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

Sunday, April 1, 2012

American Ordinary Visits the Cathedral of the Incarnation

by Christian Clay Columba Campbell

I have just returned from the Procession and Mass of Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Orlando, Florida, my home parish. In addition to the pageantry of this Sunday beginning Holy Week, there was a large class of First Communicants, and perhaps just as special, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, was among us.

Having met together with Bishop John Noonan of the Orlando Diocese, Bishop Louis Campese of the Anglican Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family, and other clergy yesterday evening, Msgr. Steenson assisted at Mass in Choir. He also gave a touching homily for the great benefit of those children celebrating their First Communions.

At the following reception (or as Fr. Barnes would put it, "bun-fight") in the Royal Hall, Monsignor had the opportunity to meet many of the congregation and First Communion guests. He remarked several times that he was simply "blown away" by the vitality and youth of the congregation; he had not expected to find such...

Read the rest of Mr. Campbell's post at The Anglo-Catholic blog.

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