Day 106: Symbols of the Church (753-757)

• It’s Day 106!!

• We’ll start with yesterday’s recap which I’m not going to write down

• Today is a bit more poetic

• SYMBOLS OF THE CHURCH

• Paragraph 753 says, “In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church.”

• They BEGIN in the Old Testament and are FULFILLED in the New Testament

• The images are pretty straightforward

• Paragraph 754 says, “The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ.”

• It is also THE FLOCK

• This is the imagery of Jesus as THE GOOD SHEPHERD and PRINCE OF SHEPHERDS who gave His life for His sheep

• Paragraph 755 says, “The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again.”

• This is one of those poetic strains in the Catechism

• Also remember the image of the VINE AND BRANCHES

• Jesus is the TRUE VINE and He gives life and fruitfulness to the branches aka US

• Paragraph 756 says, “Often, too, the Church is called the building of God.”

• Specifically, the best of buildings, THE HOLY TEMPLE OF GOD

• We have this in the Old Testament where it is FORESHADOWED

• We also have this in the New Testament where John sees that Holy City, the New Jerusalem coming out of Heaven

• LIVING STONES are Christians, you and me, and are part of that building

• Paragraph 757 says, “The Church, further, which is called ‘that Jerusalem which is above’ and ‘our mother,’ is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb.”

• Those three images are not dived into deeply

• It’s important for us to assess

• Are there any defenses that have been stirred up when people start talking about the Church?

• If that’s the case then we need to recognize it’s possible and even likely to get defensive

• GOD IS GOOD

• THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN GOD

• AND YET…

• Although the Church is GOOD we sometimes have a harder time with the Church

• Not just because of the sinful members of the Church

• Isn’t it strange that God can SEEM DISTANT?

• It’s easier to accept God if He is distant

• BUT…

• If God was right up close in our face, we might find it more difficult to accept Him

• The Church is not only divine but also has broken humanity in it

• It has a great track record and a bad track record

• There have been incredible saints who have lived up to the Church’s teachings

• There are also incredible sinners who have not lived up to the Church’s teachings

• There is a UNIQUE thing about the Church

• The Church is CLOSE

• The Church is IN OUR FACE

• The Church CONTINUES TO TEACH US

• We can get defensive in our own pride and defensiveness

• We accept all these things about God

• BUT…

• This Church is so close and makes demands of us so we get defensive

• If this is the reality in your life today, we come before the Lord and ask the Source of the Church to help us to be open and taught

• Let us pray for docility

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, you have called us. Your Son is the Teacher. He is the Great Teacher. You have given us, through your Son in the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Church as our Mother. Our Mother and our Teacher. So we just ask you to help us to have minds and hearts that are open to being taught. Help us to have minds and hearts that are open to your Church in a way that maybe they haven’t been open before. We ask you to please help us give you permission to draw close to us in your Church. To teach us through your Church. And give us a willingness to trust you in your Church. We know we can’t always trust the members of the Church. We can’t even trust ourselves, Lord God. But we do trust you, that you will never lead your Church astray. You will never abandon Her, even in our brokenness. So give us hearts. Give us minds that are open to being taught and hearts that are open to you in your Church. Give us this grace. Give us this Holy Spirit this day and every day. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• A few short paragraphs with PROFOUND IMAGES

• THE SHEEPFOLD in Paragraph 754

• Christ is the SOLE AND NECESSARY GATEWAY

• Jesus is the ONE SAVIOR

• There is no salvation through any other name 

• There is no salvation through any other person in the world

• We are the FLOCK

• Jesus is the GOOD SHEPHERD and the PRINCE OF SHEPHERDS 

• Why?

• He is the one who gives life for His Sheep

• He is God Himself

• Also we have THE CULTIVATED FIELD

• These images are begun in the Old Testament and are FULFILLED in Jesus

• Jesus is the TRUE VINE

• We are the BRANCHES

• We can only bear fruit and have life if we REMAIN IN CHRIST WITHOUT WHOM WE CAN DO NOTHING

• THE BUILDING OF GOD

• Jesus compares Himself to the stone rejected by the builders who has become the CORNERSTONE

• St. Peter describes this as LIVING STONES built into this Holy Temple of God

• JUST INCREDIBLE!!

• THE NEW JERUSALEM

• OUR MOTHER

• THE SPOTLESS SPOUSE OF THE SPOTLESS LAMB

• THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

• Are all so important

• Remember back in the Old Testament the Lord God speaks to the People of Israel

• “Your builder has become your spouse.”

• How often are the sins of idolatry and adultery linked?

• God says, “I have loved you like a spouse and yet you have turned away from me like an adulterous lover.”

• In the New Covenant there is this fulfillment of this where Jesus is the BRIDEGROOM and the Church is HIS BRIDE

• The reality is that we can be justly upset with the Church 

• We can be justly upset with bureaucracy 

• We can be justly upset with hierarchy

• We can be justly upset with people in power

• We can be justly upset with our pastor

• We can be justly upset with Fr. Mike

• We can be justly upset with The Pope

• We can be justly upset with the failings of people in the Church

• ABSOLUTELY!!

• We need to constantly be reforming the Church

• We are constantly looking at ourselves and asking where are we saying No to God?

• Where are we not saying yes with our whole heart to God?

• Where are we not representing God to the people around us?

• We are constantly being reformed by the Lord by His grace

• The Church has to do that

• Since we are part of the Church we have to actively do this

• Criticism is warranted at times and it might even be our role at times 

• Those who are repenting and those who are pointing out those who need to repent

• It is necessary

• At the same time…

• Many people say the Catechism is a challenge

• It was easier to hear the Bible

• Some people are not so sure they love the Church

• We don’t believe IN the Church we believe IN God

• The Church is God’s works

• BUT…

• The Church is GOD’S BRIDE

• The Church has been given to us as OUR MOTHER

• If we hate the Church what did St. Paul say about what Christ did for the Church?

• He LOVED her

• He GAVE HIMSELF UP for her

• Paragraph 757 says, “It is she whom Christ ‘loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.’”

• As we dive more deeply into these teachings of the Church 

• “God we have always prayed this. God, give me a heart like yours. Help me to hate what you hate. Help me to love what you love.”

• If we are someone who says that we hate the Church then we have to pause

• CHRIST LOVES THE CHURCH

• CHRIST GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER

• So we need to check ourselves and our hearts

• Especially if we have this hostility, hatred, anger, or indifference

• St. John Paul said, “The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. The opposite of love is use.”

• So if we approach the Church with indifference or because it gets us what we want

• How does Christ approach the Church?

• He approaches the Church in love

• We are going to walk through these teachings on the Church

• It’s worth it to check our hearts

• If we are going to say, “I hate the Church” we have to understand what that means

• It means we don’t love what God loves

• But we want to, right?

• Every one of us!!

• So let’s pray for each other

• There are a lot of wounded hearts out there

• Wounded lives

• And lives that have been hurt through people in the Church

• Maybe through bureaucracy and hierarchy

• We can’t afford to hate what God loves

• Fr. Mike knows woundedness

• He’s been around long enough to know

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!