, except on days of complete abstinence. Liquids such as water, milk, and fruit juices may be taken between meals.

Rules of Abstinence

The laws of abstinence apply to everyone seven years of age and over. On a day of complete abstinence no meat, meat gravy or soup made from meat may be taken. On a day of partial abstinence meat may be taken once.

Traditional Days of Fast

All the days of Lent up till noon on Holy Saturday, Ember Days, the Vigils of Pentecost, the Immaculate Conception, Christmas, and All Saints.

Traditional Days of Complete Abstinence

Every Friday of the year, Ash Wednesday, Holy Saturday (until noon), the Vigils of All Saints, the Immaculate Conception, and Christmas.

Traditional Days of Partial Abstinence

Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays and the Vigil of Pentecost

Spiritual Works of Mercy

• Converting sinners
• Instructing the ignorant
• Advising the doubtful
• Comforting the sorrowful
• Bearing wrongs patiently
• Forgiving injuries
• Praying for the living and dead

Corporal Works of Mercy

• Feeding the hungry
• Sheltering the homeless
• Clothing the naked
• Visiting the sick
• Visiting the imprisoned
• Giving drink to the thirsty
• Burying the dead

My dear people

We have spent the last two weeks since Septuagesima preparing ourselves for our Lenten observance.  Today it begins.  We commemorate today several things:

• The beginning of Christ's sojourn for forty days and forty nights into the wilderness in preparation for and in denial of Satan for His great ministry of proclamation and teaching the "Good News";
• We recall our Baptism and entry into the Catholic Faith and the promises we made at our Confirmation;
• We enter into a holy season of penitence and fasting remembering our mortality;
• We begin our meditation and preparation as the Body of Christ on Earth in preparation for the commemoration of the Passion and Death of Our Lord and His Glorious Resurrection... by which we are made inheritors of the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life.
  

Lent is of course of itself the commemoration of Christ's time in the wilderness [see Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13] .  After His baptism, Our Lord Jesus Christ went into the wilderness in order to prepare in solitude by fasting and prayer for the accomplishing of His great work for which He had come to earth. For forty days and forty nights, He was in the wilderness not eating any food, praying about and contemplating His future ministry.  He was tempted by Satan, but rebuked him. 

This is primarily the reason why Lent exists.  The Church commemorates this period of Our Lord's fasting and spiritual retreat in order to prepare us for the commemoration of the accomplishment of His mission - His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

In the Liturgy of today we receive the imposition of Ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross.  This, as when we cross ourselves with Holy Water, reminds us of our Baptism, but also today of our Confirmation when the Bishop traced the sign of the Cross in Chrism on our heads and we promised to turn from sin, reject Satan (as did Christ in the wilderness) and turn to Christ.

The Ashes themselves speak to a time when they were used, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one's penitence is found in Job 42:3-6. Job says to God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."  In the Early Church the use of ashes had a like signification and with sackcloth formed part of the public penance. The blessing of the ashes is one of the great liturgical rites of the year. It was originally instituted for public penitents, but is now intended for all Christians, as Lent should be a time of penance for all.

However, as Christ is "Alpha and Omega" the beginning and the end... so the symbolism of the Ashes is cyclical, for in the sign of the Cross they speak to us silmultaeneously of our re-birth in Christ and of our mortal death "Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19.... to remind us of the whole purpose of our Catholic Faith... eternal life which prize was won for us by Christ's Passion and Death.

The Ashes serve to symbolise both our mortality and our need for repentance and contrition in order to receive eternal life with God:

1. The imposition of the Ashes in the sign of the Cross reminds us of the promises made at our Baptism on our behalf (by our parents and Godparents) and by ourselves before the Bishop at Confirmation when we "died to sin", "rejected Satan and all his works" and "turned to Christ";
   
2. The Ashes themselves speak demonstratively through the ages of repentance and mourning and serve to remind us of our own mortality and the need to "die to self" in order to...
3. Receive eternal life, which is the summit and purpose of the Christian life.
   

Hence the Ashes at the beginning of Lent remind us that to gain eternal life we must repent of our sin, reject Satan and turn to Christ, mindful of our mortality in order that we may receive eternal life.  So marked with the sign of Faith we enter into the holy season.

Holy Mother Church in her tradition and wisdom however, doesn't just mark us with ash and leave us to it... remember the readings of Quinquagesima, the last Sunday before Lent?  The Church reminds us again in what spirit we are to observe the season in today's readings;

"Thus saith the Lord: Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God..." Today's Epistle [Joel: 2:12-19]

"When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast... For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." Today's Gospel [Matthew 6:16-21]

The Divine Economy: Charity.  Holy Church teaches us that the only profitable way to observe Lent is in the spirit of Charity - of Divine Love.  Last Sunday's Epistle 1 Corinthians xiii: 1-13, teaches us that without Charity i.e. love, all our labours and endeavours are emtpy, without meaning, without effect;

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

We are to be mindful that our fasting and our abstinence should not be devoid of meaning or efficacy but instead be directed by devotion and love for God in Christ.  All our Lenten observance should be conducted in this spirit of adoration, of seeking to love God and neighbour in all we do. 

The Gospel reminded us of why we do all this...

"Then Jesus took unto him the twelve and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of man. For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles and shall be mocked and scourged and spit upon. And after they have scourged him, they will put him to death. And the third day he shall rise again."

It speaks of the Passion of Christ - and the Passion of Christ speaks of God's love manifest in Christ; "For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him." [John 3:17].  The Church reminds us that this season of Lent is to prepare us to commemorate the Passion, Death and Resurrection.  It also serves to remind us that if we have Faith, all things may be accomplished, if we turn to Christ, we will be saved and we will have eternal life with God;

"Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight; thy faith hath made thee whole."

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ - do you see how Mother Church comforts, teaches and aids her children to understand and see the meaning of this holy season?  Why we observe it? Why we mark ourselves with Ashes?  It all for us to experience and share with Our Lord His life, His witness, His Gospel... His Passion, His Death and His Resurrection.  It is all with the purpose of cleansing ourselves, developing and nurturing and growing contrite hearts [Psalm 51:17] in pursuit of heaven and eternal life.

I wish you all a holy and blessed Lent.  I hope together we might purify ourselves and prepare ourselves with Christ for the great work (Matt. XX. 1-6) that is there for each of us in the vineyard of souls and the in the tilling of fertile hearts (Luke VIII. 4-15).

As always with my love and prayers for you all

Fr Jerome OSJV

Parish Priest.

Our Parish Priest, Canon Jerome Lloyd OSJV will be on

BBC Radio Sussex at 7.50am on

Sunday November 1st

All Saints Day!

Be sure to tune in and listen to it live

or a recording of it later

(fast forward to 01:50.00)

Watch the famous highwire walk yourself!

Click on this link for BBC iPlayer and fast forward to 01:05:20 to hear "Ave Maria" recorded by "The Priests" played in honour of Our Lady's Assumption and followed by the Revd Gavin Ashenden's interview with Fr Jerome about his high-wire charity walk and the National Catholic Apostolic Church.  Do keep listening after the interview for Fr Craig Barber's excellent and thought provoking "One Minute Sermon" on the Assumption and "Baby Peter".

Just before Fr Jerome went on air he had a very pleasant surprise when Fr Craig walked into the Green Room... both priests who hadn't seen each other for over a decade were formerly Altar servers together many years ago!  Fr Craig is now Associate Rector of the Anglican Parish of Worth near Crawley having previously been a Catholic seminarian.

Fr Jerome has been asked by the Producers of the Southern Counties Radio Faith Programme to be a regular contributor on their "One Minute Sermon Slot".

Our parish priest has taken part in a daredevil stunt in Hove by walking across a high wire with no safety equipment 80ft in the air!

Fr Jerome and Chico on the hirewire

Father Jerome Lloyd was meant to be carried along the rope on the back of a circus performer to re-enact a stunt by French wire walker Charles Blondin, who walked along a tight rope across the Niagara Falls with his manager on his back in 1859, but the trick had to be adapted after the tightrope walker was unable to lift him.

Father Lloyd, who weighs 12.5st, said Chico Marinhos, a high wirewalker with the touring Zippos Circus, was unable to stand up once hewas on his shoulders as he had nothing to lever himself up with from his position on top of the Big Top.

Father Lloyd, who was raising money for charity, said there was nothing else they could do other than for him to walk across the rope himself, holding on to the high wire walker's shoulders as he crossed it in front of him.

He said of the stunt: "It did actually feel fine. I wasn't really at all nervous as I'm not actually scared of heights.

"The only thing I was concerned about was that I would make Chico nervous."

Father Lloyd, 43, a missionary priest from the National CatholicApostolic Church, carried out the stunt wearing his traditional soutane and saturno.

Fr Jerome safely on the rooftop of the Tent!

He was raising money for the Sussex Beacon charity, which provides specialist care and support for people living with HIV.

Please pray for the soul of Clare Rimmer whose first anniversary of passing occurs Wednesday 24 June; please remember her widower, Mark, her parents Fr Paul and Joan Rimmer (who celebrate their wedding anniversary tomorrow) and her brother Julian and family. A set of White Mass vestments was given by Mark in memory of Clare to the Parish, as was the Missal used for our Daily Latin Masses.

Please also pray for the soul of John Willmer who sadly passed away on Friday 12 June in hospital on his 80th birthday. A Requiem Mass will be offered for John on Monday 6 July at 730pm, Dorset Garden's Methodist and the funeral will be at Woodvale Crematorium on Wednesday 8 July, 2pm.

Please also remember the soul of Nicolas De Wilde who passed away on Monday 22 June aged 41.

Parish-Mission Office: please note the Office has a new number, 01273 774889 and a 24hr answering service. Please use this contact first for enquiries regarding Baptism, Marriage and Confession as well as visits etc.

Daily Mass Online update: we are sorry for the recent intermittent broadcasting of Masses, this has been due to technical difficulties which regretabbly are still not quite resolved.  This is largely due to British Telecom failing, after eventually installing a line, to activate the broadband connection... latest 25/06; there is a fault on the line preventing broadband!

Addressed to the Brethren of the Oratory

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19/vi/09
Annus Sacerdotalis 2009-2010

From the Provost General, The Oratory of St John Vianney

My dear brother Oratorians

I write to you today on this great Feast of Our Lord's Divine Charity for mankind and at the start of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's "Annus Sacerdotalis" or "Year of the Priest" celebrating the 150th anniversary of the death of our holy patron St John Vianney, to share with you some thoughts about our vocation as both Priests and as Brothers to Priests.

Those of you who have shared in my learning as Postulants for Ordination, will remember my instruction that the first duty of every Christian and therefore Priest, is to pray. The second is to offer the holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments of the Church for God's people. The first rule therefore aims at our interior life, our personal spirituality; the second at the nature of our vocation and its expression both as instruments of religion and as ministers of salvation.

The Holy Father in his own letter to brother Priests around the world, reminds us too of the importance of the interior life, it is how our own spirituality is developed; if we are not men of prayer ourselves, if we do not have that interior relationship and dialogue with God, how are we to bring others to pray? His Holiness reminds us that, like our holy Father St John Vianney, we must be exemplars of Christian discipleship to those we minister to and to the whole world - we must be seen to be Priests, men of prayer, for by our witness will others be drawn to receive our ministry.

Offering the holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments of the Church is how the Lord desires us and His people to be nourished and sustained; indeed, the Mass is the only direct and tangible way that we commune with the Divine, it is no coincidence that the Lord instructed us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" [Mtt 6:11] and when He said "...My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink..." [Jn 6:55] when He tells us that He gives us a "heavenly manna" better than that which was given to our forefathers in the desert [Jn 6:47-51]. It is how we receive eternal life [Jn 6:40-55].

As Priests we are "instruments of religion" because we are "set apart", as "alter Christus" another Christ, we stand at the Altar of Sacrifice, not in the stead of Him but He through us continues to offer that same propiatory sacrifice of His death on the Cross, that atonement for the sins of the world for all time; for we do not say "This is His body" but "This is My Body". For this reason St Paul, that holy Apostle whose memory and teaching we have reflected on this past year, says "...when you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim His death until He comes again..." [I Cor 11:26] the mystery of the Mass is that we witness that same Crucifixion, that same Sacrifice of the Divine to the Divine in atonement for our sins. For this reason we are truly Priests in the same way the sons of Levi were in the Temple [Lev16:1-34; Heb 7:11-23], we are Sacred Ministers for we celebrate and offer sacrifice to the Divine, but as Christ was the "fulfillment of the Law" [Mtt 5: 17-18; Lk 24:44] of the old religion, we are able too to sanctify, to make holy, for He through us [Heb 7:16], by the power of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles [Acts 2:4] and to us in their succession, He operates through us to His people; it is He through us who sanctifies, quickens and blesses for He is that "...great High Priest who has passed into the heavens..." [Heb 4:14] but who promised "I will be with you always, even to the end of the world..." [Mtt 28:20]

The power of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles, which we receive in Ordinaton as Priests to share in the ministry both sacramental and evangelical of the Bishop, makes us "ministers of salvation" because Our Lord wills the life of grace for His people to be effected through us. Which is to say that His Divine Will is effected by His gift of the Holy Spirit, that His promises and graces are made available to His people - through the Sacraments Our Lord remains with His Church, the Head is connected to the Body, the life blood, the waters of eternal life, flow from Him through and to us. Thus when we celebrate the Sacraments it is He through us who imparts His grace to His people; in Baptism it is He who exorcises and receives, in Confirmation it is He who imparts and seals, in Marriage it is He who binds and blesses, in Ordination it is He who sets apart and commissions, in Holy Unction it is He who comforts and heals, in Confession it is He who forgives and absolves; all these things He does through us as living icons, windows through which the Lord is able to touch His people. So it is then that we are "ministers of salvation" because all that is necessary for salvation is made tangible by Him through us, the Sacraments are the means by which the promise of salvation is made continually present and effectual to God's people, it is how they are touched by their God, how He comforts and consoles, how He nourishes and sustains, how He assures them of His presence in their lives.

So it is then that our personal holiness, our personal sanctity is vitally important to the success of the proclamation of the Gospel; we being set apart must bear witness not just by words but by actions, by the ordinary living of our daily lives we must extol all that is necessary for salvation - submitting ourselves to the Will of God, offering ourselves to Him to be used as instruments of His will. If we, who are educated, trained in holy things, bound to pray the "Prayer of the Church", commissioned and empowered to effect and demonstrate the promises of Christ through us for His people, if we are ourselves not holy, then we endanger not just our own salvation but that of all those souls committed to our care and many others who by virtue of our office, see us as representatives of the whole body of the Church. This too the Holy Father touches upon in his letter, we perhaps more than most, are like unto "...ambassadors for Christ..." [II Cor 5:20] for we are seen publicly to represent His Church. For this then we have His yoke upon our shoulders, we embody His wounds - the scourges and insults, the mocking and scorn - we share in His burden. Just as all Christians in bearing His name must expect insult and injury - how much more then must we who are identifiable and set apart publicly and purposefully? It is for this reason that our brotherhood exists, it is for this very reason that the Oratory exists...

The Oratory of St John Vianney was originally called the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the earliest days of it's conception. We adopted and changed our title to express the charism of the Curé D'Ars because of his saintly teaching regarding the "heart of Jesus" and the Priest. Our holy Father the Curé means by his words that the love of Christ is made manifest in the Priesthood because of all that Our Lord does through His Priests - the Sacraments that give salvific life to His Church, to His people. Recognising this, our saintly patron remembers too the limitations of our human condition, an understanding he had of himself as well as others. The Oratory is a brotherhood for Priests where we can encourage and console one another by sharing the great burden and joy which we share in our Office and in our condition. Fraternal charity - itself an expression of the Divine Charity - that Our Lord wills His people live-in together, is that which binds the brotherhood together. We are a brotherhood because by our common vocation and heritage we are like the sons of Levi, a tribe set apart within the people of God for the people of God; like that ancient title of the Patriarch of the West, "servum servorum Dei" we are the servants of the servants of God.

We also too, being uniquely bound to His most Sacred Heart by virtue of our Office must also too share in His pain as well as His love; for His Body which may be seen as one yet suffers fractures and we must share in His prayer "ut unum sint" ("...that they may be one..." [Jn 17:6-19]). For this reason then our brotherhood is an Oratory - for we share in the first duty of our Priesthood together, to pray, and we share in that prayer of Our Lord for His Church, for that unity which yet evades us. For this reason our fraternity has always been about prayer and the pursuit for unity, by virtue of the love of Christ manifest in our vocation and as an expression of that closeness we have to that Divine Heart by virtue of our Ordination. So too His people must be our concern also, for we are Ordained for Him to love them and thus what hurts Him so hurts us, and what hurts them too, must hurt us; for His love and concern are always for them, and so it should be for us. In this way our fraternity seeks to emulate the examples of our holy patrons, St John Vianney who so loved His people that he worked tirelessly day and night for their salvation and St Phillip Neri whose heart, so touched one Pentecost, could do no other than love His brothers and love His people; His brothers, His people. For so we Sacred Ministers are Our Lord's brothers, united to Him as we are for Him to touch His people.

So then my brothers, how can we serve one another and serve His people? Firstly by encouraging each other in the sanctification and pursuit of salvation for our own souls in our own lives, by praying for each other, by supporting each other and seeking out our brother Priests everywhere seeking to offer them the same service, one for another. Then by serving His people by offering His Sacraments and most particularly the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - the "source and summit" of the life of His Body the Church, the means by which He is seen to save and we are able to commune with Him, the whole Godhead, the whole of His Body - the communion of Saints. I urge you brothers to offer the Holy Sacrifice as often as you can, to make available to His people the Sacrament of His Love, to offer their pleas and petitions through Him to Our Father, to make available to them His daily bread, to assure them of His abiding presence in their midst. In these two ways, prayer and offering the Holy Sacrifice - we make our own sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving by the subjugation of our lives to His Will. Whether alone or with company, whether in consecrated building or with the best you are able to muster, however humble, offer the Holy Sacrifice both for your own soul and all souls. Commune with the Divine daily if at all possible, for it is at the Altar that we all, the whole Priesthood, the whole brotherhood, the whole Oratory comes together through the ages, across the continents in service of each other, His people and Him. Make time, make sacrifice to offer The Sacrifice, give yourselves completely to His service that you may be used as an instrument of His salvation for His people, that you may be consoled by the knowledge of your own unworthiness by the presence of Himself in your company at the Altar. See Him before you as you are before Him, touch Him and He touches you and heals, forgives, makes whole both you, broken vessel that you are and His people. Take His yoke upon you that He may share in your burden as much as you share in His. Realise your Priesthood for yourself as well as others. Follow the example of our holy Fathers, the Curé and St Phillip and you too will receive all that they did that you too may receive that eternal reward which all seek; you too can be made worthy, with a "humble and contrite heart" [Ps 51:17].

Hieronymus+OSJV

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE
BENEDICT XVI
PROCLAIMING A YEAR FOR PRIESTS
ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE "DIES NATALIS"
OF THE CURÉ OF ARS

Dear Brother Priests,

On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 ? a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy ?, I have decided to inaugurate a ?Year for Priests? in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the ?dies natalis? of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide.[1] This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today?s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus?, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say.[2] This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ?s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as ?friends of Christ?, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?

I still treasure the memory of the first parish priest at whose side I exercised my ministry as a young priest: he left me an example of unreserved devotion to his pastoral duties, even to meeting death in the act of bringing viaticum to a gravely ill person. I also recall the countless confreres whom I have met and continue to meet, not least in my pastoral visits to different countries: men generously dedicated to the daily exercise of their priestly ministry. Yet the expression of Saint John Mary also makes us think of Christ?s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I am also led to think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?

There are also, sad to say, situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the Church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers. Then it is the world which finds grounds for scandal and rejection. What is most helpful to the Church in such cases is not only a frank and complete acknowledgment of the weaknesses of her ministers, but also a joyful and renewed realization of the greatness of God?s gift, embodied in the splendid example of generous pastors, religious afire with love for God and for souls, and insightful, patient spiritual guides. Here the teaching and example of Saint John Mary Vianney can serve as a significant point of reference for us all. The Curé of Ars was quite humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people: ?A good shepherd, a pastor after God?s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy?.[3] He spoke of the priesthood as if incapable of fathoming the grandeur of the gift and task entrusted to a human creature: ?O, how great is the priest! ? If he realized what he is, he would die? God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host??.[4][5] These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: ?Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die: not of fright, but of love? Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth? What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods ? Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they will end by worshiping the beasts there ? The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you?.[6] Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: ?Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest? After God, the priest is everything! ? Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is?.

He arrived in Ars, a village of 230 souls, warned by his Bishop beforehand that there he would find religious practice in a sorry state: ?There is little love of God in that parish; you will be the one to put it there?. As a result, he was deeply aware that he needed to go there to embody Christ?s presence and to bear witness to his saving mercy: ?[Lord,] grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer whatever you wish, for my entire life!?: with this prayer he entered upon his mission.[7] The Curé devoted himself completely to his parish?s conversion, setting before all else the Christian education of the people in his care. Dear brother priests, let us ask the Lord Jesus for the grace to learn for ourselves something of the pastoral plan of Saint John Mary Vianney! The first thing we need to learn is the complete identification of the man with his ministry. In Jesus, person and mission tend to coincide: all Christ?s saving activity was, and is, an expression of his ?filial consciousness? which from all eternity stands before the Father in an attitude of loving submission to his will. In a humble yet genuine way, every priest must aim for a similar identification. Certainly this is not to forget that the efficacy of the ministry is independent of the holiness of the minister; but neither can we overlook the extraordinary fruitfulness of the encounter between the ministry?s objective holiness and the subjective holiness of the minister. The Curé of Ars immediately set about this patient and humble task of harmonizing his life as a minister with the holiness of the ministry he had received, by deciding to ?live?, physically, in his parish church: As his first biographer tells us: ?Upon his arrival, he chose the church as his home. He entered the church before dawn and did not leave it until after the evening Angelus. There he was to be sought whenever needed?.[8]

The pious excess of his devout biographer should not blind us to the fact that the Curé also knew how to ?live? actively within the entire territory of his parish: he regularly visited the sick and families, organized popular missions and patronal feasts, collected and managed funds for his charitable and missionary works, embellished and furnished his parish church, cared for the orphans and teachers of the ?Providence? (an institute he founded); provided for the education of children; founded confraternities and enlisted lay persons to work at his side.

His example naturally leads me to point out that there are sectors of cooperation which need to be opened ever more fully to the lay faithful. Priests and laity together make up the one priestly people[9][10] Here we ought to recall the Second Vatican Council?s hearty encouragement to priests ?to be sincere in their appreciation and promotion of the dignity of the laity and of the special role they have to play in the Church?s mission. ? They should be willing to listen to lay people, give brotherly consideration to their wishes, and acknowledge their experience and competence in the different fields of human activity. In this way they will be able together with them to discern the signs of the times?.[11] and in virtue of their ministry priests live in the midst of the lay faithful, ?that they may lead everyone to the unity of charity, ?loving one another with mutual affection; and outdoing one another in sharing honour?? (Rom 12:10).

Saint John Mary Vianney taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of his life. It was from his example that they learned to pray, halting frequently before the tabernacle for a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.[12] ?One need not say much to pray well? ? the Curé explained to them ? ?We know that Jesus is there in the tabernacle: let us open our hearts to him, let us rejoice in his sacred presence. That is the best prayer?.[13] And he would urge them: ?Come to communion, my brothers and sisters, come to Jesus. Come to live from him in order to live with him?[14] ?Of course you are not worthy of him, but you need him!?.[15] This way of educating the faithful to the Eucharistic presence and to communion proved most effective when they saw him celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Those present said that ?it was not possible to find a finer example of worship? He gazed upon the Host with immense love?.[16] ?All good works, taken together, do not equal the sacrifice of the Mass? ? he would say ? ?since they are human works, while the Holy Mass is the work of God?.[17] He was convinced that the fervour of a priest?s life depended entirely upon the Mass: ?The reason why a priest is lax is that he does not pay attention to the Mass! My God, how we ought to pity a priest who celebrates as if he were engaged in something routine!?.[18] He was accustomed, when celebrating, also to offer his own life in sacrifice: ?What a good thing it is for a priest each morning to offer himself to God in sacrifice!?.[19]

This deep personal identification with the Sacrifice of the Cross led him ? by a sole inward movement ? from the altar to the confessional. Priests ought never to be resigned to empty confessionals or the apparent indifference of the faithful to this sacrament. In France, at the time of the Curé of Ars, confession was no more easy or frequent than in our own day, since the upheaval caused by the revolution had long inhibited the practice of religion. Yet he sought in every way, by his preaching and his powers of persuasion, to help his parishioners to rediscover the meaning and beauty of the sacrament of Penance, presenting it as an inherent demand of the Eucharistic presence. He thus created a ?virtuous? circle. By spending long hours in church before the tabernacle, he inspired the faithful to imitate him by coming to visit Jesus with the knowledge that their parish priest would be there, ready to listen and offer forgiveness. Later, the growing numbers of penitents from all over France would keep him in the confessional for up to sixteen hours a day. It was said that Ars had become ?a great hospital of souls?.[20] His first biographer relates that ?the grace he obtained [for the conversion of sinners] was so powerful that it would pursue them, not leaving them a moment of peace!?.[21] The saintly Curé reflected something of the same idea when he said: ?It is not the sinner who returns to God to beg his forgiveness, but God himself who runs after the sinner and makes him return to him?.[22] ?This good Saviour is so filled with love that he seeks us everywhere?.[23]

We priests should feel that the following words, which he put on the lips of Christ, are meant for each of us personally: ?I will charge my ministers to proclaim to sinners that I am ever ready to welcome them, that my mercy is infinite?.[24] From Saint John Mary Vianney we can learn to put our unfailing trust in the sacrament of Penance, to set it once more at the centre of our pastoral concerns, and to take up the ?dialogue of salvation? which it entails. The Curé of Ars dealt with different penitents in different ways. Those who came to his confessional drawn by a deep and humble longing for God?s forgiveness found in him the encouragement to plunge into the ?flood of divine mercy? which sweeps everything away by its vehemence. If someone was troubled by the thought of his own frailty and inconstancy, and fearful of sinning again, the Curé would unveil the mystery of God?s love in these beautiful and touching words: ?The good Lord knows everything. Even before you confess, he already knows that you will sin again, yet he still forgives you. How great is the love of our God: he even forces himself to forget the future, so that he can grant us his forgiveness!?.[25] But to those who made a lukewarm and rather indifferent confession of sin, he clearly demonstrated by his own tears of pain how ?abominable? this attitude was: ?I weep because you don?t weep?,[26] he would say. ?If only the Lord were not so good! But he is so good! One would have to be a brute to treat so good a Father this way!?.[27] He awakened repentance in the hearts of the lukewarm by forcing them to see God?s own pain at their sins reflected in the face of the priest who was their confessor. To those who, on the other hand, came to him already desirous of and suited to a deeper spiritual life, he flung open the abyss of God?s love, explaining the untold beauty of living in union with him and dwelling in his presence: ?Everything in God?s sight, everything with God, everything to please God? How beautiful it is!?.[28][29] And he taught them to pray: ?My God, grant me the grace to love you as much as I possibly can?.

In his time the Curé of Ars was able to transform the hearts and the lives of so many people because he enabled them to experience the Lord?s merciful love. Our own time urgently needs a similar proclamation and witness to the truth of Love: Deus caritas est (1 Jn: 4:8). Thanks to the word and the sacraments of Jesus, John Mary Vianney built up his flock, although he often trembled from a conviction of his personal inadequacy, and desired more than once to withdraw from the responsibilities of the parish ministry out of a sense of his unworthiness. Nonetheless, with exemplary obedience he never abandoned his post, consumed as he was by apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls. He sought to remain completely faithful to his own vocation and mission through the practice of an austere asceticism: ?The great misfortune for us parish priests ? he lamented ? is that our souls grow tepid?; meaning by this that a pastor can grow dangerously inured to the state of sin or of indifference in which so many of his flock are living.[30] He himself kept a tight rein on his body, with vigils and fasts, lest it rebel against his priestly soul. Nor did he avoid self-mortification for the good of the souls in his care and as a help to expiating the many sins he heard in confession. To a priestly confrere he explained: ?I will tell you my recipe: I give sinners a small penance and the rest I do in their place?.[31] Aside from the actual penances which the Curé of Ars practiced, the core of his teaching remains valid for each of us: souls have been won at the price of Jesus? own blood, and a priest cannot devote himself to their salvation if he refuses to share personally in the ?precious cost? of redemption.

In today?s world, as in the troubled times of the Curé of Ars, the lives and activity of priests need to be distinguished by a forceful witness to the Gospel. As Pope Paul VI rightly noted, ?modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses?.[32] Lest we experience existential emptiness and the effectiveness of our ministry be compromised, we need to ask ourselves ever anew: ?Are we truly pervaded by the word of God? Is that word truly the nourishment we live by, even more than bread and the things of this world? Do we really know that word? Do we love it? Are we deeply engaged with this word to the point that it really leaves a mark on our lives and shapes our thinking??.[33] Just as Jesus called the Twelve to be with him (cf. Mk 3:14), and only later sent them forth to preach, so too in our days priests are called to assimilate that ?new style of life? which was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and taken up by the Apostles.[34]

It was complete commitment to this ?new style of life? which marked the priestly ministry of the Curé of Ars. Pope John XXIII, in his Encyclical Letter Sacerdotii nostri primordia, published in 1959 on the first centenary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney, presented his asceticism with special reference to the ?three evangelical counsels? which the Pope considered necessary also for priests: ?even though priests are not bound to embrace these evangelical counsels by virtue of the clerical state, these counsels nonetheless offer them, as they do all the faithful, the surest road to the desired goal of Christian perfection?.[35] The Curé of Ars lived the ?evangelical counsels? in a way suited to his priestly state. His poverty was not the poverty of a religious or a monk, but that proper to a priest: while managing much money (since well-to-do pilgrims naturally took an interest in his charitable works), he realized that everything had been donated to his church, his poor, his orphans, the girls of his ?Providence?,[36] his families of modest means. Consequently, he ?was rich in giving to others and very poor for himself?.[37] As he would explain: ?My secret is simple: give everything away; hold nothing back?.[38] When he lacked money, he would say amiably to the poor who knocked at his door: ?Today I?m poor just like you, I?m one of you?.[39] At the end of his life, he could say with absolute tranquillity: ?I no longer have anything. The good Lord can call me whenever he wants!?.[40] His chastity, too, was that demanded of a priest for his ministry. It could be said that it was a chastity suited to one who must daily touch the Eucharist, who contemplates it blissfully and with that same bliss offers it to his flock. It was said of him that ?he radiated chastity?; the faithful would see this when he turned and gazed at the tabernacle with loving eyes?.[41] Finally, Saint John Mary Vianney?s obedience found full embodiment in his conscientious fidelity to the daily demands of his ministry. We know how he was tormented by the thought of his inadequacy for parish ministry and by a desire to flee ?in order to bewail his poor life, in solitude?.[42] Only obedience and a thirst for souls convinced him to remain at his post. As he explained to himself and his flock: ?There are no two good ways of serving God. There is only one: serve him as he desires to be served?.[43] He considered this the golden rule for a life of obedience: ?Do only what can be offered to the good Lord?.[44]

In this context of a spirituality nourished by the practice of the evangelical counsels, I would like to invite all priests, during this Year dedicated to them, to welcome the new springtime which the Spirit is now bringing about in the Church, not least through the ecclesial movements and the new communities. ?In his gifts the Spirit is multifaceted? He breathes where he wills. He does so unexpectedly, in unexpected places, and in ways previously unheard of? but he also shows us that he works with a view to the one body and in the unity of the one body?.[45] In this regard, the statement of the Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis continues to be timely: ?While testing the spirits to discover if they be of God, priests must discover with faith, recognize with joy and foster diligently the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, whether these be of a humble or more exalted kind?.[46] These gifts, which awaken in many people the desire for a deeper spiritual life, can benefit not only the lay faithful but the clergy as well. The communion between ordained and charismatic ministries can provide ?a helpful impulse to a renewed commitment by the Church in proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel of hope and charity in every corner of the world?.[47] I would also like to add, echoing the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis of Pope John Paul II, that the ordained ministry has a radical ?communitarian form? and can be exercised only in the communion of priests with their Bishop.[48] This communion between priests and their Bishop, grounded in the sacrament of Holy Orders and made manifest in Eucharistic concelebration, needs to be translated into various concrete expressions of an effective and affective priestly fraternity.[49] Only thus will priests be able to live fully the gift of celibacy and build thriving Christian communities in which the miracles which accompanied the first preaching of the Gospel can be repeated.

The Pauline Year now coming to its close invites us also to look to the Apostle of the Gentiles, who represents a splendid example of a priest entirely devoted to his ministry. ?The love of Christ urges us on? ? he wrote ? ?because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died? (2 Cor 5:14). And he adds: ?He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them? (2 Cor 5:15). Could a finer programme be proposed to any priest resolved to advance along the path of Christian perfection?

Dear brother priests, the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney (1859) follows upon the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Lourdes (1858). In 1959 Blessed Pope John XXIII noted that ?shortly before the Curé of Ars completed his long and admirable life, the Immaculate Virgin appeared in another part of France to an innocent and humble girl, and entrusted to her a message of prayer and penance which continues, even a century later, to yield immense spiritual fruits. The life of this holy priest whose centenary we are commemorating in a real way anticipated the great supernatural truths taught to the seer of Massabielle. He was greatly devoted to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin; in 1836 he had dedicated his parish church to Our Lady Conceived without Sin and he greeted the dogmatic definition of this truth in 1854 with deep faith and great joy.?[50] The Curé would always remind his faithful that ?after giving us all he could, Jesus Christ wishes in addition to bequeath us his most precious possession, his Blessed Mother?.[51]

To the Most Holy Virgin I entrust this Year for Priests. I ask her to awaken in the heart of every priest a generous and renewed commitment to the ideal of complete self-oblation to Christ and the Church which inspired the thoughts and actions of the saintly Curé of Ars. It was his fervent prayer life and his impassioned love of Christ Crucified that enabled John Mary Vianney to grow daily in his total self-oblation to God and the Church. May his example lead all priests to offer that witness of unity with their Bishop, with one another and with the lay faithful, which today, as ever, is so necessary. Despite all the evil present in our world, the words which Christ spoke to his Apostles in the Upper Room continue to inspire us: ?In the world you have tribulation; but take courage, I have overcome the world? (Jn 16:33). Our faith in the Divine Master gives us the strength to look to the future with confidence. Dear priests, Christ is counting on you. In the footsteps of the Curé of Ars, let yourselves be enthralled by him. In this way you too will be, for the world in our time, heralds of hope, reconciliation and peace!

With my blessing.

From the Vatican, 16 June 2009.

BENEDICTVS PP. XVI

We regret to announce, that due to technical issues Mass will not be broadcast until Sunday June 21st

Please note the following changes to Mass times this week:

Monday May 18: Mass at 12Noon (not 6pm)

Saturday May 23: Mass at 9am (not 12Noon)

Ex Ecclesia: there will be no Monday evening services in May at Dorset Gardens, Services will resume from Monday June 1st.

Please note the Solemnity of the Ascension of The Lord

This Thursday May 21: Mass at 12Noon

Saturday Masses: from May 23 Mass on Saturdays will be offered at 9am for the forseeable future.

Cardinal John Newman poised for beatification...

The Vatican has cleared the way for the beatification of John Henry Newman, the English Roman Catholic Cardinal.

By Simon Caldwell

A panel of theological consultors agreed unanimously that the inexplicable healing of an American man who was "bent double" by a severe spinal disorder came as a result of praying to Newman for a miracle, according to sources. Their decision was the final hurdle before Pope Benedict XVI can declare him "Blessed".

The Pope, who is known to be keen to make Newman a saint and who asks about the progress of his cause on a regular basis, was informed of the panel's decision straight away.

The vote means that the Pope can now beatify Newman at a date of his choosing. A second miracle will be required before Newman can be declared a saint.

The move was welcomed by Oxford University theologian Father Ian Ker, the author of the definitive biography of Cardinal Newman.

Father Ker said: "Newman was definitely a saint and he was a very English saint. He had a great sense of humour like St Thomas More.

"He also had a great gift for friendship which has been lost in the modern age." The priest said Newman was a significant figure to Catholics worldwide because he pre-empted the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s that modernised the Church.

Father Ker added: "As soon as he is canonised he will definitely be made a theological "doctor of the Church" and he will be seen as a doctor of this period we are living in.

"He would thoroughly agree with Pope John Paul II's and Benedict's understanding of the reforms of the council. While Newman was open to new ideas he was extremely loyal to the authority and the tradition of the Church."

A formal announcement by the Vatican on Newman's beatification is expected within the next two months.

He could be beatified as early as the autumn but it is more likely to go ahead next year.

When Gordon Brown visited the Vatican in February he invited Pope Benedict to Britain to perform the ceremony in person, possibly at Wembley Stadium.

But there have also been suggestions that the beatification should take place in St Peter's Square, Rome, because of Newman's international significance as a modern theologian.

The breakthrough concludes the work of the theological consultors who spent six months examining doctrinal issues surrounding the healing of Jack Sullivan, 69, a deacon from Marshfield, Massachusetts.

A panel of medical experts had earlier concluded there was no scientific explanation for the healing.

All that remains for the beatification to go ahead is the miracle to be rubber-stamped by the cardinals of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood and the Pope's signature.

Benedict XVI has been an admirer of the writings of Cardinal Newman since the 1940s, especially his "theology of conscience".

He learned about this from a German scholar called Theodor Haecker, who translated Newman's works from English into German, and who was close to the White Rose, a German resistance movement in the Second World War.

It was revealed last month that German academics have discovered that Newman's writings on conscience were a key inspiration of the White Rose – in particular of Sophie Scholl, a student beheaded in 1943 at the age of 21 for distributing leaflets urging students at Munich University to rise up against "Nazi terror".

Newman was born in the City of London in 1801. He became a Church of England vicar and led the "Oxford movement" in the 1830s to draw Anglicans to their Catholic roots.

He converted to the Catholic faith at the age of 44 after a succession of clashes with Anglican bishops made him a virtual outcast from the Church of England.

He continually clashed with both Anglicans angry about his conversion and Catholics who suspected him of being "half-Protestant" but his brilliant mind combined with his care for the poor won him his cardinal's red hat from Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

He died in his room at Oratory House, Birmingham, at the age of 89 years and more than 15,000 lined the streets for his funeral a week later. His cause for sainthood was opened in 1958.

Last October undertakers attempted to exhume his body from a grave in Rednal, Worcestershire, but found that it had completely decomposed.

If Newman's cause progresses swiftly he could become the first English saint since 1970 when Pope Paul VI canonised 40 martyrs of the Protestant Reformation.

The last British saint was St John Ogilvie, a Scottish Jesuit martyr, canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1976.

The latest edition of the Newletter for the Old Catholic Church in Europe, Passiontide/Easter 2009 is now available to view or download here: OCCE Newsletter

From Lifesite News:  SADLY THIS IS NOT A HOAX...

My comments in bold maroon type...

Simple Priesthood by Fr Sean Connolly Biretta tip to Br Anthony TOS *{];~)

Father Sean Connolly is a priest of the Diocese of East Anglia. He studied dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome where he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Theology. His first book, The Road to Holiness, was published by ST PAULS Publishing in the United Kingdom. Alba House is pleased to introduce him for the first time to an American audience.

What does it mean to be a Catholic priest working in a parish today? Sean Connolly, a young priest, reflects with great honesty on his vocation, the shock of being catapulted into parish life as a curate, and how he has coped with the demands and expectations on him. He is revealing about the workload and the strain of living a celibate life. In the second part, three priests and one deacon - John Udris, Ian Dalgleish, Paul McDermott, and Michael Griffin -reflect on what "being a priest" means to them. While remaining positive, they do not shrink from some radical suggestions for improvements including: support structures for priests, continuous education and monitoring of priests, more teams of priests and better collaboration with the laity, proper financial planning for pensions, a return to simplicity, and a recognition of stress and burnout among the clergy. A great book that could be used in every day life. Priests, and those considering the priesthood, will find this book a valuable insight into this a most wonderful calling.

Reflection; There is no way priestly training can anticipate every possible situation. A step from seminary to pastoral ministry is a large one.

There are several immediate hurdles we need to be aware of: getting to know your flock, them getting to know you, being put on a pedestal because you are a priest, learning the job from scratch, hearing confessions, confronting death, school ministry, and spotting dangerous situations. Confessions practice has to be learned in the confessional, on the job training.

The priesthood is a ever growing need to learn through on the job practices, these things you don't learn in the seminary.

All vocations are the results of free human co-operation with the gratuitious intervention of divine grace. God is truly a father who with an eternal and preeminent love calls human beings and opens up with them a marvelous and permanent dialogue.

The priestly vocation; 1. To preach the gospel, to celebrate the sacraments, in particular the Mass, and to enable the people of God to realize or I should say to shepherd them towards there own priestly dignity.

1a. Be a shepherd and lead the flock to their own priestly dignity, though all the tools put before us as priests.

The specific issue to be examined is the mechanism of priestly vocation;

2. How do I know I am called?

2a. every priest receives his vocation from our Lord though the Church. It's the Bishops' job "to recognize it." God calls us to serve through the community, then the community has a duty to foster vocations and to support and accompany those in the process of discernment. Lets be clear, "You don't choose God, He chooses you!"

3. another issue to consider is the effect of priestly vocation; my response to the call of God to the presbyter services, what happens to me? Am I on the path to conversion?

3a. In Baptism we have "put on Christ" and are called to share in his priestly, prophetic, and Kingly mission. Those in Holy Orders, however, the sharing takes on a new dimension. We have accepted a public role. In other words we are to become a living sacrament.

Conversion is the call within every calling and a touch stone of every true vocation. I think that the most persuasive proof of any authentic call of God lies in the conversion it always calls forth. Conversion is the corner stone of every calling, and it is always ultimately toward love. It's the life-task and eternal destiny of each one of us.

You are a priest forever. Christ's priestly mission doesn't come and go and neither does our participation in it through the sacrament of initiation and ordination. Thus the Church puts a, character being imprinted upon our souls in the sacrament of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders. We are being recreated. This stamp or character can't be repeated and is permanently fixed.

To all thinking about entering the priesthood, including myself, this is a big thing to meditate on, you are putting on Christ and it can't be removed from your soul, this is not a game, "you are a priest forever." This is no small thing.

Simplicity above all, and to all things. Not over done, but done with common sense and with taste. Again we hear Christ's words in Matt. 17-21.

I am I on the path to conversion? Conversion is the call within every calling and a touchstone of every true vocation. I think that the most persuasive proof of any authentic call of God lies in the conversion, it always calls forth. Conversion is the corner stone of every calling, and it is the life?s task and eternal destiny of each of us.

The bottom line is; manager the simplicity of your own life, faith, stress, duties, free time, your prayer life and on going education. If you do this and share the load you may not burn out.

Reviews

"Intimate portrait: Written by a young priest a few years into his ministry, Simple Priesthood is an honest, critical look at what life is like in the first few years of parish life. Author Fr. Sean Connolly discusses what his transition from seminary to parish ministry was like, how he deals with the myriad things calling for his attention, and how he deals with the other priests with whom he lives. He splits the parts of his journal into separate subsections and explores each individually: Reality Bites; Vocation; Relationship; Prayer and Praise; Demands and Expectations; Institutions and Structures; Celibacy and Sexuality; Caricatures; Simplicity. Fresh and clearly written, the book offers his deep and humorous insights into ministry, parishioners, and life in the rectory from the associate's point of view. Priests and seminarians will nod their heads and lay people will get an interesting insight into the calling. In the second part of the book, three priests and a deacon who is ready to be ordained discuss different aspects of priestly life: Conversion - The Call within a Calling; Assessing the Task Ahead; Taking Up the Challenge; Ministering to the Ministers." --Crux of the News, July 8, 2002

"This is a very readable book about the life and thoughts of a young priest in parish life in England. The author uses many practical episodes from his early priesthood to give a very realistic picture of both the adventures and the humdrum elements of a priest's life. Father Connolly has studied the documents of the church and works them into his reflections. This book would be excellent reading for someone who wants to taste the life of the priesthood and reflect on whether it appeals to them. Vocation directors and seminary libraries will find a place for this book. Even though it is written in a British context, the universality of the parish priest shines through." --Timothy Gollob in Ministry & Liturgy, August 2001

"Contemporary reflections on vocation: The framework for a new book written by priests engaged in parish work in England -- a collection of "practical and theological reflections grounded in pastoral experience" of confreres. Title: Simple Priesthood by Fr. Sean Connolly; with Foreword by Fr. David Sanders, O.P. Part One is made up of 9 chapters by Fr. Connolly, examining his experience, reflections, and challenges as a young priest. Part Two offers 4 chapters, one each by 3 priests and a transitional deacon to be ordained in the Spring of 2001. Chapters include 'Conversion, Call with a Calling... Taking Up the Challenge... Ministering to the Ministers.' Fr. Connolly writes of equally practical subject matter, and does so with conviction and clear conversational language. Some topics: 'Vocation... Demands and Expectations... Caricatures... Celibacy and Sexuality.' Consistent thread in the writings of all 5 -- the reality of faith and vocations lived out, day by day." --Crux of the News, April 16, 2001

For the Propers and Readings for Sunday and other Solemnities,
just click on the Mass text in red. 
Click on the Saint's name for their biography. 
If you would like to attend Mass, please contact the Clergy. 

Click on the Missal above for the Order of Mass

For the Propers and Readings for Sunday and other Solemnities,
just click on the Mass text in red. 
Click on the Saint's name for their biography. 
If you would like to attend Mass, please contact the Clergy. 

Click on the Missal above for the Order of Mass