THE P
Snapdragon
RTAL
February 2013 Page 8
The Ordinariate look
January ( when I ’ m writing this ) is the month of the year when we start looking at our homes and what we can do to make them more cosy and comfortable and more enjoyable to live in .
There are apparently a number of reasons why we do this . Christmas is over and our homes are back to normal , looking a bit drab without the decorations ; the DIY shops all have sales , and it ’ s cold . Put together , these factors encourage us to ‘ nest ’ – to make our homes pleasant places where we can snuggle up , while outside the snow falls and the winds howl . I ’ m currently looking through the window at six inches of snow , so not planning to go anywhere soon .
snuggle down and relax
There is a temptation for the Ordinariate to do the same , to simply settle down and make itself comfortable . Now that we ’ ve moved into our new home and it is starting to feel a bit more like home , perhaps it is time to start creating the look that we are after and snuggle down and relax .
an Ordinariate ‘ look ’
There is an Ordinariate ‘ look ’ that we need to create , and are being encouraged to create , which faithfully reflects the Anglican patrimony and distinguishes us from other Catholics . That is very important , ( and I am slightly puzzled by those members of the Ordinariate who want us to have no other look than that which has been in fashion among English Catholics for some time now ).
miss the greater work and purpose
But as well as snow and home improvement mania January brings with it the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity , which is a reminder to us that simply to occupy ourselves with creating a home that we ’ re happy with and can be comfortable in would be to
miss the greater work and purpose of the Ordinariate – the reunion of presently separated Christians .
So rather than working to get things just as we want them ( and we ’ ll all have our different preferences and opinions on that ), we should be working to get things as they need to be for the Ordinariate to attract Anglicans and others into the full communion of the Catholic Church , our ‘ look ’ of course being an important part of that work .
During the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity I ’ m praying that the conviction of Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint might be the conviction of all Catholics , all Christians , but especially that it might be ours as members of the Ordinariate : “ It is absolutely clear that ecumenism , the movement promoting Christian unity , is not just some sort of ‘ appendix ’ which is added to the Church ’ s traditional activity . Rather , ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work , and consequently must pervade all that she is and does ; it must be like the fruit borne by a healthy and flourishing tree which grows to its full stature .”
we have to get our hands dirty
Ecumenism is not easy – we are all acutely aware of the sensitivities and sometimes hostilities that characterise our relationships with others , but the history of ecumenism shows that if we are to hope for any progress , we have to get our hands dirty and work through the everyday messiness of relationships across church boundaries .
If ecumenism is not an organic part of the Ordinariate ’ s life and work , then not only will we be missing the point of our existence , but we may very well be carelessly consigning the Ordinariate to the appendix of Church history .