The Hermeneutic of Continuity

The Day With Mary came to the parish of Margate a couple of weeks ago. Claudio has now put up on YouTube the sermon that I gave at Mass on the theme of how Our Lady, as our Advocate, assists us at our worship. It is always embarrassing to see your own sermon on video - it reminds me of the sermon classes we had as seminarians. There is much to criticise, but I hope that it might be of some use.

Hardly a weekend passes these days without an article in one of the broadsheets extolling Margate as the place to be for leading-edge short breaks for the culture vulture with a sense of fun. I am beginning to get used to being in a parish where people come to visit; last week was rather special because all of my four sisters came down, together with various children, mostly now young adults whom I have a tendency to assume are all about 14 years old. Their accommodation varied between a good three-storey airbnb, a sea-view hotel and the 15th floor of the brutalist icon Arlington House with fantastic views. The first evening, Dave opened up The Hoy specially for us after I asked to book a table for 16 people. I do recommend it: fresh food, local vegetables, reasonable price, excellent service, real ale and a view across the harbour. (#LoveMargate) The following day was blessed with bright sunshine - perfect weather for a visit to Margate's funfair, Dreamland , re-opened recen...

Archbishop Gänswein is probably resigned to the fact that he will be forever known as Pope Benedict's secretary, but he is not shy of teaching in his own right. In an interview with Zenit, he referred to the teaching of St John Paul twenty years ago, in which he did not accept that the divorced and remarried could receive Holy Communion. (See Vatican Insider Gänswein:“Host for remarried divorcees is not possible" ) In the present discussion, it is worth referring to the 1994 letter Annus Internationalis Familiae , written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Bishops on the subject. Section 6 states: Members of the faithful who live together as husband and wife with persons other than their legitimate spouses may not receive Holy Communion. Should they judge it possible to do so, pastors and confessors, given the gravity of the matter and the spiritual good of these persons as well as the common good of the Church, have the serious duty to admonish th...

The Day With Mary in my parish coincided with the priestly Ordination of Fr Mark Higgins and Fr Matt O'Gorman at St George's Cathedral in Southwark. I had to give the parish priority and so was disappointed to miss the ordination, especially since I have known both of these new priests well since some time before they began their formation. I am delighted that they are now part of the brotherhood of the clergy in the Archdiocese of Southwark. In fact, both of them, as well as Fr James Cadman who was ordained a few weeks ago, are old boys of The John Fisher School in Purley. I am a very-much-older boy of the same school. In my day, Fr Roger Nesbitt started up and ran the Faith Society from which the Faith Movement was formed. Although not all of the many priestly vocations from the school since that time were directly influenced by Faith, many of them were. When the then Archbishop moved Fr Nesbitt into parish ministry in the mid 1980s (just before my own ordination) i...

St Anthony Communications has produced a DVD on Marriage. The British Province of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy has raised funds to send a copy of the DVD to every priest in Britain. The sleeve has a summary of the film: From the dawn of human history, mankind has understood the value of a lifelong, faithful, procreative union of one man and one woman in marriage. This natural bond, which was raised to a Sacrament by Our Lord Jesus Christ, has been the foundation of Christian civilisation for over two thousand years. This powerful film presents the enduring Catholic vision and understanding of marriage and the natural law, the beauty and meaning of human sexuality, of family, of the gift of children, and addresses the challenges we face in our world today. With presentations by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Bishop Mark Davies, Fr Marcus Holden, Fr Andrew Pinsent, Louise Kirk, Fiona Mansford and Edmund Adamus, this documentary is an essential resource for every Catholic pa...

The Catholic students of St Andrews University recently made a pilgrimage to Rome, led by their chaplain, Fr Michael John Galbraith, a hard-working and devout young priest whom I have the privilege to know personally. Over the years I have made many visits to Canmore, the home of the Catholic Chaplaincy, to give talks to the Catholic Society which has remained impressively strong, providing a formative environment for many vocations to priesthood, the religious life, and to Catholic marriages. While in Rome, the students were given a tour of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by one of the priest officials there, who is himself an alumnus of St Andrews. He too is a fine young priest (remember that I am getting older!) and works hard at what is sometimes a thankless task in the Curia (not a job I would want for all the tea in China) for the love of God " et pro felici statu sanctae Romanae ecclesiae ." The students were given a private audience with Cardi...

I put the press release, text and signatures of the Support for Marriage Letter in one post for the record. There are one or two things to add. The letter was been published first on the Catholic Herald website and it will feature in the Catholic Herald printed magazine later this week. See Nearly 500 priests in England and Wales urge synod to stand firm on Communion for the remarried. There have been one or two queries. A couple of priests have asked whether they could sign it as they did not have the chance to do so. I understand that the organisers of the letter did try to send a copy to every priest in England and Wales, but a database with such a large number of entries is bound to have a few mistakes. Unfortunately, I am told that there is no easy way to add signatures now. This was a competely independent undertaking of a small number of concerned lay people. One or two lay people have asked if a letter could be organised for laity to sign. I would recommend lay people to...

See also the post Further on the priests' Support for Marriage Letter for answers to one or two questions. Here is the text of the Press release from the co-ordinator of the letter, followed by the letter itself and the list of signatories : Press release from the co-ordinator of the letter : Hundreds of Priests in England and Wales urge Vatican Synod to end confusion over Marriage and Sexuality. In a dramatic turn of events, nearly 500 priests from England and Wales have written a letter in defence of the ‘traditional teaching on marriage and human sexuality’ in anticipation of the forthcoming Vatican Synod on the family. This letter comes at a time when a growing number of Catholics are concerned that the gathering of Church leaders in Rome, scheduled for October 2015, will seek to re-think Gospel teaching on marriage, sexuality, repentance and grace. Some Cardinals, particularly from Germany, have suggested that Holy Communion could be received by those in second and non...

The pastoral and spiritual care particularly of men in our parishes is much needed at the present time. The Holy League is a recently-founded initiative which aims to to develop a network of parish based regular monthly Holy Hours with confession and fraternity for men. Cardinal Burke gave an encouraging message earlier this month on the launch of the Holy League. Here is the video: I did like his ultra simple summary of the one fundamental aim of the Holy League: "It has basically one thrust and that is that we, as men, be in the state of grace..." It reminds me of a remark attributed to St John Bosco when asked what was his principal aim in life. The saint who carried out so many spectacularly successful apostolic works said that his principal aim in life was to remain in a state of grace. (By the way, here is a screen-grab at 3'05" where my good friend Fr Z has a cameo role in the video! I have just noticed that he has also posted on the Holy Leag...

Full text of the sermon of Cardinal Burke, given on Monday 9 March at St Augustine's, Ramsgate during the celebration of Pontifical High Mass: VOTIVE MASS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF ENGLAND SHRINE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF RAMSGATE AND MINSTER RAMSGATE, ENGLAND 9 MARCH 2015 1 Thes 2, 2-9 Lk 10, 1-9 SERMON Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen. How great a blessing to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Shrine of Saint Augustine, Apostle of England, so near to the place at which he, together with some forty other monks, arrived in the year 597 on a mission received from the Roman Pontiff, Pope Gregory the Great: the mission of the new evangelization of the British Isles. Here we witness directly the unfailing activity of the glorious Christ in His Church. Saint Augustine and his companions, not unlike the 72 disciples in the Gospel, were sent forth by the Vicar of Christ on earth to bring Christ alive in the Church to a fa...

Sacred ministers, tired children, hard-working parishioners and many visitors from far afield are now home (or still on their way) from a wonderful evening at St Augustine's, Ramsgate . The Rector of the Shrine, Fr Marcus Holden, invited Cardinal Burke to celebrate Pontifical High Mass at the throne. Fr Louis Poucin de Wouilt came all the way from Gricigliano to MC and did a great job with discretion and quiet authority. He was only ordained priest last July for the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest and took charge of the ceremonies with exemplary calm and expertise. I have some experience of Pontifical Mass but am by no means an expert, so I mugged up with Fortescue and Ahearne & Lane but was still rather nervous at the prospect of being Deacon for the Mass. Fortunately, since I sing Mass every Sunday, chanting the Gospel is not so daunting, but it is easy to go suddenly blank at various points, wondering what comes next that is different from the usual High...