Meeting Christ in the Church
Three days into the parish holiday at Rydal, I get on line (excellent feature of this house is free broadband access for guests...though I guess if i were actually retreating it might be a mixed blessing) and what do I read from the Henri Nouwen Society?
See below...but how did they KNOW what I was feeling like?!?!?
Loving the Church does not require romantic emotions. It
requires the will to see the living Christ among his people
and to love them as we want to love Christ himself. This
is true not only for the "little" people - the poor, the
oppressed, the forgotten - but also for the "big" people who
exercise authority in the Church.
To love the Church means to be willing to meet Jesus
wherever we go in the Church. This love doesn't mean
agreeing with or approving of everyone's ideas or behavior.
On the contrary, it can call us to confront those who hide
Christ from us. But whether we confront or affirm,
criticize or praise, we can only become fruitful when our
words and actions come from hearts that love the Church.
OK, then, I guess that's today's agenda sorted out. He never said it would be easy!
Oh, Kathryn, did I ever need to read this today. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... been in my role here for about 6 weeks now and already stressed and fed up and frustrated with church. Thank you Kathryn, I too needed to read this!
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Yeah. But wouldn't easy be nice, once in a while? ha ha!
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to send the first line of that quote to the writers of those godawful "Jesus is my boyfriend" choruses ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I was hoping for permission to whine some more. . .
ReplyDeleteKathryn, what a great quote. Thank you for sharing it.
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