 Build My Church |
Four of Our Model |
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Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (Hell) will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another. 6 We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; 7 if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. 11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. Matthew 24
Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man
who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was asleep, his enemy
came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. 26 When the wheat
sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The owner’s
servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?
Where then did the weeds come from?’28‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the
servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29‘No,’ he said,
‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both
grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters:
First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the
wheat into my barn.’ ” |
Today you frequently hear people say, “I’m not religious but I am spiritual” or “He’s not a church goer but he is a good person.” Is there a problem with this way of thinking? There is, a big one, when you take into account The Evil One. This may not be a popular topic today, but it is one of the main reasons Jesus gave us the Church, to be that fortress in which we are safe from the arrows of the Devil. It is the reason in Jesus’s teaching us to pray he concludes with, “. . . let us not be put to the test but deliver us from the Evil One.” But is this not the rational/scientific age, with all of our sophisticated understand of how everything works including the human mind? Quoting Pope Francis recently, “Pope Francis said that human intelligence is no match for the Devil.” In this Fourth
Element of our model, we explore the indispensable roll the Church plays in
the spiritual Life. “I Build My
Church” ·
It is the Mystical Body of Christ
- true presence. ·
It is the Source of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. ·
It is the Gardian of Truth – infallible
doctrine ·
It is the Dynamic Discernment of the
Lord’s will. ·
It is the Pastor of Souls – authority
of Good Shepherd. · It is the Communion of Saints – deposit of wisdom. In verse 4 of this Romans text Paul uses the image of the body with many parts. We might add the image of the cells of the body, small but each one important. We are a cell in this Body of Christ. Our goal is to be healthy cells contributing to a healthy body. The mysticism of the Church is where we get our nourishment. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” When we meet it is not us who construct the agenda, it is the Lord. We gather to be shaped and formed so as to carry out each one’s unique vocation. What is YOUR will for us Lord? In a hierarchy
of importance, here are the key components of the Deposit of Wisdom. 1.
Scripture and the teachings of the Church
Fathers. 2.
Defined doctrine of the Church Councils – Vat.
II 3.
Official Catholic Catechism – Vatican website. 4.
Writings of the saints, theological &
spiritual. 5. Writings of contemporary Church members, clergy, religious, and laity. There is an
unlimited stream of religious literature available these days especially
through the internet. It is both a blessing as well as a “Mine Field”. Here
one thinks of Jesus parable of the weeds sown in the field with the good
seed. We are harvesters-in-training. As we have learned from Ignatius what is
needed today is discernment – ability to distinguish one from another. Our
school is the Wisdom of the Church. |