The Ordinariate as the Church’s front porch

It is perhaps a bit premature, but I’ve been thinking for years that a new Anglican body within the Catholic Church will bring with it to Peter’s barque more than tasteful vestments and glorious formal hymnody and a sense for the  quaint and antiquated. It will bring fishers of men.

 

That has been my hope and it seems to be confirmed here and there that evangelization will be its mission.  Catholicism in English speaking lands

TheCall: Evangelicals March on Washington

USAToday reports on TheCall, a movement of Evangelical religious and political rallies held in cities across the US and abroad to draw attention to moral issues and to offer prayer and fasting.

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians converged on the National Mall here Saturday to highlight moral issues before the fall presidential election with a day of fasting, prayer and music.

Organizers of TheCall DC said 70,000 people turned out for the event, though that number could not be confirmed independently by the National Park Service.

Anglican Bitterness over Converts to Rome

It’s all over the net. All kinds of talk about Anglicans swimming, put on swim trunks, taking the plunge, testing the waters, dipping the toe, crossing over, etc. It will be a wonder if the Tiber can handle the traffic as well as it handles the copious references to the metaphor … if they all come.

Those who do come are deserving of a hearty welcome from those of us standing along the shore. They certainly will have paid a hefty price in strained and even lost friendships as they have made a momentous and meaningful journey to the Catholic Church.

As an Anglican watcher I have noticed a distinct pattern on most Anglican blogs. Whenever something positive about the Catholic Church is posted there is a strong and bitter reaction among many of the commenters. Antipathy toward the Catholic Church is deeply ingrained in the minds of Anglicans and protestants from an early age. So it erupts almost without reflection whenever the moment calls for it. It has been particularly heavy in the wake of word of talks between some Diocese of Fort Worth Episcopal clergy and the local Catholic bishop.

Here is an example of the kind of visceral bitterness that has surfaced at blogs like the Continuum:

Witness the Devotion of a New Generation

I know the music is contemporary and many traditionalists will not like it. Still, it captures the Spirit of modern youth and fits with the Holy Father’s them of the Holy Spirit for WYD 2008. When I saw these images I was truly moved.