Loving the Church

When I read his final general audience in St. Peter’s Square, what struck me is how Pope Benedict’s words revealed a certain quality that would be good to see in more abundance these days, a selfless love for the Church. It seems evident that his decision to resign was motivated by his love for the Church that formed him into the exemplary Christian that he is. It made me reflect on what it means to love the Church, to lay down one's life for her.

The Holy Father spoke eloquently not only the joys, but also the difficulties of his pontificate. I wondered if he was thinking in part of the scandals and reprehensible behavior of some of the Church’s most prominent shepherds in the past several years. This must have been a terrible cross for him to bear as the leader of the Church. But lest we, the laity, be tempted to let ourselves off the hook, perhaps he was also thinking of the shameful decline in Mass attendance of Catholics, the failure of many of us to faithfully pass on the faith to our children, our growing seduction by secularism, and the propensity of a large number of modern Catholics to treat the Church like a spiritual buffet line, picking through her teachings to suit their taste. 

I have heard a lot of interesting, and at times colorful, opinions expressed about “the Church” by my Catholic brothers and sisters. I say interesting, but the truth is, most of the opinions that issue from the lips of those who have “serious gripes” with the Church are far less interesting to me than the words spoken by those who are head over heels in love with the Lord’s Bride. Lovers and saints are never boring. The dissatisfied are the ones who often sing the same old, tired tunes. These insipid songs include titles such as: “The Mean Old Church is All About Rules,” “The Church is Just a Bunch of Old Men Without a Clue,” “The Church Don’t Belong in My Bedroom, Yeah, Yeah,” and of course, that crusty old favorite, “Jesus Loves Me But Hates Religion.”

I am not referring here to those who get justifiably angry about the poor behavior of Church leaders, especially when they fail miserably to model what they preach. A person who loves the Church may rightly call her members, leaders or otherwise, to the carpet--- with charity and humility, of course--- for scandalous behavior. I think there is a time for confrontation when evil is afoot, though I admit I find it troubling that many who spout venom over the sins and failures of Church shepherds seem rarely to make an accompanying stink over the sins and failures of lay Catholics who scandalize the Church every day by their mediocre practice of the faith, blatant sins, or outright dissent. One rarely hears the angry Catholic who has made a hobby of railing against the hierarchy complain about the Church laity’s behavior. Honestly, how often does one hear the Church "critic," after lamenting the behavior of bishops or priests, continue with, “And what about these lay Catholics who lobby for gay "marriage" or are pro-abortion? What a scandal!”? But that's for another post.

But what I really want to address is the “Jesus: Good; Church: Not so Much” mentality that seems to be increasingly common among Catholics. I have met an alarming number of the baptized who find it perfectly reasonable to say things like, “I believe in Jesus, but I don’t need the Church. That’s just a man-made institution.” What? That would be news to Jesus (cf. Matthew 16:18)! Of course I am picking on my fellow Catholics, here. Protestants who don’t get Catholic ecclesiology are off the hook… for this blog, anyway.

To love Jesus Christ—for real--- is to love His Bride, the Church.  Don’t tell me you love me, and then turn around and malign or ignore my spouse. If you love the man, you love his beloved. If you love The Man, you love His Bride. It’s not rocket science.

The Church is the spotless Bride of Christ. He “cleansed her by the by the washing of the water with the word that he might present the church to himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:26-27).” She is beautiful and pure. Her demands on my life are Christ's invitation to life. If I find it difficult to love Christ and the Church, it is usually a sign that I am struggling with a disordered love of self and the world.

If I struggle to believe and obey a teaching of the Church it is because I have not really given my heart completely to her Bridegroom, the Blessed Lord. The more I grow in my love for Him, the more I grow in my love for His Bride. Jesus loved her so much that He gave His very life for her (cf. Ephesians 5:25). In the first verses of chapter five, St. Paul exhorts us to imitate God and to love as Christ loved. Do I love His Church as He did, am I willing to lay down my own life for her as He did?  

The Church is our Mother. We should say a prayer of thanksgiving every day that we are baptized into her fold. Her members, broken and sinful, are our brothers and sisters. We should thank the Lord each morning for the opportunity to love them through service, prayer, and acts of self-denial. If every Catholic put concentrated effort into his or her personal conversion, we could change the world for the good. When the Gospel is truly lived, it is revolutionary. 

In the words of Pope Benedict at his final audience: I have felt, and I feel even in this very moment, that one receives one's life precisely when he offers it as a gift.

When we offer our very selves to Christ through the Church we discover a fullness of life that is nothing less than exquisite. When we make of ourselves a gift to the Bride of Christ, we begin to see clearly what a gift she is to us and to the world. The example of His Holiness, Benedict XVI, reminds me to continue to actively grow in my love for the Church, and in my willingness to lay down my life for her. Only in Jesus is this possible. Only in Jesus is the dying sweet.

Mary, Mother of Grace, pray for us!