2 February 2007

Dear Friends and Members of the St. Thomas More Society,

With the beginning of the New Year I know that many of you are filled with expectation about what the Society should become in 2007.  With that expectation have come many inquiries about whether my rescript has arrived from Rome and whether we yet have a date when my ordination to the Catholic priesthood shall occur.  I appreciate your excitement, but, alas, I cannot report what information I do not have.  What I can tell you is that Bishop Dougherty has been informed by the Pastoral Provision Office that my rescript should be here soon, but we also know that ‘soon’ has a different meaning in Rome than it does here in America.  Thus, as we look to the future and the further development of this process, I must again counsel patience.  Doubtlessly, as the time draws nearer, and the anticipation increases, one’s capacity to endure patiently is tested all the more.  Nevertheless, we have persevered thus far, all the while remaining a beacon of hope to similar communities who have been stirred to contemplate traveling the path we have trod.  So as we wait, please allow the blessings we have received from God and the inspiration we have been to others serve as the encouragement that spurs us on to the attainment of what we set out more than two years ago to establish.  

Even as we wait we continue to make preparations for what we hope will be our imminent erection as a Catholic parish.  Jerry McGreevy, our Treasurer, and I have met with Diocesan officials so that we can start to formulate what our budget will look like when we are no longer a Society attached to St. Clare Church.  Moreover, we have begun having serious conversations with the leaders of the Anglican Use Society and the other Anglican Use communities about how our vital evangelical work can continue after the sacramental ministry to which I have been called becomes my primary responsibility.  Finally, I have spoken with Bishop Dougherty about what we shall require in terms of a physical plant, should the time come that the Society is erected as this century’s first new Anglican Usage of the Roman Rite personal parish.  Please hold up all three of these matters in your prayers.

In the meantime our day to day and month to month ministry continues.  Lent will be upon us soon, and we have planned a weekly devotional program for the season.  Tuesday night Prayer Group will give way during the six weeks of Lent to praying the Stations of the Cross.  This devotion will be followed by a light meal of soup and bread, after which I will offer a short teaching about the Stations, a practice among Catholics which dates back almost 800 years.  The program will begin at 5:30PM each Tuesday, and we should have you on your way home before 7:30.  Nor must we forget Ash Wednesday, February 21.  Roman Rite Masses will be offered at St. Clare that day at 8AM, noon, and 7PM, remembering as well that this is a day of abstinence and fasting. 

We also are playing an important role in the planning of this year’s Anglican Use Conference, to be held May 31 to June 2 at Catholic University in Washington DC.  The Anglican Use community that is forming there will serve as hosts and do much of the legwork, but since we have two years’ experience in this regard we are offering as much help as they need.   The list of speakers will shortly be submitted to the University for approval, and once this has been received, full scale advertising of the Conference will commence.  The theme this year is “The Catholic Priesthood”, and for those considering attending I can tell you also that the Conference fee, which includes room, board, addresses, and workshops, will be about $225, or, if you don’t need to stay overnight on campus, about $125.  As we have more information you will be among the first to learn of it, and we ask only that you help to spread the word about this opportunity to increase awareness of the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II.

More immediately I ask that you keep in mind and heart our ministry to Birthright.  The need is great, and so must be the commitment.  If you do not already, consider making a monthly donation of material or money to help women experiencing crisis pregnancies.  The prayers of many will be with you when you do.  I know this because I was blessed to have attended this year’s March for Life in the nation’s capital.  We joined well more than 100,000 people who marched in defense of the right to life, and our efforts were recognized in a small way when the Society’s own Mary and Angelina Huffman appeared on the front page of the most recent issue of the Catholic Light. Three months in Scranton and they’re already known for their love for the unborn! 

May our love for and our commitment to our shared work grow as we seek the fulfillment of our mission to reconcile our separated brethren to Mother Church.

Yours in Christ,

Eric L. Bergman, Director
St. Thomas More Society
of St. Clare Church