Do you wear the collar?
There are some times when I would wear it. I would wear it for funerals, and I would wear it for weddings because people dress up and they're quite dressed up for the occasion. For me to wear a clerical collar it's about signifying my role at that moment, being present to the people. At a wedding, I stand and represent the community of the faith. At funerals, I am in a sense trying to communicate that God is present here, and the priest represents Christ and a symbol of that is the collar. Generally I don't wear it at all any other time. I'm quite comfortable. We as oblates have a cross, which is our missionary cross. Normally it's a large cross, but because of the daily day-to-day life, it's in a small form around our neck. People know that there's something odd about me wearing a cross like this, and then the conversation begins, "oh, you're a priest, you don't wear a collar, that's fine." Eventually they say, "okay." Some of the older people would like to see you to who you are. If I go to a place representing the church and I'm unknown, then I would wear the collar, because we're representing the community of the faithful; we're representing the Catholic Church. So if there's an interreligious occasion, an ecumenical occasion, as a member of the Catholic church I would wear the collar. It just feels right to wear it then.
