Body of Christ
The Church is both visible, and at the same time, spiritual. The visible Church is an institution with rules and customs. It also has a hierarchical government, what I like to call the “pecking order.” You can see the Church in the people who gather together to worship and who, hopefully, go forth to “love and serve the Lord.”
The spiritual aspect of the Church, often described as the Mystical Body of Christ, is guided and protected by the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” We became members of this Body of Christ by our Baptism, and as members, we are bound to believe this to be true.
When we read Acts of the Apostles, which tells us about the beginnings of the Church, we can see that it didn’t take very long for trouble to start. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit guided and protected the Church. Are we to assume something has changed since then? Is the Holy Spirit “missing in action?”
Some people today would like you to believe this preposterous supposition. It is becoming routine to hear folks refer to the “downfall of the Church”. Along these lines, we hear that bad liturgy, bad music, and bad Bishops will succeed in overthrowing the promises of Christ, and that ugly architecture and nasty vestments will prevent the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There have always been problems associated with the visible aspect of the Church simply because it is made up of people, and people are flawed. As members of the Body of Christ, we are joined spiritually to all other members. By virtue of our baptism, we are all called to build up the Body of Christ - not tear it down.
I don’t like bad music or ugly architecture any more than the next person, but it would never occur to me to sound the death knell of the Church based on someone strumming a guitar. Our faith should inform us of the invincibility of the Church.
We are certainly free to discuss these and other problems of the Church, but it should be done in charity and with a view to solutions that are also rooted in charity. Ask yourself everyday what you are doing to build up the Mystical Body of Christ.
The Church is both visible, and at the same time, spiritual. The visible Church is an institution with rules and customs. It also has a hierarchical government, what I like to call the “pecking order.” You can see the Church in the people who gather together to worship and who, hopefully, go forth to “love and serve the Lord.”
The spiritual aspect of the Church, often described as the Mystical Body of Christ, is guided and protected by the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” We became members of this Body of Christ by our Baptism, and as members, we are bound to believe this to be true.
When we read Acts of the Apostles, which tells us about the beginnings of the Church, we can see that it didn’t take very long for trouble to start. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit guided and protected the Church. Are we to assume something has changed since then? Is the Holy Spirit “missing in action?”
Some people today would like you to believe this preposterous supposition. It is becoming routine to hear folks refer to the “downfall of the Church”. Along these lines, we hear that bad liturgy, bad music, and bad Bishops will succeed in overthrowing the promises of Christ, and that ugly architecture and nasty vestments will prevent the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There have always been problems associated with the visible aspect of the Church simply because it is made up of people, and people are flawed. As members of the Body of Christ, we are joined spiritually to all other members. By virtue of our baptism, we are all called to build up the Body of Christ - not tear it down.
I don’t like bad music or ugly architecture any more than the next person, but it would never occur to me to sound the death knell of the Church based on someone strumming a guitar. Our faith should inform us of the invincibility of the Church.
We are certainly free to discuss these and other problems of the Church, but it should be done in charity and with a view to solutions that are also rooted in charity. Ask yourself everyday what you are doing to build up the Mystical Body of Christ.
