THE P RTAL
November 2016 Page 8
more so . The mass drew one into the heart of the Catholic Faith . No mere holy meal this . Here we were taken by the words of the Upper Room , right to the divine sacrifice at Calvary .
holy , splendid , moving ... Catholic
It was holy . It was splendid . It was moving . It was altogether Catholic . Yet the words were those of the Book of Common Prayer . Familiar words to most Anglicans , but now used in a Catholic Rite . This was ecumenism in action . As His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI said , a prophetic movement of the Holy Spirit .
We closed the mass with the prayers for Blessed John Henry Newman ’ s canonisation and we all had the opportunity to venerate his relic .
Upper Cloister Room
After lunch we gathered in the Upper Cloister Room for two talks , both of which are on the Portal website at www . portalmag . co . uk . The first was given by The Revd Dr Stephen Morgan ( left ). He is our very own in two ways . Firstly because of his monthly articles on Blessed John Henry Newman in The
Portal and secondly as a member of the Ordinariate Finance Committee .
He spoke about Newman and the job of the Church in the modern world . He covered the loss of confidence in the church in the last fifty or so years . He reminded us that merely repeating the failures of the past will just not do . To evangelise the nation we need a totally new strategy , and he outlined some broad principles that may help us in that direction . Listen to his talk in full and maybe we can all get some ideas .
Fr Ignatius ( right ), the Provost of the Oratory , encouraged in in our distinctive liturgy and calendar and asked one provocative question . Once again , listen to his remarks on our web site . Perhaps these two talks will prompt some of you to write to The Portal about our purpose , objectives and goals .
After Benediction , we all made our ways home . It was the final act in a series of Pilgrimages that had taken the Ordinariate to Wales , Scotland , Italy , Devon , Sussex , Norfolk and Birmingham . In all these places our Pilgrimage was centred on the Year of Mercy .
It leaves us with lots of happy memories , lots of holy thoughts and experiences . But is this Year of Mercy an easy way of avoiding the consequences of our ill advised actions ? We think not .
There is the true story of two priests . They were talking about the Fatima prayer where we ask for forgiveness for those who especially need God ’ s mercy . One priest said , “ Ah yes , we all know who they are !” The other replied , “ Yes Father , it is us !”