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

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Annual Conference of the Anglican Use Society

I'm making my final preparations to head off to Newark, New Jersey for the annual conference of the Anglican Use Society. Mr. Ralph Johnston of Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio will be posting reports from the conference to the blog The Anglo-Catholic and I will be posting reports here as well. Hopefully the various pieces of technology I'm stuffing into my bags will hold up and I'll be able to send along some photos and video of the event.

Two unfortunate cases of illness have already derailed plans by two conference goers: speaker Dr. William Oddie has come down with a case of cellulitis and Msgr. Daniel Hamilton has sprained his ankle (in a Corpus Christi procession!) and both have been instructed by their physicians not to travel. Dr. Oddie's paper will be read by Father Allan Hawkins, pastor of St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Use church in Arlington, Texas. There are attempts being made to arrange an audio hookup so that Dr. Oddie can answer questions, but these last minute scrambles, in a venue far from home, are never easy to pull together. We'll let you know.

I'll be traveling down with David Burt and Fr. James O'Driscoll, after an early morning Mass at Fr. O'Driscoll's parish in neighboring Rockland. Then on to I-95 for yet another road trip.

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