What marvellous occasions Ordinations are. This last weekend, my friends Oliver, Thomas, and Jonathan were ordained to the Sacred priesthood; Oliver in and for the Oxford Oratory, Thomas and Jonathan in the Birmingham Oratory (together with a crowd of other Ordinariate ordinandi). Friends? Well, we have spent many happy hours reading Latin texts together. Need I say more? And Thomas was a member of the 'Oxford Ordinariate Group' which began life in the little Church of S Thomas the Martyr iuxta Ferriviam Oxoniensium.
That both ordinations took place in an Oratorian Church will surprise nobody and will be a sufficient guarantee to sensible readers that things were done superbly well. And a reminder of the crucial role which dear kind S Philip is playing, especially in Anglophone Catholicism. Together, needless to say, with his Son Blessed John Henry Newman.
The Benedict Renaissance did not fizzle out with the end of that pontificate; the sanctuaries this weekend crowded with mainly young priests and seminarians look to me like the dawn of that youthful and revitalised Catholic Church which must surely be in God's promise; served by priests who have heard the assurance "My Immaculate Heart will prevail".
The disaster-bemoaners who claim all over the Internet that the Church is in calamitous melt-down should try to get out more ... to Ordinariate Churches; to Oratories; to Ordinations! Be happy! When I am Pope, I shall issue Plenary Indulgences galore for all who Laugh within two hours of the end of an Ordination.
I have seen the future, and it does work!
"When I am Pope" - I do wonder what Pam says about that! And ought not Your Holiness to use the plural of majesty?
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ReplyDeleteWell said Father!
....even unto the God of my joy and gladness.
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Father H, for affirming that the Catholic Church is not dead yet. I have seen young priests here in Lancashire who insist on our saying the full confession and the Nicene Creed at Holy Mass, instead of the alternative fudges on offer in the Novus Ordo. In the nearby town of Warrington, the Society of St Peter is thriving in their beautiful church, now fully restored for the celebration of all EF rites and ceremonies. What strikes me most especially there is the devotion of the servers, lads ranging from 10 to 15, by the look of them. They observe every action and ceremony meticulously. I never thought that I would see youngsters so drawn to the Holy Mysteries as in that church. (You can watch their Masses live on their website.) So yes: Long live the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church. It's not dead yet.