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

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Canterbury Tales

Posted: 11/13/2009
by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe

Lately, it seems that God has been speaking English. Between the immanent beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, the Vatican’s initiative to welcome Anglicans home to the Catholic Church, and the coming revisions of the liturgy in English, the Holy Spirit is quite visibly at work. To me, there is no question that God is--and has been--looking in the direction of the English speaking world.

But just what does the Almighty see? Certainly, God knows just how far we in Great Britain, North America, Australia, and New Zealand have wandered from Him. He sees the decadence of our cultures, the decline of our family life, the depravity of our souls. But I do not think that is what our Lord sees first, for God looks at us with love.

My childhood was spent in the Episcopal Church. Even now, as a Catholic, I draw on the richness of Christian tradition I experienced there...

Read the rest in The Boston Pilot.

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller
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