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, October 23, 2009

The reward of patience...

On his blog "Atonement Online", Fr. Christopher Phillips writes about the importance of jurisdiction for the growth of the Anglican Use within the Catholic Church:
The Apostolic Consitution builds a sturdy and wide bridge for Anglican converts. To think that they can enter the Catholic Church into a jurisdiction expressly created for them! Those of us who were making the move a generation ago could only dream of such a thing. In fact, I can remember in the very early years (when I was young, somewhat naive and politically unsophisticated) I suggested to a certain member of the Catholic hierarchy that perhaps we should ask for our own jurisdiction. After the hoots of incredulity stopped echoing in the room, I was told, "It'll never happen, and it would be insulting to ask!" But I never stopped thinking about the importance of jurisdiction...

You can read the rest at "Atonement Online".
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