The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The irony of it all!

I am still trying to digest the tumultuous events of recent weeks. Not only does the Anglo-Catholic now have access to the details of the proposed ordinariate- a new branch of the Roman Catholic church especially designed for former Anglicans- but we also have the first sign of the Church of England’s response…

…a shameful kick in the teeth that has removed any vestige of hope that our own Church desires to keep hold of us. If the Revision Committee wanted to stick two fingers up at orthodox Anglo-Catholics, whose only ‘fault’ is to reject unbiblical innovation and believe what the church has upheld throughout the ages, then they did a fine job...

Read the rest of Fr. Tomlinson's reflections on recent reactions in the Church of England to Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution at The Saint Barnabas Blog.
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