| August 30, 2005
Dear Friends and Members of the St.
Thomas More Society,
Enclosed you will find a calendar of Society events scheduled for
September. You will note immediately, I’m sure, that the last two weeks
have nothing formally scheduled. The third week is a vacation week for
many, including my family, but the fourth I have left open because our
conversion process is drawing to a close and we may well receive the
Sacrament of Confirmation during the week of September 25th.
I will use the rest of this letter to describe the remaining events for
the month of September.
Our last Catechism class will meet at 6:30PM on Wednesday, September
7th. This meeting is important, as we will review the
prayers we’ll use for Mass once we have been confirmed. Most of the
prayers will be familiar to you. As for those few prayers that are
unfamiliar to us, you will receive that night some helpful handouts. In
addition, we will talk that evening about the Confirmation Mass itself,
what will transpire, and what each of us must do. Finally, we will talk
about the interviews that each of us must undergo on the 13th
and 14th of September, in order to calm the fears of any that
may be nervous – so don’t miss the meeting on September 7th.
The interviews will be held on Tuesday, September 13th and
Wednesday, September 14th beginning at 6:30PM each night.
You need only be there for one night, and there is a sign-up sheet
available at St. Clare to indicate which night you will be coming. Some
of our members have already been through these, and I can promise you
that there is nothing to worry about. Fr. Connor, at the behest of
Bishop Martino, simply wants to gauge how much we learned in the classes
he taught, as well as what brought us to the Catholic Church. If you
cannot be present either one of these nights please call me as soon as
possible. Another note: if you are not being received back into the
Church or you are not being confirmed with us, the interviews do not
apply to you.
As you know, each person being confirmed or received back into the
Catholic Church must make his confession. Some of you have already
fulfilled this responsibility, but if you have not I heartily encourage
you to do so within the next three weeks. We must all have made our
confession before we are confirmed. You may go to a priest
you know, make an arrangement with Msgr. Feldcamp, or preserve your
anonymity and go to any Catholic church at the time regularly scheduled
for confessions. If you would like advice in this regard I am always
available. Call me if you’d like.
I have put on the calendar the Parry convalidation, but you will also
see the Bendowski wedding duly noted. All Gail and Paul’s classmates in
Catechism Class received an invitation, and I ask that you respond
sooner rather than later to them. Kristina and I look forward to the
day, as does Clara, who will be their flower girl. In a related matter,
we have our first convert. On August 23rd at Bill and
Charlotte Harris’ convalidation, Bill was received into the Catholic
Church and confirmed. Other couples are waiting for their
convalidations to be scheduled. I ask that you keep all these couples
in your prayers.
Finally, I commend all of you for your patience. As we enter the ninth
month of the catechism and confirmation process, keep ever before you
that the birth pangs will soon be over. We will shortly be members of
the Church, the most important step toward our ultimate goal of founding
a Catholic parish. The patience you have exhibited thus far will serve
you well in the coming months, as in reaching our goal we will have much
more to wait for. We can be certain of God’s blessings upon our work
if, even as we wait, we continue to serve.
Yours in Christ,
Eric L. Bergman,Director
St. Thomas More Society of St. Clare |
