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

Friday, March 6, 2009

At Long Last Catholic: A conversion experience

At age 50, I was received into the Catholic Church after being a member of the Anglican Church of Canada most of my adult life. It was the culmination of seven months of preparation through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program, but more than that, a lifetime of preparation was consummated at the sublime moment when the priest layed his hands on my head, called me by my confirmation name, and traced the sign of the cross on my forehead with chrism oil. Strangely, when he placed his hands on my head, it wasn’t a mere tap or pat on the head, but I felt a tremendous weight come down on me. As the Sacrament of Confirmation was administered, the five of us candidates and catechumens faced the assembly; a parishioner who had gone through the same experience the year before later remarked how he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon us...
Read in full at Anglican Comment.
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