Ecumencial Relationships

A course of events meant that I ended up at a small Catholic chapel in Hampstead half way through evening mass yesterday. When I walked through the door I was surprised to hear the Catholic priest talking about the Methodist Church. He was telling a story about a Methodist congregation that had forked out for a new carpet only to have two holes burnt in it by someone's misadventure with two candles a couple of weeks after the new carpet had been put in. When the Methodist minister heard what had happened, he reportedly said: “Don't worry, these things happen.” The Catholic priest reflected that he wasn't so sure he would have had the same reaction and it made him think about his own ability to forgive. I assume I was the only non-Catholic in the Church as only me - and two other people - didn't take Communion. My point is that, for me, the sermon was an example of ecumenical relationships working at the level that resonates the most.