Today I attended the ordination to the presbyteral priesthood of a Dominican friar here in home-in-sojourn in Scotland. (I am, of course returning to the Middle East before the year's end--how could I stay away?)
A few remarks. It was a beautiful service. The choir was excellent. The archbishop cardinal was there and while I don't know him seemed very engaged in the liturgy.
What did trouble me--and this is the Protestant part of my Anglican heritage coming out--was the scant reference to teaching, preaching, and evangelizing connected to the priesthood. The priest is given--if I recall--only articles related to the Mass. During the readings and the sermon there were only a few incidental mentionings of the connection between the priesthood and the ministry of teaching. This is why I like Luther: his focus on the integral connection between the ministry of the Word qua sacrament and the Word qua proclamation is brilliant.
This close connection is, of course, in theory present in the Latin church. But in practice--specifically in this conferral of Holy Orders--it was (almost) entirely absent. I was greatly troubled. This is especially poingnant when one considers that he is "OP", or Order of Preachers. The very foundation of his religious order is preaching, and it was not mentioned.
On the other hand, I have found that the Scots know how to do Presbyterian church very well--much better than any where in the US that I have visited. There, Presbys seem like they are trying to be non-denom and it ends up being a service without the emotional impact of a good non-denom service AND without the sense of majesty and tradition you would find with, say, a good Anglican service. Here though, I have been to two services in the last three days where they have done Presbyterianism very well. I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but I really liked it. (Passing around the bread and wine was lame though--why do they do that?) They preached very well--that was a pleasant surprise.
Anyway, reflections form a conflicted Anglican who is too Protestant to be Roman Catholic and too catholic to be 100% Protestant.
