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It’s Day 108!!
Fr. Mike is going to talk about Dear Abby today
Basically the point is that Jesus Christ started the Catholic Church in 33 AD
This moment in time changed all of reality
Today we will talk about THE CHURCH-REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE CHURCH-PERFECTED IN GLORY
The Church will be perfected in Glory
The Body of Christ will be Glorified just like Jesus’ actual body was transformed after His Death and Resurrection
THE CHURCH-BOTH VISIBLE AND SPIRITUAL
The Church is also HUMAN AND DIVINE
The Church has HUMAN realities and DIVINE realities
Because of that we live in this IMPERFECT STATE
BUT…
A state that is buoyed up by the Holy Spirit
We know that sometimes we are so consoled by the Power of the Holy Spirit
We experience God’s HEALING when we go to Confession
We experience being FED by the Lord in the Eucharist at Mass
When we receive the Bible and the Church’s teaching in its fullness, it is a consolation of the Lord
IT IS SO GOOD!!
We also know that there are people in the Church that fail us
Fr. Mike fails people all of the time, even in these podcasts
We fail each other as followers of Christ
The Body of Christ has this divine reality
The Body of Christ also has this very human reality
We have this glorious reality as well as a very broken reality
So let’s say a prayer!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you so much. Thank you for bringing us to this place in time where we get to actually touch Eternity. Thank you for bringing us to this Church where wherever we are standing in the Church, whether we stand in humble submission, whether we stand in love, whether we stand even in a posture of skepticism or a posture of cynicism, a posture of rebellion. Lord God, keep us engaged with your Church. Because I don’t want to leave your Body. I don’t want to leave the Family that you have anointed and established so that you can be known and that we can be saved. Father, keep us close to your heart. Keep us close in your Church and help us to love one another in ways that we don’t yet love. We ask this all in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”
OH MY GOSH!!
In the Catholic Church there exists what we call PARADOX
Paradox is an APPARENT contradiction
BUT…
IT IS NOT A CONTRADICTION
It is BOTH AND
Rather than EITHER/OR
Is the Church visible?
YES!
Is the Church spiritual?
YES!
SO IT IS BOTH VISIBLE AND SPIRITUAL!
BOTH AND!!
Paragraph 767 says, “‘When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church.’”
Fr. Mike says this is bananas so who am I to argue?
IT IS SO GOOD!!
Jesus Christ established the Kingdom
Remember the promise from the ages?
God would give through Abraham and his descendants this KINGDOM that would bless the world FOREVER
God then sends the Spirit
The mission of the Son and the mission of the Spirit are the SAME MISSION
God did not leave us orphans
God did not leave us a loose organization of some people and teach us some stuff and tell us to go do our best
They did their best with the inspiration, power, guidance, and wisdom of the Holy Spirit
SO SO IMPORTANT!!
We do not do this on our own
The Church has the Holy Spirit as HER VERY SOUL
Paragraph 768 says, “So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit ‘bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her.’”
What are hierarchic gifts?
Holy Orders
The Pope
Bishops
Apostolic Succession
Priests and deacons
There is a hierarchy here
We have the Magisterium
We have written Tradition
We have oral Tradition
So what are charismatic gifts?
Free gifts from the Lord that He uses to build up His Church
You and I have received charismatic gifts since we have the Holy Spirit in us
You have some gift that God has given to you to build up the Body of Christ, the Church
Faith
Counsel
Knowledge
Words of the Lord
Mighty Works
Miracles
Tongues
You might not have ALL of them
BUT…
You have charismatic gifts
If you don’t notice or recognize them, PRAY TO THE LORD FOR THEM!!
Paragraph 768 continues, “‘Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility, and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom.’”
THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!!
Why?
Because God wants to bring EVERY PERSON into this Kingdom
Paragraph 769 says, “‘The Church…will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven…’”
Just as Jesus’ body is resurrected and glorified in Heaven for all eternity, the body of Christ on earth will be glorified
It has to go through the same process that our King went through
The Body has to go through the same process that the Head went through
This means that we have to experience this REJECTION
PERSECUTIONS
TRIALS
Paragraph 769 continues, “The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials.”
We have to embrace rejection
We have to embrace the ways in which the world hates us
Jesus said, “The world hated me, it will hate you as well.”
It is not a matter of triumphalism
It’s a matter of HUMBLE SERVICE
Being strong enough to ALLOW yourself to be stepped on
This may not be good counsel for EVERY individual
There are times when someone has to admit their dignity is such that they should not be stepped on
This is why the grace of the martyr is so powerful
It’s not someone who couldn’t stick up for themselves
The grace of the martyr who had the power to fight back
BUT…
For the sake of Jesus, chose not to
That is important for us to know
We have to have this balance between knowing your great dignity and knowing that in the midst of great dignity no one has a right to abuse you, use you, or step on you
There are times, though, when we say for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the love of my brothers and sisters, I will allow them to step on me so that Christ may be known and glorified
I will allow them to step on me so that THEY can know the love of God
There is a big difference between being a doormat and laying down one’s life
Hope that makes sense
THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
We see the Church with our eyes
At the same time, there is so much we do not see
Paragraph 771 says, “The Church is at the same time: -a ‘society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ; =the visible society and the spiritual community; -the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches.’...The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the word, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.’”
SO POWERFUL!!
SO REAL!!
We live in this broken world
Because of that the Church experiences wounds
At the same time, we are made for ANOTHER WORLD
The Church experiences the consolations and grace of being buoyed up, guided, directed, and filled by the power of the Holy Spirit at every single moment
That’s the reality of our lives
Sometimes it is difficult to be in this earthly reality
That is where you and I have been called
The Church is a human and earthly reality
The Church is also a spiritual and divine reality
The Church is where you and I have been called
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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