(St John the Baptist Monthly Newsletter)St John the Baptist Catholic Church. View this email in your browser A monthly letter from Fr Ousley with all the news about Saint John the

The Philadelphia Ordinariate Post comes to you in November from

St John the Baptist Catholic Church.

View this email in your browser

A monthly letter from Fr Ousley with all the news

about Saint John the Baptist

November, 2016

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

November is the month of Holy Souls. It begins with

the Church Triumphant (the saints in heaven) on the

Solemnity of All Saints. One of the great joys of the

saints in heaven is to sing praises of God. It is a joy

we share with them even now, as we sing hymns and

join with angels and archangels and all the company

of heaven to sing Holy, holy, holy, ... at the beginning

of the Eucharistic prayer. Such praise is practice for

heaven and reminds us of their intercession for us,

which they o�er out of love.

November 2nd, All Souls’ Day, is our chance as the

Church Militant (the faithful on earth) to pray for the

Church Expectant, the holy souls in purgatory. They

have died in the faith, and, assured of heaven, are

bring puri✁ed for any imperfection remaining at the

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hour of death. Of our charity, we support them in

their willing puri�cation by our prayers and the

o✁ering of the Holy Sacri�ce. Because they desire

God’s will above all, they desire to be puri�ed, even if

that is for the moment painful, because God wills

them to be puri�ed, and they want to please Him and

be made �t for Him. Our prayer for them unites us

with them in love. So this month is the time when the

unity of the Church, Triumphant, Expectant and

Militant, is practiced by charity.

Daily O✂ce

A signi�cant element of the Anglican Patrimony is the

Daily O✄ce, Morning and Evening Prayer. Our current

form in the Book of Divine Worship derives from the

�rst Book of Common Prayer in the English

Reformation in the 16th century. The Prayer Book

O✄ce is centered on the Psalter, lessons from the Old

and New Testament, and set prayers. It is “objective”

prayer, whose content is de�ned for us. In this, it

contrasts with – and balances – our “private” prayer

of quiet. Unlike the medieval Breviary, which was

intended for the clergy, the Prayer Book O✄ce was

appointed for the whole Church, laity as well as

clergy. All parish clergy were obligated to pray the

O✄ce publicly, inviting their people to join them. In

addition to consolidating the eight o✄ces of the

Breviary into two (Matins or Morning Prayer, and

Evensong or Evening Prayer), systematic reading of

the whole of the Bible was added to the regular

recitation of the Psalms. The whole was put into

English from the Latin.

The result is a form of daily prayer that is still

wonderfully e✁ective for Christians. It forms our


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hearts and minds in the faith, since its content is

wholly orthodox and wisely chosen. The Psalter, read

through once a month if you say both Morning and

Evening Prayer, takes us through the whole range of

what it is to be human before God. This both expands

our experience of being Christian, and helps us to

articulate and understand our relation with God. The

Scripture lessons immerse us in the Word of God.

While the lessons are somewhat shorter now, they

still take us through most of the Bible every year. The

set prayers, being �nely crafted and sound, help to

form our hearts for our spontaneous prayer and quiet,

and set us on the right path each day.

The Daily O✁ce not only teaches us how to pray, it

allows us to pray; it is prayer. We know that we ought

to pray, but we may not think we know how. The

O✁ce is one way we both learn and do. It is

something everyone can do who can read, or hear

someone else read.

Another bene�t is that the Daily O✁ce can be a

tremendous support in times of trial and adversity.

There are times when, due to sickness or stress or

trials, it is especially hard for us to be quiet with God.

Then the set prayers of the O✁ce can get us through.

While the O✁ce was (and is) intended for public

prayer, you can also do it on your own, individually or

with your family. The Book of Divine Worship is out of

print, and the new Ordinariate book is not yet out (it

is expected soon). So the easiest thing is to use the

1928 Prayer Book with the lessons which we put the

week’s lessons in the Sunday lea✂et. If you are new to

the O✁ce and would like a little practical how-to, just

ask.


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Celebration of Parish Establishment

The big event this month is the visit of our Bishop, the

Most Reverend Steven J. Lopes, on Friday,

November 18th. At a Solemn Ponti�cal Mass at 7

p.m., he will establish St John the Baptist as a

canonical parish in the Personal Ordinariate of the

Chair of Saint Peter (you’ll be excited to hear him

read the actual Decree!) and institute me as Pastor of

the parish (to do what I have already been doing).

This is something that only happens once in the life of

a parish, and I know you won’t want to miss it. I’m

expecting clergy and laity from “nearby” Ordinariate

parishes, as well as local Latin Rite friends. It

promises to be a splendid occasion.

Planning is well along for the service itself, and also

for the reception after the Mass. Leslie Altena and Bell

Anderson have graciously agreed to head up the

e✁ort. Please o✁er them your help. They can tell you

what is needed in the way of food, setting up, clean

up, etc. Last I heard, cleanup help was especially

needed. And of course, mark your calendars, and help

spread the word. Invite your friends, and others whom

you think might have some interest in St John’s or in

the Ordinariate. The Mass will be at 7 p.m. on Friday,

November 18th.

Events

Of course Bishop Lopes’s visit on November 18th, is

the main event this month. In preparation for the

Bishop’s visit, the November church and parish hall

cleaning day will be Saturday, November 12th,

beginning after the 9 a.m. Mass. The more people

who come to help, the quicker the work is done.

Remember that we do not have paid sta✁ to do this: it


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is our privilege to lovingly care for our buildings with

our own hands. Come and help.

Our national Thanksgiving is on the 24th. Mass will

be at 9. It is always nice to begin the holiday with the

Great Thanksgiving of the Mass, before going on to

football or family or feasting – or all three. On the �rst

Sunday, we begin our monthly laying on of hands for

healing after Mass. I would remind you that if you are

not coming to receive this ministration, be especially

vigilant about greeting visitors: I will not be able to,

so please make sure all are welcomed and invited to

co✁ee.

During the Sunday co✂ee hour this month, here’s

what’s scheduled:

November 6th: Pastoral Council meeting

November 13th: acolyte practice for the Bishop’s visit

on the 18th

November 20th: a general parish meeting for a

brie�ng on the parish �nancial situation, including the

report from the end of the last �scal year (June 30,

2016), and the budget for the current �scal year

November 27th: Aid for Friends breakfast bags

Beginning in Advent (December 2nd) the Friday

Mass will move from 8 a.m. to noon. The 8 a.m. hour

has not shown itself to be particularly convenient for

people, and there is an 8 o’clock Mass every day at

Sacred Heart. So we’ll see if noon works better for

people. I expect we will at some point try a “lunch

hour speacial” with Mass, a quick lunch and a brief

teaching, available for people on their lunch hour.

Through the continued generosity of the Jacob Ruth


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Funeral Home in Chestnut Hill (even though we have

moved to Bridgeport!), ordo calendars for 2017 will

be available by the end of the month. These follow

the Ordinariate calendar, which di�ers in some

respects from the Latin Rite. I am grateful to John

Covert, an Ordinariate member from Massachusetts,

who has undertaken the project largely as a labor of

love.

Property update

The work on the underground storage tanks has again

been delayed due to some issues with a

subcontractor. I am grateful that we have received a

substantial grant from the Bridgeport Knights of

Columbus to help underwrite this necessary work.

Work on the new parish o✁ces in the school building

is progressing. The walls are ✂nished, and we have

begun to move in. This will not only give us some

space to work, but will allow us to organize the parish

records and ✂les, which have been boxed since the

move last winter. We’ll o�er tours once we get moved

in. We are also exploring an issue with one of the

walls of the church tower, which may or may not

suggest a structural problem. Structural engineers are

investigating, as well as our own Bill Wheatley. We will

need to get a clear idea of what is going on before we

can sign o� on the purchase. We have had an initial

session with Sacred Heart to ✂nalize the terms of the

sale of the property, which we hope to complete by

the end of the year.

Name Change

I am pleased to report that the name of the parish

has now been legally changed from the Church of St

Michael the Archangel to St John the Baptist Catholic


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Documents

(St John the Baptist Monthly Newsletter)St John the Baptist Catholic Church. View this email in your browser A monthly letter from Fr Ousley with all the news about Saint John the