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

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The voice of the Anglican Patrimony...

is being added to the chorus of praise that is the Church Catholic. This ingathering of the Anglican faithful is a gift to be celebrated by all.

God wills that we sing his praise, but we will not be able to sing that praise as it was meant to be sung until the voices of all God's scattered flock are brought into one under one shepherd. I was reminded of this at Mass this morning, as a visiting bishop from Ethiopia gave communion to the Vietnamese sister who is staying with the order of Lithuanian nuns near my house here in Brockton, Massachusetts.



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