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, April 2, 2009

Anglican priest returns to Catholic Church

By Matt Palmer
April 2, 2009

Albert and Abby Scharbach took bites of fruits, crackers and cheese inside their Federal Hill home, which they only moved into just before Lent. Their six children ran around the house, playing together as they continued discovering their surroundings on a late March afternoon. “We want to bring them to a place of permanency and a fullness of the faith,” said 37-year-old Mr. Scharbach. Keelan, 11, Isaac, 10, Cady, 9, Ander, 6, Ellie, 4, and Thomas, 3, are preparing for the next stage of their religious journey with their parents.
The Scharbachs, practicing Anglicans for the last several years, believe they have found that sense of belonging in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Roman Catholic Church, which the family hopes to join during Easter Vigil at next-door Holy Cross parish. “We’ve always thought that this is the only church that has remained steadfast on moral issues and has a worldwide witness to that,” Mrs. Scharbach said. “It’s a worldwide voice saying, ‘This is wrong.’ ”
Asked why this is the time for him and his family to convert, Mr. Scharbach offered a simple answer: “The magisterium – to be in communion with the Holy See.” Just months ago, Mr. Scharbach was a promising Anglican priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, near Philadelphia...
Read in full at The Catholic Review.

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