Fall 2016 - St. Thomas More Catholic Parish

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The Monthly Newsletter of
St. Thomas More Catholic Parish
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Fall 2016
From the Pastor
Dear Members & Friends,
I write to you just one week after Bishop
Steven Lopes, our new Ordinary, came to
Scranton for his first pastoral visit to our
parish. Having spent three days here, he came
away impressed with you, offering a compliment that was at once kind and astute. He
said, “Your parishioners are both open and
docile, an excellent combination that will
foster growth for St. Thomas More Parish”. I
agree and would add only that these virtues of
yours find their expression in your remarkable
generosity – we were able to show Bishop
Lopes that our parish of 215 members
generated income last fiscal year of $291,000.
He experienced your generosity in your warm
hospitality, also, and he genuinely enjoyed his
time here, looking forward already to his
return less than two years from now, when
the Ordinariate Chrism Mass will be celebrated in our church on March 22, 2018.
Bishop Lopes was pleased with what he
saw in our physical plant, as well, incredulous
that we paid only $274,000 for all the property our parish now possesses, while at the
same time struck by the incredible beauty of
our church. He thought our plan to renovate
the convent and fill it with tenants as a means
to help address our operating deficit is a good
one, again happy with the soundness of the
structure itself. Though he was unimpressed
with the school building, demolition was not
his first suggestion. Bishop Lopes recommended instead that if the foundation is
secure (it is), we should set as a goal the
removal of the top two floors and the
renovation of the basement and first floor as
office and classroom space. With eyes attuned
to the urban landscape because of his many
years in San Francisco, he assured us that it’s
possible and advisable to utilize the flat roof of
the school as playground space, since open
space for the many children of our parish is so
limited in our section of the city. I ended our
tour of the St. Joseph Church campus humbled that a fresh set of eyes could see in an
hour what I had not seen in over four years.
Now if we only had the funding to see
our joint vision come to fruition! My attempt
to deflect his praise for our development as a
parish focused on the reality that we often
don’t have much cash in hand, and I went so
far as to describe our situation as grim. I
revealed, after all, that I received no remuneration last pay period, and we have
before us once again the annual $6,000+ lump
sum payment due for our property and liability insurance. Having before his own gaze
the circumstances of all 42 of the Ordinariate’s
communities, he told me, “Your financial
situation is not grim. It’s just tight”. He went
on to explain, however, that to realize our
growth potential we need to move from
operating collection to collection to a model
that for purposes of planning allows for the
accumulation of resources. That is, our ability
to flourish is limited by our lack of reserves.
Over the next year we must devise a plan for
transitioning out of our scrambling, start-up
mode to where we adopt the characteristics
of an established parish. Our growth over the
years, especially since we came to Providence,
showed Bishop Lopes that we are on this
trajectory. I will be happy to receive your
input about how we might get there.
Unless God calls me home in short order,
it looks like you’ll be making those plans with
me. Bishop Lopes informed me that canon
law envisions pastors who are appointed
essentially for life, so that a parish may benefit
from stability. While the nation’s bishops
conference may set terms for pastors, which
in the United States is six years, our bishop has
elected not to adopt such limits, and he has
appointed me pastor of St. Thomas More
Parish with no set end date. I am grateful for
the trust he has thus placed in me and that
any such insecurity in this regard has been
removed, that you, my parishioners, may be
confident I am not about to be given some
new assignment. Moreover, he has appointed
me to serve on the duly constituted Governing
Council of the Ordinariate, assuring us all
when he addressed the parish at the reception
after the Confirmation Mass that he values
our experience as one of the seven Pastoral
Provision communities that predate the establishment in 2012 of the Ordinariate. I beg
your prayers both that I be a faithful pastor to
you and offer wise counsel to our fine shepherd. The confidence he has placed in us and
the approbation he openly expressed indicate
we are doing good work. By God’s grace may
this work continue unimpeded and vindicate
our bishop’s decision to give us the responsibility we share.
In the last edition of our newsletter I
promised you some changes were coming, so
please read the rest of the newsletter to find
out what they are, too many to enumerate
here.
Honored to serve you and grateful that
God has appointed my family and me to spend
our lives in Scranton, I am,
Your servant in Christ,
The Rev. Eric L. Bergman
Worship
First Friday Holy Hour,
Evening Prayer, & 24 Hour
Adoration Sept 2, Oct 7
this important trip are encouraged to sponsor their travels, in whole or in part.
Our next “First Friday” evenings of worship, fellowship, and hospitality at the Parish
will be offered on September 2 & October 7,
according to the established schedule:
In our continual efforts to establish a
reliable monthly training session for Altar
Servers and Altar Boys, this season we will
establish the third Sunday of the month,
after 10 a.m. Mass, as our training time. All
current and prospective servers – both adults
and boys – are asked to attend.
Friday
4:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Saturday
3:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
Exposition, Holy Hour, & Confession (24 Hour Adoration begins)
Evensong & Benediction
Potluck Supper
Free Movie Night
Confession
24 Hour Adoration concludes
Please join us for these monthly opportunities to adore and worship in our Lord’s
very presence, followed by table fellowship
and a movie together. Bring a friend!
First Sunday Adoration
On September 4 and October 2 we will
continue our pattern of offering Eucharistic
Adoration immediately following 10 a.m.
Mass until 3 p.m. on the first Sunday of each
month, beginning with devotions to Our Lady
of Victory. Please avail yourself of this
monthly opportunity to adore our Lord and
pray for persecuted Christians in the Middle
East.
Choir Season Resumes
September 7 & 11
After the more relaxed pace of summer
choir (optional attendance, no vestments,
Offertory hymn rather than anthem), the St.
Thomas More Parish Choir is soon to resume
its full schedule of activities. Anthems will be
offered at Mass beginning on Sunday, September 11, with adults and teens resuming
rehearsals that same morning at 9:00 a.m. In
order to prepare, Choir School choristers
(grades 2-8) will begin rehearsing the preced-
Altar Training Established
ing week on Wednesday, September 7; this
will be a full rehearsal at 4:15 p.m.; smallgroup instruction – now to be integrated
with Maria Kaupas Academy – will begin the
next week on Wednesday, September 14.
The St. Thomas More Parish Choir is an
intergenerational ensemble from grade 2
through adult that strives for excellence in
sacred music while also being as accommodating as possible to the dispersed nature of
our congregation (thus there is no mid-week
rehearsal for adults and teens). Choristers in
grades 2 through 8 participate in the Royal
School of Church Music curriculum by way of
small group instruction and full rehearsals on
Wednesday afternoons, developing healthy
singing voices and learning to read music at
sight. Whether child, youth, or adult, choir
membership is not predicated on previous
musical training or experience, nor current
vocal quality, all of which are developed in
the course of choir participation; the only requirements are the ability to carry a tune and
keep a commitment. Please contact Music
Director Paul Campbell if you and/or your
child would like to discuss participating.
Subdeacons to be
Trained in Houston
Every Solemn High Mass demands the
presence of a Celebrant, Deacon, and Subdeacon. And, while a Deacon or Priest must
act as Deacon of the Mass (as Fr. Bergman
did at our recent Confirmation Mass), the
role of Subdeacon may be taken by an Instituted Acolyte, an adult Altar Server officially
trained and licensed by the Church. To ensure consistency, our Bishop has asked that
those men called to serve this function be
trained at the Cathedral in Houston, to which
end parishioners David Bergman and David
Kern will participate in a training week-end in
September. The expense – $550 apiece – was
not anticipated in the budget, so those called
to assist the Parish in sending these men on
High Mass for Our Lady of
Walsingham September 24
Though titled the Personal Ordinariate
of the Chair of Saint Peter, our non-geographical diocese is under the patronage of
Our Lady of Walsingham, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary dating to Marian apparitions
in the year 1061 in the village of Walsingham, Norfolk, England. Accordingly, High
Mass will be offered on Saturday, September
24 at 10 a.m. for the Solemnity of Our Lady
of Walsingham. Please plan to assist at this
important feast in the life of our Ordinariate.
Masses for All Saints
Tuesday, November 1
November 1 – the Solemnity of All
Saints – is a Holy Day of Obligation, and
brings with it the perennial challenge of its
Vigil (upon which we typically celebrate our
High Mass observances) falling upon October
31, when the children of our city celebrate
All Hallows Eve. This year we will alleviate
the issue by celebrating All Saints on the day
itself, with High Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening, November 1 (as well as 7 a.m.
and noon low Masses the same day). As
always, we encourage our young people to
be “in the world, but not of the world” on
Halloween, having a delightful evening while
eschewing darkness and evil and witnessing
to goodness, truth, and beauty in the costumes they choose.
Discipleship
Bishop’s Visitation &
Confirmation Recap
The Most Rev. Steven Lopes – first Bishop
of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of
Saint Peter – visited St. Thomas More Parish
Wednesday through Friday, August 17-19.
After flying in on Wednesday and getting
settled at St. Peter’s Cathedral Rectory (where
he was graciously hosted by Bishop Bambera),
Bishop Lopes visited the combined pastoral
council, finance council, and trustees, to review our financial situation and discuss other
parish-related matters. While acknowledging
our challenges, Bishop Lopes reported that
things are much the same all over the Ordinariate, and encouraged us to press on in the
good work we are doing.
Thursday brought a detailed tour of the
Parish campus and its buildings, then a delicious lunch with the Campbell and Bergman
families, with Colombian cuisine courtesy of
Kristina Bergman and Sandy Campbell. Solemn
High Mass with Confirmation followed in the
evening, with seminary classmate and longtime friend Fr. Christopher Sahd of the Diocese of Scranton serving as subdeacon. Then
came a reception in the newly refurbished
Parish Hall – a group project of the 2016 Confirmation class – which Bishop Lopes blessed.
Friday brought additional meetings, a
tour of the city of Scranton, and Bishop Lopes’
departure for his next stop, the Ordinariate
Parish in Omaha, Nebraska.
Many thanks to all those who worked so
hard to make our Bishop’s visit a great success
and encouragement!
All Ministries Resume
On/After September 11:
New Programs Announced
As always, all Parish discipleship programs and ministries will resume activities on
the Sunday after Labor Day: Sunday, September 11. The usual Sunday morning schedule
will apply:
PreK-K
st
1
nd th
2 -5
th th
6 -7
th
th
8 -12
9 a.m. Sunday School
st
9 a.m. 1 Holy Communion Prep
9 a.m. Sunday School
8:30 a.m. Confirmation Prep
8:30 a.m. Sunday School
While the Sunday morning schedule will
remain unchanged, there are several other
ministries which – after many fruitful years –
have run their course, so please carefully note
the following adjustments we are making to
our programs:
Little Flowers, Blue Knights, and Youth
Group are accustomed to 1:00 p.m. meetings
on the second Sunday of the month, following a noon potluck lunch for participating
families. That monthly meeting day and lunch
will continue unchanged, but we will set aside
the Little Flowers and Blue Knights title and
curriculum and proceed with a new family
our lively coffee hour is an important feature
of our Parish life, during these two penitential
seasons only we will “fast” from our coffee
hour, enjoy a modest potluck lunch together
each week, and engage in a course of study
together, thus continuing to nourish our
growth in the Catholic faith. Arrangements will
be made for childcare.
Other discipleship programs will continue
apace at their regular meeting times. Men’s
Holy League will resume their meetings (first
and third Mondays at 7 p.m.) on Monday,
September 19; and the Ladies’ Lunch and
Study Group will continue their monthly gatherings as announced.
Maria Kaupas Academy
to Launch This Fall
ministries program combining these groups
in the Parish Hall, in which the Youth Group
aids in the instruction of the younger ages.
The Youth Group itself, meanwhile, will
shift to a Sunday evening pattern, twice per
month... with the important additional distinction that meetings will alternate between the
Parish here in Scranton, and our mission
congregation down in Bath, PA. This will help
extend our reach by encouraging our Lehigh
Valley-based youth to bring their friends to
Mass and Youth Group closer to home, further
building our presence there. Scranton-based
youth are encouraged to tag along with the
entourage that routinely travels to Bath to
offer our Mass there.
Finally, our Wednesday Adult Education
series has run its course. In its stead, we have
decided to focus upon the seasons of Advent
and Lent (possibly including pre-Lent) to offer
an Adult Education series once per semester
on Sundays, after 10:00 a.m. Mass. Though
We look forward with great anticipation
to the starting of Maria Kaupas Academy this
fall. The Vision Statement of this new program
proclaims, “Maria Kaupas Academy is a homeschool enrichment program, sponsored by St.
Thomas More Parish, that meets Wednesdays
and Fridays in the St. Joseph Church Parish
Hall in the Providence section of Scranton.
Dedicated to helping parents educate their
children according to a Catholic worldview,
our academy takes as its patron the foundress
of the Sisters of St. Casimir, Venerable Servant
of God Maria Kaupas, who was a parishioner
here at St. Joseph Church before entering the
religious life. Just as Mother Kaupas founded
her order to educate immigrant children while
helping them retain their Catholic faith, our
motto, Prima Dei, indicates our aspiration for
our students, that they be God’s faithful servants first. We will pursue this goal by offering
beautiful worship, rigorous academics, and
formation in music and the arts, that Maria
Kaupas Academy students will learn how to
pursue the truth, discern the good, and appreciate what is truly beautiful.”
A packet of all information and registration materials (some of which have been
updated since our last newsletter) is available
here; applications will be received until the
first day of class, Friday, September 9.
Second Collection for
Ordinariate Seminarians
Members and friends who have worshiped with our Parish since our days in the
Diocese of Scranton will remember a very
frequent schedule of second collections.
While all were for critical needs in the Church
around the world, this approach was alien to
our Anglican upbringing and off-putting for
some. Therefore, Bishop Lopes has mandat-
ed that only four second collections will be
received per year for the support of Ordinariate causes, the first of which will take
place on Sunday, September 25, in support
of the four Ordinariate seminarians currently in formation, whom online readers may
“meet” by way of this video. Please prayerfully consider your contribution.
intended for our own entertainment, but to
provide us with low-threshold opportunities
to invite our non-Catholic friends to a nonworship event at our Parish, a first small
step toward evangelization.
One notable event on this year’s schedule is the screening of the Oscar-winning film
Spotlight (Best Picture) about the Boston
Globe’s exposure of the sexual abuse and
cover-up scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese
Commander (October 7), we are immersed
in a swash-buckling historical drama on the
high seas of the Napoleonic Wars.
Trailers for all these movies can be
viewed by clicking their titles in this article.
Please see our “Worship” section above for
the full First Friday schedule, of which these
films are a part. If participating in potluck
supper, please bring a dish to share. Bring a
snack to the movie... and a friend!
Fellowship
Parish Hall Refurbishment
Completed & Blessed
For the past year, most coffee hours after 10 a.m. Mass have featured baked goods
and candy bars prepared and sold by our
youth Confirmation Class, to the end of raising funds to repaint the Parish Hall as a group
confirmation project. The class raised over
$1,400, and painting is now complete, with a
Anniversary Potluck &
All Saints Costume Party
two-tone gray color scheme replacing the
pink scheme that preceded it, resulting in a
more neutral backdrop for the wide array of
activities hosted in our principal fellowship
space. Additionally, the formerly pink men’s
room is now a more appropriate dark grey,
the Green Rooms flanking the stage are now
the traditional color, sacred artwork that had
been gathering dust in our vacant school
building now adorns the walls, and a floor-toceiling crucifix commands attention from the
back wall of the stage. Many thanks to the
students, parents, sponsors, and other volunteers – particularly Ron Morgese, who
worked tirelessly alongside everyone else as
a labor of love.
2016-17 Movie Night
Season Scheduled
The 2016-2017 schedule of Free Family
Movie Nights at St. Thomas More has been
published, and is available online here and in
print at church. As in previous years, there is
a “parish track” of films of particular interest
to Catholics, but parishioners are reminded
the majority of the movies are mainstream
films on inspirational themes not merely
of Boston. To provide proper context, Fr.
Bergman will give a talk before the film, but
our hope is that by showing ourselves willing
to be transparent and self-critical, we can be
disarming and even welcoming to some of
the Church’s critics. That film will air after
Vigil Mass for the Assumption of Mary, on
Monday, August 14, 2017.
First, though, we highlight our movies
for the next couple of months: In the beloved
Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The Sound
of Music (September 2), on the brink of
World War II, free-spirited Maria brings
music, warmth, and love to a regimented
Austrian household. Then in Master and
On Sunday, October 30 – the Sunday
closest to All Saints Day – we will partake in
two celebrations that have become important annual features of our parish fellowship.
Our annual Anniversary Potluck will commemorate the eleventh anniversary of the
homecoming of our founding members to
the Catholic Church on the Eve of All Saints,
October 31, 2005. Please bring a dish to
share. Then, our young people (and the
young at heart!) will partake in our annual All
Saints Costume Party, dressing as their
favorite saints and keeping the rest of us
guessing at who they are, based on cues
from their costumes. Please join us after 10
a.m. Mass on October 30 for this delightful
celebration.
Outreach
Annual Book Sale Sept. 10
The annual Fall Book Sale has been set
earlier than usual this year, falling on Saturday, September 10, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m... the same
week Maria Kaupas Academy begins, and the
day before the start of Sunday School. Much
help will be needed to coordinate and execute
this critical annual fundraiser. Please donate
your used books – especially Catholic books,
which sell well – and see Fr. Bergman or event
coordinator Sue Bergman to learn how you
can help.
Pig Roast October 8
Parishioners Larry and Carmina Chapp
operate a Catholic Worker Farm in Harveys
Lake (featured in this article, published during
the World Meeting of Families last year), and
have often shared the fruits of their labor at
coffee hour, sending home delicious vegetables with fellow parishioners. The Chapps’
generosity will be even more lavish in Octo-
ber, as they plan to slaughter one of their pigs
and gift it to the Parish for purposes of a Pig
Roast supper fundraiser, to take place on Saturday, October 8. All parishioners are encouraged to partake in this delicious dinner, as well
as to help with setup, cooking, and cleanup,
and especially to publicize the event among
their friends, neighbors and coworkers. More
details to follow!
Evangelization
Adult Confirmation
Class & Banner
Bishop Lopes Interviewed
in America Magazine
Local worshipers at St. Thomas More will
be aware that the Parish frequently capitalizes
on the pair of utility poles located at the front
of our campus on the corner of North Main
Avenue and Theodore Street, where we hang
9-foot-wide banners passed by over 14,000
vehicles per day. Over the years we have
designed and accumulated many such banners, which are worded to be re-usable each
season. We are soon to add a new banner to
that collection, promoting our Sunday evening
The same day he arrived in Scranton, an
extensive interview with Bishop Steven Lopes
appeared in the Jesuit publication America.
The full article is available to online readers
here; some portions are reproduced below.
“What is this personal ordinariate for
Catholics nurtured in the Anglican tradition
and what does your ordination as its first
bishop mean for Catholics?
“The ordinariate is a canonical structure
comparable to a diocese. Pope Benedict XVI
created ordinariates for those communities
from the Anglican tradition who were entering
into full communion with the Catholic Church.
In creating this new structure, the Holy Father
judged that there was something particular
about these communities coming into full
communion that they could share with the
universal Church.”
“In your meeting with Pope Francis
about this appointment, what was your sense
of his reasons for extending Vatican support
of the ordinariate and of his attitude toward
the unique ministry you’ve undertaken?
“Pope Francis was enormously encouraging! It is clear to me that with his approval of a
proper missal for the ordinariates and with my
appointment as bishop, he is giving concrete
expression to the vision of Pope Benedict XVI
for the unity of Christians. That vision is
essentially this: Unity in faith allows for a
diversity of expression of that same faith. For
his part, Pope Francis spoke to me about
providing stability for our communities and
their integration into Catholic life, but also of
our unique role in evangelization, both to our
Protestant sisters and brothers as well as to
those within the church whose faith has
grown lukewarm.
Adult Confirmation class. The $200 cost of the
banner is not anticipated in the Parish budget;
if you feel called to sponsor this important
new means of community outreach and local
evangelization, please speak with Fr. Bergman
or Mr. Campbell.
The class itself begins on Sunday evening,
September 11, making use of the superb video
based Alpha and Symbolon courses to impart
the basics of the Christian faith and then the
specifics of Catholic faith and life. We are excited that the Alpha Course has taken a major
leap forward with a newly produced series,
which we will begin using this fall. If you know
an adult considering confirmation in the
Catholic Church (or even who just has questions about the Catholic faith), or just want to
brush up on it yourself, please alert Fr. Bergman or Mr. Campbell. If inviting a friend, keep
in mind that the chances of your invitation
being accepted are far greater if you are willing to come to the first session (at least) with
your guest, if not more.
“How is your Mass similar to and different from the Mass that other Catholic
parishes celebrate according to the Roman
Missal?
“Divine Worship incorporates some texts
and prayers that arise entirely out of Anglicanism. The one thing that every Catholic will
recognize, however, is the faith that these
words and gestures embody and express. The
missal for the celebration of Mass is flexible
enough in its rubrics so as to allow celebration
according to a more traditional form of the
Roman Rite – with which many converting
Anglo-Catholics are long familiar – as well as
celebration, which is closer to the Novus Ordo,
with which most Catholics would be familiar.
“Some pundits criticized [Pope Benedict
XVI] for profiting from divisions within Anglicanism to gather more converts to Roman
Catholicism. From your perspective as bishop,
why do some Episcopalians join the Catholic
Church through your ordinariate and how do
you respond to this criticism?
“The truth of the matter is that Pope
Benedict displayed great courage and great
charity. These communities of faithful, with
their pastors, were asking to be received into
full communion. They desired to be Catholic,
to be guided by the church’s teaching office,
and they saw themselves as completing an
ecumenical trajectory that includes the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission
and the great conversations between Pope
Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey. Pope
Benedict’s response was charity because it responded to this very reasonable initiative and
request. It was courageous because it forged a
way to enter into full communion as a parish
group, thus preserving a proper parochial
identity and patrimony. This is the newness of
the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus.
“What is the ordinariate’s current policy
on ordaining married priests and how has it
evolved?
“Married clergy from Anglican/Episcopal
communities who enter full communion with
the Catholic Church and seek ordination as
Catholic priests can receive a dispensation
from the obligation of celibacy and receive
sacred orders. But the Ordinariate is not in any
way a challenge to the church’s doctrinallyrooted discipline of clerical celibacy. We have
wonderful celibate priests, too! Also, seminarians who begin studying for the priesthood
in the Ordinariate are expected to adhere to
the church’s tradition in this regard. We
currently have four men studying for the
priesthood and they will be ordained celibate
priests. This is not a policy. It is simply the life
of the church.
“What kind of people do your parishes
serve?
“Our parishes are vibrant communities
comprised of people of various backgrounds,
experiences, ages and nationalities. Many
have entered the Catholic Church as adults,
coming from other Anglican or Protestant
backgrounds. Many more have returned to
the faith of their Baptism after a long period
away—or embraced Christian faith for the first
time—because of the evangelizing mission of
our parish communities. Still others have
simply grown up in it. While the Ordinariate is
new, the parishes of the Pastoral Provision
have been around since 1983, and so this form
and style of Catholic life has been around for a
while.
“If you could say one thing to Pope
Francis so far about what you’ve learned
from your experience as bishop of the
Ordinariate, what would it be?
“It’s all worth it! After all, Pope Francis
knows just how much went into the establishment of the ordinariate, and how much
goes into the evaluation of each and every
clergy applicant to the ordinariate, both at the
local level and at the Holy See. But to see this
vision realized and the vitality of the people in
it — it’s all worth it.
“Any final thoughts?
“Beyond the obvious benefits that it
brings to the people in it, the ordinariate is, I
firmly believe, a fine example of realized ecumenism. It provides a model of diversity in
unity that can reinvigorate the search of
Eucharistic communion among Christians.”
Diaconal & Priestly
Ordinations
content & photos:
http://ordinariate.net/news?page=1
On May 31, three men were ordained as
transitional deacons for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in Houston:
 Luke Reese of St. Joseph of Arimathea in
Indianapolis
 Glenn Baaten of St. Augustine of
Canterbury in Carlsbad, California
 Evan Simington, Seminarian studying at St.
Mary’s Seminary in Houston, Texas
The Rev. Mr. Glenn Baaten was ordained
to the priesthood on Friday, June 24 at St.
Therese of Carmel Catholic Church in San
Diego, Calif. by the Most Rev. Robert W.
McElroy, Bishop of San Diego. The Most Rev.
Steven J. Lopes, Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, concelebrated
the Mass inaugurating the ministry of the new
priest.
Father Baaten was received into the
Catholic Church two and a half years ago at
the Ordinariate’s Blessed John Henry Newman
Catholic Community in Irvine, Calif. He will be
assigned to serve in Southern California, primarily at the Ordinariate’s St. Augustine of
Canterbury Catholic Community in Carlsbad.
He became a Christian in the 1970s and
was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Ohio
for 13 years. He then became a priest in the
Anglican Church of North America and served
at St. James Anglican Church in Newport
Beach, Calif. By 2013, he and his wife, Cathy,
discerned they were called to fully embrace
the teachings of the Catholic Church.
“After much prayer and struggle, I gave
up Anglican holy orders and became Catholic,”
Father Baaten said. He was received into the
Church on Christmas Eve of 2013. “We finally
arrived home!” he said. He and Cathy have
been married 33 years and have two children.
His first Mass was on Sunday, June 26 at
at the Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado.
Bishop Lopes preached at the Mass. An article
about Fr. Baaten appeared in The Southern
Cross, the newspaper of the Diocese of San
Diego, reproduced here.
Deacon Luke Reese was ordained to the
priesthood on June 29 at the Cathedral of Our
Lady of Walsingham in Houston by The Most
Rev. Steven J. Lopes, Bishop of the Personal
Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Father
Reese, 47, began his journey to the Church
long before becoming Catholic in April 2012.
In 2007, after prior years of prayer, he
and his family discerned a call to become
Catholic. At the time, as members of the
Anglican Church of America, the Reeses were
part of an 18-member congregation that was
privately meeting to consider converting to
Catholicism. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI
promulgated the apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, which formally provided a
way for Anglican communities to be received
into the Catholic Church. Father Reese – then
an Anglican priest – contacted the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to discuss his congregation’s desire to be received as a group into the
Church. He and the other members of his faith
community became Catholic at the Easter Vigil
at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in
Indianapolis in 2012.
He is assigned to serve at St. Joseph of
Arimathea, the Ordinariate’s sole community
in Indianapolis. The Ordinariate community
has Mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in
Indianapolis. Fr. Reese and his wife, Gina, have
been married 24 years and have seven children.
An additional article about Fr. Reese
appeared in The Criterion, the newspaper of
the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, here.
UK Ordinations
H/T: Ordinariate Expats
Father Michael Hart was ordained to the
sacred Priesthood by Thomas Burns, Bishop of
Menevia, West Wales, on July 1. The ordination Mass took place at Holy Cross Abbey,
Whitland, in the presence of Mgr Keith Newton and those of Michael’s brother Ordinaiate
priests who could make the journey to Pembrokeshire. Fr Michael will be chaplain to the
Cistercian sisters at the Abbey.
On July 21, Ian Westby was ordained to
the diaconate for the Personal Ordinariate of
Our Lady of Walsingham at St. Mary’s Church,
Stockton-on-Tees, by the Rt. Rev Seamus Cunningham, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.
News From Around the
U.S. Ordinariate
H/T: Ordinariate Expats
Following the appointment of the previous pastor, Father Timothy Perkins, as Vicar
General, a new pastor has now taken over at
St. Mary the Virgin in Arlington, Texas, as of
July 1st. Father Prentice Dean is a former
Pastoral Provision priest who has been pastor
of Our Lady of Lourdes, Springfield, and St.
Michael, Cedar Hill, in the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee. The website of St. Mary the
Virgin reports:
“Father Prentice Dean and his wife
Teresa entered into full communion with the
Catholic Church in 2006. Fr. Dean has served
as Administrator/Pastor of Our Lady of
Lourdes parish and St. Michael parish since
June 2011. Prior to those assignments Fr.
Dean served as transitional deacon and as
Assisting Priest at The Church of the Assumption in Nashville. He also served as ViceChancellor of the Diocese of Nashville. Prior to
entering the church, he was Rector of St. Bede
Episcopal Church in Manchester, Tennessee.
“Having grown up in the northeast, and
graduated from The George Washington
University in Washington DC, with a Bachelor’s
degree in history, he married and raised his
family in Maryland. He earned a Master’s
degree in Divinity from the School of Theolo-
gy, the University of the South, Sewanee,
Tennessee, in 2004.
“Besides their twin daughters, Clarissa
and Sarah, Fr. Dean and Teresa have been
blessed with two grandchildren, Daniel, age 20
months, and Joseph, 2 months.”
The Mirror, the newspaper of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, has published an article on Father Chori Jonathin
Seraiah, the newly appointed Pastor of St.
George’s Ordinariate community, Republic,
Missouri:
“People in the Diocese of SpringfieldCape Girardeau may be surprised to learn of a
priest with a wife and five children. His name
is Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah. In May, Fr.
Seraiah was assigned to St. George Catholic
Church in Republic, MO, one of 42 parishes
and communities in the Ordinariate.
“Fr. Seraiah was assigned to St. George
Catholic Church by his bishop, The Most Rev.
Steven Lopes, and he is also available to serve
the diocese and received a pastoral assignment from Bp. Edward M. Rice. Fr. Seraiah will
serve as Associate Pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton Parish in Springfield, St. Francis of Assisi
Parish in Nixa; and St. Joseph the Worker
Parish in Ozark, in addition to his current
pastoral responsibilities for the Ordinariate.
“Fr. Seraiah was ordained a Catholic
priest in 2012, shortly after the Ordinariate
was established. His own spiritual journey
started in the Baptist Church, where he served
as a pastor. He was encouraged to read the
Church Fathers, which drew him to the
historic church. His journey first took him to
the Presbyterian Church, then the Anglican
Church, and finally ‘home,’ to the Roman
Catholic Church. His wife, Catherine, said she
and their children have all been on the same
journey with him the entire time. Their oldest
daughter, Ajha, 20, said the conversion to
Catholicism seemed less like change and more
like normal spiritual growth. ‘We finally got to
where we were supposed to be,’ Ajha said.”
Although the parishioners have been
meeting together for years now, St. George
Catholic Church was officially established in
2015 and now has five families in its membership. The community holds a unique place in
the area. It is not a diocesan mission, but the
Church in Southern Missouri has embraced its
ecumenical opportunity and is reaching out to
former Anglicans and other Protestants who
seek to identify the Catholic Church as their
home. “We are evangelistic,” said Fr. Seraiah,
“that is our main focus.”
Three Ordinariate priests (as well as a
Maronite priest) have been featured in an
article in Our Sunday Visitor about the joys
and challenges of the married priesthood:
“Father [Joshua] Whitfield is a former
Episcopal priest who entered the Catholic
Church through the Personal Ordinariate of
the Chair of St. Peter, created by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans seeking full communion
with the Roman Catholic Church. [He] was the
son of a Disciples of Christ minister who became an Episcopalian after discovering ‘the
beauty of high Anglo-Catholic Episcopal worship.’ In 2003, he was ordained a deacon,
married to his wife, Allison, and ordained a
priest. After three happy years as an Anglican
curate, he came to believe the Roman Catholic
Church ‘was the true church Christ founded’
and entered the Church as a layman along
with his wife. He was ordained a Catholic
priest in 2012. Unlike his ‘part-time job’ as an
Episcopal priest, however, Father Whitfield
has learned that ‘Catholic priests are the busiest clergy you’ll ever meet,’ with someone in
his congregation of 3,600 always in need.
“Father Vaughn Treco, another Ordinariate priest serving as pastor of the Church of St.
Bede the Venerable in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is married and has three grown children.
‘My schedule is so full that my family tells me,
“Dad, you have to carve out some time for
us.”’
Money can be tight for married priests.
Father Andrew Bartus, pastor of Blessed John
Henry Newman Catholic Church in Irvine,
California, is a married Ordinariate priest with
two small children. To make ends meet, his
wife, Laura, works from home and he teaches
history at a Catholic high school. Between the
two incomes, they can pay their bills.
“While married priests love their families,
Father Whitfield said his ordination should not
be viewed as a statement that ‘the Church
should get with the times’ and allow priests to
marry. In fact, he said, ‘I’m a huge advocate of
clerical celibacy; most married priests are. I
don’t support changing it.’ ‘Our case is an
exception, not a door being opened,’ Father
Bartus said.
“Yet for all the challenges and attention
Father Whitfield has gotten as a married priest
– ‘I refer to myself as a zoo exhibit,’ he said –
he’s not complaining about his dual vocation.
‘It’s been a beautiful experience.’
St. Thomas More Catholic Parish
116 Theodore Street
Scranton, PA 18508
www.stmscranton.org
contact@stmscranton.org
570-343-0634
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