Travel Companions

After notifying my bishop in January 1982 that I was becoming a Catholic, I was deposed from the Episcopal priesthood. On the day I was deposed, my family and I left Rhode Island, with a blizzard in the forecast.  We had three children under five years old, and we were headed to Texas.  When a mechanic looked at the small car we were driving, he said, “It won’t make it to the state line, never mind to Texas.” 

We did make it to Texas, but the future was completely unknown.  The Pastoral Provision had been approved, but it hadn’t been implemented.  We were starting a parish from scratch, and I didn’t have the faintest idea how to do it.  Of course, God protects children and fools, so I knew my children were safe.  And there was no doubt in my mind that I fell into the second category.

The kids thought the trip was exciting… at first.  But then it started.  “Daddy, are we almost there?”  “Mommy, he’s kicking me.”  “I’m hungry.”  There were childish screams and some minor pinching and punching.  Of course, there was no point in threatening to turn around and go home if they didn’t settle down.  We’d left what had been our home.  We could only continue on. 

The three little ones weren’t used to being together in such close quarters.  They kept picking on one another until the second day, when we were in Tennessee.  It was there that we were in a severe ice storm.  The road was treacherous.  Cars and trucks were crawling ever so slowly, and some had pulled off to the side.  Just as we were thinking that we needed to find someplace safe, away from the highway, the storm let up and the sand trucks went through.  Our new sense of safety allowed us to look at the incredible beauty around us, with all the trees shimmering with their coating of ice.  JoAnn and I began to reminisce about the snow and ice we had when we were children growing up in Connecticut, and our oldest daughter began to ask questions about what it was like then.  Even the younger ones took an interest as I began to tell stories about growing up on the farm, and we were transformed into a unified family for the remainder of the trip.

Earlier, I was reading the story and comments on this blog about “The Journey Home” program, and our trip to Texas popped into my mind.  I thought, “That’s just like it was when we were all crammed in that little car for two thousand miles.”

We're all excited about Anglicanorum coetibus.  But the longer the time is before its implementation, the more restless we get with one another during the wait.  The parishes of the Pastoral Provision want to hear something from their respective bishops, but hear nothing.  Unflattering statements are being made about the Traditional Anglican Communion by people who want the Apostolic Constitution to flop.  The motives of the Pope are being questioned.  Some of the national Bishops' Conferences are trying to position themselves between potential members of the Ordinariates and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  Nerves get frayed and impatience takes over.  Not to push the image too far, but we're sometimes like my children were in the back seat of the car on the way to Texas.

We really need to remember that those of us who want to become part of an Ordinariate are on the same side.  We're part of the same family.  Yes, we have different histories.  We may have different expectations.  Maybe we even have mistaken perceptions about each other.  In a way, we've been thrown together in close quarters as we wait for this whole thing to be worked out.  So we need to unite around the fact that the Holy Father has a vision for us, and we need to adjust our eyes so we see the beauty of his vision.  He'll make sure that what's done is what is truly best for each one of us.  His vision is generous.  None of us will be left behind, so there's no need for us to squabble. 

Meanwhile, let's try to enjoy the trip.  We can use the time to get to know one another and to pray for one another.  We're brothers and sisters travelling together, and the Holy Father is firmly in the driver's seat.  We'll get there.  I know it doesn't seem fast enough, but we will get there.