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, December 16, 2014

A Living and Developing Patrimony: A Homily on Acts 10:17-33.


"At every pivotal moment in the Church’s history, Peter is there, the person of the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, who carries the mission forward, keeping the Church ever ancient and ever new, as he’s doing now, in our own day."

From the 2011 Anglican Use Conference at St. Mary the Virgin in Arlington, Texas, Fr. Christopher Phillips preached this homily, which was published in Volume 3, Number 9 (Lent 2012) issue of Anglican Embers. Preaching on the reception of Cornelius and his household into the Church, Fr. Phillips' homily is perhaps something to read and meditate on in a time when many in the Church are perturbed about current events in Rome and reports about Pope Francis. 


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