An update

A belated Happy New Year! I can`t believe it`s almost July. God willing, this pandemic is on the way out in the UK and normal life may be able to resume. Things have been ticking over while we wait. Public daily Mass has been held for quite a while now and numbers are good although not everyone has returned who left with the lockdown. We keep them in  our prayers and hope to see them return before too long.

Next Sunday we have two exciting new events. Rev. Luke Wilkinson will be ordained to the priesthood for this diocese on Tuesday evening at the cathedral. On Sunday after that (July 4th) he will be here to celebrate his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form. This will be a Missa Cantata and I shall be the Assistant Priest. I`ve looked through Fortescue and alas he gives instructions for this in a High Mass and a Low Mass only so I`ll have to cobble something together to make it work for the Missa Cantata. There will be photos I hope. At least no-one will criticise too much as they`ll be ( I assume) none the wiser. So prayers for Rev Luke Wilkinson and wishing him Ad Multos Annos!

Rev Luke Wilkinson

That same day at 3pm we will have Vespers and Benediction. This will be a first for St Joseph`s. We were planning Solemn Vespers with Bishop Robert Byrne last March before the lockdown stopped it happening. No bishop this time but the plan is for this to become a monthly event and I dare to hope that our bishop will join us at some stage. This time it will be a one cope Vespers but we hope this will develop further.

At the same time, there is the worry of the new Vatican document seeking to rein in the Extraordinary Form. The last I heard on this was that it was leaving things as they are but any priest new to the EF must get the permission of his bishop to celebrate.This didn`t sound too bad to me if it means the bishop has to set some kind of test to ensure that new celebrants are proficient in the rite. This could mean setting up training courses to ensure proficiency and thus make it easier for priests to learn who are worried about trying it because they have no Latin for example. At least that`s what I hope will happen.

So things are ok at St Joseph`s Gateshead. The parish priest was appointed to be a canon last April and continues to battle on with Parkinson`s disease, diagnosed 7 years ago. 

I hope to blog a little more often as news arises.