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

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Man Sent from God Whose Name is Benedict

TAC Bishop Robert Mercer has written a long reflection that begins with an appreciative sketch of Pope Benedict, but moves into concerns about the implementation of full communion between members of the TAC and the Catholic Church.
“Leading men and women to God, to the God Who speaks in the Bible: this is the supreme and fundamental priority of the Church.”

Three guesses as to who said this. Billy Graham, John Wesley, Martin Luther, or an evangelical Anglican like John Stott of All Souls, Langham Place, London?

No, Pope Benedict XVI.

It’s no wonder that this Pope appeals more and more to evangelical Christians, to Anglicans and to the Orthodox. Some of us have been deceived by the liberal media or even by liberal Roman Catholics into writing him off as “the rottweiler cardinal” or “the panzer cardinal”. But like another elderly pope who came to office late in life, John XXIII, this man is full of astonishing surprises.

For one thing, he wants us all to know and love the Bible as he himself does...

Read the rest of Bishop Mercer's reflections at The Anglo-Catholic blog.

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