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, March 24, 2013

Diaconal Ordination of Jurgen Liias

Fr. Jonathan Gaspar, Co-Director of Worship and Spiritual Life,
Archdiocese of Boston, in Center, serving as MC, with Bishop
Deeley as he recites the ordination prayer.

from an email from the Ordinariate Community of St. Gregory the Great

About 50 individuals were able to join Deacon Liias for this important event in his and our life; they included members of our community, former parishioners of Jürgens and Fr. Brian Barry of Christ the Redeemer Anglican, pilgrims who had been to the Holy Land with Jürgen, and members of Saint Mary's and Margaret's parishes. For those of you who were unable to be physically present, here are some mementos of the day. The photographs were taken by our brother Steve Hawley — thank you, Steve! for providing these permanent reminders of a beautiful day; also attached are copies of the program and the hymns chosen by Jürgen for the liturgy.
An interesting — perhaps blessed — surprise was discovering that the presiding Bishop, who is Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston and therefore "second in command" to the Cardinal, had spent years in Rome working at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; indeed, he had participated in producing the canonical aspects of the erection of the Ordinariates! During his excellent homily he commented on the beauty of seeing the Grace of Pope Benedict's vision working out in the individual, personal, aspect of Jürgen's ordination. The Holy Spirit comtinues to watch over our small flock and send so many Blessings!
Bishop Deeley was exceptionally kind to arrange his schedule such that he could be with us to perform this ordination in time for Deacon Liias to participate in the liturgies of Holy Week. For those in the area, be aware that Deacon Liias will be delivering the homily at the 9:30 Easter Morning Mass at St. Margaret's church (672 Hale St., Beverly Farms).

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1 comment:

  1. UnknownApril 10, 2013 at 12:30 PM

    Thank you for sharing this post. I found it very informative and interesting. My wife wants to become ordained but works full time and helps take care of our kids. I found out about online ordination
    and think it is perfect for her.

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