la vita abbundanza

 


Fr. Ken Brighenti cooked a luscious pasta alla kalamata (olives) during a recent visit to Drs. Keith and Christina Burkhart in Silver Spring, MD.  Last month, I officiated at the wedding of their daughter, Karly, to her husband Dave Szostak, at Saint Patrick Cathedral (Harrisburg, PA) on June 13th. Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, was the homilist and Fr. Dennis Dalessandro (St. Joseph, Berwick, PA) and Fr. Robert Garrity (Ave Maria University) and Fr. Ken concelebrated.

Almost three pounds of macaroni on that table but eight people devoured it ASAP. I contributed some veal pistachio as the second course.

2009 CCC Conference Complete Success

Archbishop Jose Gomez, Msgr Stuart Swetland and Fr. Brian Harrison, OS spoke at the 2009 Convocation of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy which was held July 13-16 in San Antonio, TX. These erudite and faithful sons of the Church gave their pearls of wisdom to the priests and deacons of the CCC who gathered for their annual conference as part of their ongoing formation.

His Excellency spoke on the recently inaugerated Year for Priests; Monsignor explained the new social encyclical of Pope B16 (Caritas in Veritate); Father elaborated on the Vatican decision to move Ecclesia Dei under the jurisdiction of the CDF.

These outstanding pillars of orthodoxy were well received by those who attended this year's gathering. The next meeting will take place January 4th to 8th (2010) at Rome in a joint gathering with our Australian counterparts (ACCC) to celebrate the Year for Priests.

Members of the faithful can help sponsor a priest by defraying some of the expenses of the event. Due to high cost of airfare, the CCC is looking for some devout Catholics to underwrite the conference fees and accommodations in the Eternal City so that as many priests as possible can come to Rome for this event. If sufficient donations are obtained, then many parish clergy need only buy their plane ticket to participate in this once in a lifetime experience. If your pastor is celebrating his 25th, 40th or 50th Jubilee anniverary of priesthood or if your parochial vicar is celebrating his 10th or 20th anniversary, etc., then seriously consider a practical gift: sponsor their attendence at the 2010 CCC Convocation in Rome. Contact CCC for more information. Sadly, many good clergy do not come to our events only because they cannot affort the travel and the conference fees combined.