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Dear
Friends and Members of the St. Thomas More Society,
When Bishop John Dougherty,
Auxiliary Bishop of Scranton, visited us on June 22nd
he baptized my son, Thomas, and preached the last day of the
Novena to St. Thomas More. He was pleased to be with us, and he
gave us a compliment. He said to me, “You’re doing a good job
here”. For all of you who came to the baptism and who
participated in the Novena, I thank you for sharing in our
celebration and for the good impression you made upon Bishop
Dougherty. Over the years he has been so good to us. I thank
you for being good to him in return. I am grateful, also, for
the excellent turnout we saw at the Novena each day. Our
weekday average was thirty people per day at Mass and on Sundays
the average attendance was 85. We were blessed with some
excellent preaching and two of the best sermons, those by Fr.
Scott and Fr. Kirby, will soon be up on the Society website. I
encourage you to look them up and carry their wisdom with you at
least until the next Novena to St. Thomas More gives us the
opportunity to invite into our midst such generous and kind men.
A New Additional Assignment
Bishop Martino is pleased with
what we are doing, as well. He offered a profound compliment to
me late last month when he asked me to be the Chaplain at Holy
Cross High School, the Diocesan Catholic high school in
Lackawanna County. My duties will not be full time, as Bishop
Martino recognizes the obligation I have to the Society. To
compensate us for my time the Society will receive half the
salary of a Diocesan Chaplain. Thus, my ministry to the Society
will continue, even as I minister to the students and staff at
Holy Cross. The timing could not be more fortuitous. I will
begin my responsibilities there in earnest just as our new
Administrative Assistant and Director of Music, Paul Campbell,
comes to aid our work. We had intended all along that I would
be free to do more sacramental and evangelical work when we got
help with the administration of the Society. We should all
rejoice that such an opportunity has come so close on the heels
of our finding the help we need. Rejoice also in the chance we
now have to assist in the formation of hundreds of the Diocese
of Scranton’s young Catholics. We are truly blessed that Bishop
Martino has confidence in me to undertake such an important new
assignment.
Another Anglican Use
Congregation
Even as Bishop
Martino was requesting I assume these new duties, I received a
call the same week from a fellow Pastoral Provision priest, Fr.
Ernie Davis. Fr. Davis lives and serves in Kansas City,
Missouri, where a group of Anglicans has recently requested to
be reconciled to Mother Church, while retaining elements of
their Anglican heritage that are consistent with Catholic faith
and practice. That is, they have asked for the Anglican Use
Mass. Fr. Davis, aware of what we have done here in Scranton,
has asked that I come out to Kansas City to preach and make a
presentation to help get this new Anglican Use community off the
ground. For now, it looks like I’ll make the trip out in the
first week of October. Please keep this group and Fr. Davis in
your prayers, and give thanks to God for the honor He has
bestowed on us in allowing our Society to play a role in
reconciling another group to the Holy See.
The Sunday School
Closer to home, we are making
plans to help form the faith of our members, both youth and
adults alike. To this end I invite you to participate in a
meeting to plan our Christian Education program for the upcoming
year. Next week Paul Campbell will be in town, having made the
second of three trips to Scranton by which he is moving his
things north from Virginia. Therefore, if you are interested in
helping to teach Sunday School or plan the adult programs for
the 2008-2009 school year, please come to the Office at the
address below on Tuesday, July 8th at 7PM.
Paul and I would like to discuss with you matters such as the
number of classes for our youth and the time of Sunday School
each week, curriculums for each adult and youth class, as well
as who our instructors might be. In addition, we want to
consider if it is desirable and feasible to begin nursery care
during Mass for the many young children we have at Mass each
week. Fr. Skitzki, who led a Bible Study for us earlier this
year, has volunteered to lead another, and will be there to hear
your thoughts. Please make every effort to come so you can
offer your input.
The Stewardship Campaign
I have been very encouraged by
the response thus far to the Pledge Drive that we initiated last
month. We have received several pledges of support from those
who pledged last year, and we have even received some new ones.
However, more than half of our pledges from last year are still
out as I write to you this month. The new fiscal year has
begun, and we have made a budget for the year, so we need know
that we will receive the support we require to continue to
expand our ministry and fulfill our obligations. Please, if you
have not yet sent in your pledge card, do so as soon as you
can. Your generosity allows us to make plans for the coming
year. In advance of receiving your contributions, and in
expectation of your kindness, I thank you for helping us conduct
the ministry we offer. As I have already this month, I look
forward to communicating our progress over the coming year, as
we help to reconcile ever more people to Mother Church.
Our Recommendations to the
Planning Commission
We expect to witness quite a few
changes in the Diocese of Scranton over the coming year. As you
know, all the parishes of the Diocese are involved in the
pastoral planning process, Called to Holiness and Mission. The
St. Thomas More Society has participated in this process from
the beginning, having been clustered with parishes in the
northeast quadrant of the city of Scranton. Our group of
parishes made several recommendations to the Diocese of
Scranton’s Planning Commission, some of which affect our
Society. Our cluster recommended that St. Clare Church be
merged with St. Paul Parish here in Green Ridge. If the
Planning Commission accepts this recommendation, our Society
will need a new home, which we suggested should be Holy Family
Church, across the street from Cooper’s Seafood Restaurant on
North Washington Avenue. Our reasoning took into account Holy
Family’s central location in a neighborhood that is certainly a
mission field, the fact that the architecture of the church
matches the Anglican Use Mass we offer (the church still has its
high altar), and the possibility that my family and I could
occupy the rectory that is attached to the church after the
current Pastor, Msgr. Connie Siconolfi, retires next year.
Moreover, Holy Family would be linked to the Cathedral downtown,
so I could help celebrate Masses on this side of the river, much
as I do in North Scranton now. The Planning Commission will
respond by either rejecting or accepting our recommendations.
They may also modify our proposal a bit. When I receive their
response, I will keep you informed of all I know.
Pray with us
All of this planning has been
done in within the context of prayer, per Bishop Martino’s wise
counsel. Remember that we continue to offer Eucharistic
Adoration, Evensong and Benediction the first Sunday of every
month. This Sunday, July 6th, from the end of the
10AM Mass until 5PM, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed
on the altar. Give some of your time and then return to offer
praise and thanksgiving at our 5PM Evensong. As I reminded you
last month, through such prayers will we obtain the graces
required to faithfully answer the summons we received from God
more than three and a half years ago. Please make every effort
to attend.
So many of you held my family
and me up in prayer as Joanie underwent surgery earlier this
week in Danville. I can now happily report that she came
through with flying colors. Your prayers carried us through.
Please know that you remain always in our prayers, as well, and
we feel honored to serve you.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Eric
Bergman, Chaplain
St. Thomas More Society
2301 N. Washington Avenue
Scranton, PA 18509
(570) 343-0634
www.stthomasmoresociety.org
Reminders:
- Pray
the Rosary for the lives of the unborn every Wednesday at
St. Anthony’s or wherever you are.
-
Contribute to Birthright at least once a month.
-
Confessions are heard before every Anglican Use Mass.
- The
2008 Anglican Use Conference in San Antonio is July 10th
to the 12th. Please pray for all attendees.
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