Snapdragon
THE P RTAL
March 2012 Proud to be
where I am LOTS OF comments have been circulating that a tremendous amount has happened in the space of a year. It was only at the start of Lent 2011 that many of us leſt our much loved churches, found new spiritual homes and went through the rites of Reception. We are now excited to see more people coming along the same route. In the excitement of the newness of it all, we would have said “yes” to anything! We were caught up in the euphoria of a chapter of history being written. It had its painful moments, but once the momentum had begun, all we wanted was to see it come to fruition – and it has!
Clarity Since then, what has struck me most
of all when attending the receiving of new members into the Catholic Church has been the clarity of what is being asked for. Aſter the recitation of the creed the candidate states “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God (my italics).”
Te celebrant continues, “N., the Lord receives you
into the Catholic Church. His loving kindness has led you here, so that in the unity of the Holy Spirit you may have full communion with us (my italics) in the faith that you have professed in the presence of his family.”
Be assured then…
..it is the Lord who brings you
to this moment. Ten, standing there witnessing this ceremony still feeling a very new Catholic, I hear the words “that you may have full communion with us…” - all of a sudden I feel very proud to be where I am. Yes…an awful lot has happened! It’s not a form of escape from where we were…but a sense of relief to find ourselves where we are and desirous that the same loving Lord will beckon others into the same fold.
I really feel part of “his family” in a way that I have
never experienced it before. Before you ask or even think it – the reception process makes no demand
to reject anything of your past Christian experience or ministry. More than a few of my Anglican friends simply refuse to hear that: using it as the ultimate excuse for not being willing to even consider the move into full Communion with the Church.
The legislation grinds on Te General Synod has met: and it has deliberated
(yet again) on the issue of the episcopacy being opened up to women. Clearly many are tired of the old arguments being rehearsed yet again. Te time has come for a definitive solution. Is the outcome any different from what we would expect? No: is the honest answer. But the most important thing to report on their deliberations is……it is no longer our concern.
Leave it alone We simply don’t need to engage with it. Leave it
to others who think they can win concessions. Te House of Bishops has never come up with an adequate solution over the last twenty years, so why would they change their spots now? Tat’s something else more than a few of our Anglicans friends need to heed. But it’s not our concern now: leave it alone. All we have to do is to be ready to swell our ranks and provide a welcome to those who come to the realisation that a definitive solution has been found – and we are now a year old and proud of that fact!
Page 8
Rome Pilgrimage: for our Bournemouth group the highspot was the Confirmation of Brian and Barbel Copus, pictured here with Mgr Keith and their Sponsors, Sue Vine and Fr Edwin Barnes
Rome Pilgrimage: Happy Pilgrims in the Church of St George in the Marsh (San Georgio Palabro) which was the titular church of John Henry Cardinal Newman, our Patron
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17