“Quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum.” The Colloquium of the British Province of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy was a great success. I missed lunch, having to travel after my morning duties in the parish, but arrived in time for the first Mass, celebrated by Bishop Philip Egan. An entertaining point in his sermon was his emphasis on the fostering of union with Christ which cannot be brought about by programmes or structures. He said that he did not believe in the doctrine of sola structura. Bishop Egan also encouraged us to make our own his desire to be humble and holy, orthodox, creative and courageous.
Fr Michael Lang spoke in the evening on the subject of “Fifty years after Sacrosanctum Concilium, Towards a New Liturgical Movement.” As we have come to expect from such a scholar, his lecture was informative, amusing, and encouraging. I look forward to reviewing it again when it is published in due course.
Yesterday morning we were treated to superb presentation from Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, vice-President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, on “What is the New Evangelisation and why does it matter?” Archbishop di Noia is very widely read, and gave something of a master class on the question of evangelisation and its themes as relevant to the evangelisation of formerly Christian countries.
Later the Archbishop was celebrant at Mass. Indicative of the richness of this Colloquium, the sermon was given by Mgr Keith Newton. The point that I particularly took away from his sermon was the responsibility given to priests for catechesis. We rightly involve lay people but must not simple devolve our priestly task of passing on the mysteries of the faith.
The Ordinariate were well represented at the Colloquium, as well as many old friends. I was delighted to see Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett who happened providentially to be in England at the right time. Bishop Jarrett has been a sterling supporter of the Australian CCC and it was good to hear from him about developments there.
The last talk of the Colloquium was from Fr Andrew Pinsent on Science, Grace and Catholic Enlightenment, raising matters for discussion on these questions.
The Liturgy at the Colloquium was very much part of the reform of the reform. The Masses were celebrated in the Novus Ordo with the ordinary and propers in Latin and the rest of the texts in English. Priests either concelebrated or attending in choro, some having celebrated private Masses earlier in the morning. After my own 7am Mass, I made my thanksgiving by serving Fr Hunwicke’s Low Mass. As a priest I enjoy serving for other priest’s Masses – it is a way of reminding oneself of the real meaning of participation at Mass – something that the priest needs to be aware of himself.
There were nearly 100 priests present this year. The CCC is growing rapidly and it is especially good to have prelates attending and participating in an exercise that reminds us of our responsibilities, challenges us to think more deeply and draws us into the breadth of life of the universal Church. Many thanks to those who organised the Colloquium. Please pray that this priestly fraternity will grow and flourish.
More photos at my Flickr set
(Any texts will appear at the Confraternity website so please refer there rather thank asking in the comments box here.)
6 comments:
What was the joke? Must have been a good one. Do tell!
Pity you didn't Photoshop the Holy Father's face onto the priest in white in the middle, though.
I said "This photo is for the Tablet."
Bishop Egan again earns my admiration. No,talking about Christ is not the same as talking to Christ. A return to devotions is the answer.
Fr.,
“The Liturgy at the Colloquium was very much part of the “Reform of the Reform”.”
Excellent! The quicker we get back to what Sacrosanctum Consilium said the better, i.e., the ancient Catholic Mass with some readings and prayers in the vernacular, minor offices of, e.g., Lector, only to be used, laity paying attention to what is going on, and wider use of scriptural material (although it was already wide enough?).
Interestingly at one Mass recently the priest suggested instead of lay bidders, a period of silent prayer under his direction - exactly what the ancient Prayer of the Faithful was, and not the construct we have today.
I restrained a cheer with difficulty!
The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy in the UK is wrongly named. Full membership is not open to all clergy and therefore they should change their name.
Being called as such, while being exclusive (ie, excludes a whole section of the clergy) sends out an inappropriate message to the laity, of how some members of the clergy will see their brother clergymen.
I am talking of course about deacons. While I would not seek membership for myself, that's no reason for me not to highlight this injustice for those that might but are unable to do so.
When I pointed out to the UK CCC that the link of their website to the US CCC mentions priests and deacons, they removed the link. Moore appropriate to change their name I feel.
After all, a rose by any other name......
and whoops I sent that not seeing my daughter was signed in!
WE can all make mistakes, it's our ability to correct them that defines us, I feel.
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