Fr. Harry Winter
The Five Ways
Five Ways Blog – Most Recent Post
- Five Ways – Apr 26
April 15, 2026
1. Easter Joy reflected in definitions by children. 1. An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys. 2. If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished. 3. Diplomacy: the art of letting someone have your way. (All from Gil Boucher OMI’s Father Gloat, !, 250-51).
2. Anglican Ordinariate Update, remembering that in the USA, Anglican means Episcopalian: I began to explore this great development in evangelization and sacral-reverential language in the February 19 and March 26 Five Ways (available on http://www.harrywinter.org). On March 26, the Vatican Dicastery for the Propagation of the Faith released an extraordinary document, “The Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage” (meaning Episcopalian in the USA). On March 1-3, two of the three bishops of the Anglican Ordinariate visited Rome and were received by Pope Leo.
Founded in 2009 by Pope Benedict, the Anglican Ordinariate consists of three dioceses that are growing steadily: the USA and Canada, headed by Bishop Steven Lopes; Great Britain, headed by Bishop David Waller; and Australia and Japan, headed by Bishop Anthony Randazzo.
The Vatican document “Characteristics” listed 7 features of the Anglican Ordinariate, emphasizing the way people are attracted to their churches (evangelization), the beauty of its worship (using the Anglican Book of Common Prayer), and the outreach to the poor. Peter Jesserer Smith of Our Sunday Visitor quickly published on March 26 a four page document explaining this “Vatican affirms permanent place of ‘Anglican heritage’ in the Catholic Church,” available by googling Peter Jesserer Smith.
On April 8, about 40 Oblates mainly from DC, LA, MA and NY attended our annual spring meeting in Tewksbury, MA and I was able to present hard copies of Smith’s article and briefly explain this development. Our provincial, Very Rev. Ray Cook, now superior of all the Oblates in the USA, but Catholic chaplain at Rice University during covid, commented that the Anglican Ordinariate parish in Houston stayed open during covid and many people joined during this time. Cook is very impressed by Bishop Lopes and noted that the Houston Ordinariate grew enough to build a Catholic high school in Houston, Cathedral High School.
There is an Anglican Ordinariate parish meeting at Holy Trinity Church, Lowell, MA and celebrating Mass in the second floor St. Athanasius Chapel. I hope to join them for Mass soon. Please check to see if there is an Anglican Ordinariate parish near you. I welcome hearing your reaction to their liturgy.
The Holy Spirit is working in marvelous ways. As we prepare for Pentecost Sunday, May 24, may the Anglican Ordinariate help us to see the action of the Holy Spirit.
In Easter love,
Father Harry Winter, O.M.I.
Recent Five-Ways posts from Fr. Harry
Introduction to the Five Ways
You can learn more about the Five Ways here.
There are five ways to live the Christian life. But all five have rarely flourished simultaneously. Usually, one or two dominate. During the last half of the twentieth century, in every denomination, all five competed in the average parish, congregation, and religious order. Only once or twice has this happened in the two-thousand-year history of Christianity. And then, instead of mutual support, the competition brought conflict and division. Yet all five can claim a basis in the New Testament.
Catholic Christians (and they exist in every denomination) are baptized as infants, love the sacraments, and are suspicious of emotion. Evangelical/Charismatic Christians search for a born-again experience, or baptism in the Spirit, as adults. They welcome emotion, long sermons, and witnessing and are uneasy with structures such as sacraments. Reformed (neo-orthodox) Vatican Il Christians recognize the necessity of change and renewal and frequently mediate between those Christians who practically worship change (Liberals) and those who view any change as betrayal (Fundamentalists).
- Five Ways – Apr 26April 15, 2026 1. Easter Joy reflected in definitions by children. 1. An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys. 2. If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished. 3. Diplomacy: the art of letting someone have your way. (All…
- Five Ways – Mar 26March 26, 2026 The three dioceses of the Personal Ordinariate cover the US and Canada; England and Wales, Scotland; and Australia and Japan. So there are former priests of the Episcopal-Anglican Church scattered all over the world who can use this worship language, more…
- Five Ways – Feb 26February 19, 2026 Christians bridge division during 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity In His love, Father Harry Winter, O.M.I.
- Five Ways – Jan 26January 21, 2026 1. Children’s joy: When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, “I’m not sure.” He answered, “Look in your underwear, Grandpa. Mine says I’m 4 to 6.” (WOW! I really like this one–it says I’m only 38!). …
- Five Ways – Dec 25December 25, 2025 1. Children’s Joy. Many Christian Churches observed Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 as the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, with the Gospel reading Matthew 2, the Flight Into Egypt. One nun asked her third graders to draw…
- Five Ways – Oct/Nov 25November 25, 2025 1. Why is this Five Ways for two months? On Oct. 18, I fell down the final four steps in our indoor stairway at St. Mary’s Rectory, Georgetown, MA, breaking the humerus bone in my left shoulder. The Oblates brought me…