THE P
RTAL
Father Peter ’ s Page
February 2011 Page 12
At the Heart of the Ordinariate
Last month in The Portal I said that I would try to use my column as an opportunity to explain some of the difficulties / confusions that some of you might be having as you explore / decide your relationship with the Ordinariate . This I promise to do in the months ahead ; but the events of the last few days have been so overwhelming that I have begged your editor to be allowed to share a particular reflection with you .
Diaconal and Priestly Ordinations
I was privileged to be present at both the Diaconal and Priestly Ordinations of those three courageous men who are now committed to leading the Ordinariate . The word ‘ historical ’ has been used by many to describe that week which culminated on Saturday 15 th January . Without overplaying the use of that word , it clearly was historic . . .
But it was more than that : it was a grace-given time for the good of the Church in this land . So many years of prayer , preparation and hard work by our forefathers came to fruition that day with a speed and a joy that none of us could have predicted .
Westminster Cathedral
For those of us who were present in Westminster Cathedral for the ordination of John Broadhurst , Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton , the sense of the numinous was overpowering . This was truly a Kairos – God ’ s moment .
There were so many astonishing things happening in quick succession that it is almost – even now – difficult to keep up to speed , yet alone place events in order of importance : the establishment of the Ordinariate itself ; the giving of its new title - The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham ; the naming of its Patron , Blessed John Henry Newman ; and the magnificent news of the appointment of Fr Keith Newton as the first Ordinary .
But there was one small event that day – unnoticed perhaps by many – which , when I observed it , quite literally brought me to tears .
Brave Religious Sisters
In the Ordination rite there is the ‘ Presentation of the Gifts ’ ( technically referred to as ‘ Porrectio Instrumentorum ’ ) when the newly ordained priests are offered a paten containing bread and a chalice containing wine & water – symbols of their new ministry .
Quietly , unobtrusively , these were brought up by those three brave religious sisters – late of Walsingham , and now of the Ordinariate : Sister Carolyne Joseph , Sister Wendy Renate and Sister Jane Louise . How poignant . . . how appropriate . . . and how symbolic !
Difficulties for Anglicans
When Bl . John Henry Newman wrote ‘ The development of Christian Doctrine ’, and later , when he expanded on this in his talks ‘ Difficulties for Anglicans ’, he quotes the existence of Religious Life as one of the great marks of Catholicism and one of the signs of ‘ growth ’ and ‘ development ’ of a true Church .
Without in any way detracting from the priests who had just been ordained , here at the heart of the Ordination Mass were three Religious Sisters . And they affirmed and proclaimed that - here at the Heart of the Ordinariate and at its very beginning - was Religious Life .
If anyone had any doubts before that God ’ s hand was at work that day – the day of the creation of the Ordinariate – let them take note .
Our lady of Walsingham pray for us . Blessed John Henry Newman pray for us .
Fr Peter Geldard