The texts of this Sunday's liturgy form a chain of invocations to the
Lord. We tell him that he is our support, our rock, our defence. [1]
The Collect also takes up the theme of the Introit: You never
refuse your light to those who stand fast in the firmness of your love.
[2]
In the Gradual we continue to have recourse to him: In my distress
I cry to the Lord ... Deliver me O Lord from wicked lips, from a deceitful
tongue. O Lord in thee do I take refuge. [3]
We are moved by the insistence of God our Father, who is determined to
remind us that we ought to appeal to his mercy, always, no matter what
happens. Now as well, at a time in which confused voices are rending the
Church, many souls are going astray because they do not find good shepherds,
other Christs, who would guide them to the Lord of Love. They find, instead,
thieves and robbers who come to steal and kill and destroy .
[4]
Let us not be afraid. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, must
indefectibly be the path and the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, the strong
foundation and the way open to all men. We have just read in the Gospel:
Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, so
that my house may be filled. [5]
But what is the Church? Where is the Church? Bewildered and disoriented,
many Christians do not find sure answers to these questions. And they come
to believe that perhaps the answers which the Magisterium has formulated
for centuries - and which good catechisms have proposed with the necessary
precision and simplicity - have now been superseded and must be
replaced by new ones. A series of facts and difficulties seem to have come
together to darken the bright countenance of the Church. Some maintain
that the valid Church can be found only in their personal zeal to accommodate
it to what they call modern times. Others cry out: the Church is
nothing more than man's desire for solidarity. We ought to change it, they
say, in accord with present circumstances.
They are wrong. The Church today is the same one Christ founded. It
cannot be any other. The Apostles and their successors are the vicars
of God with regard to the rule of the Church as instituted through faith
and with regard to the sacraments of the faith. Hence, just as it is not
lawful for them to constitute any other Church, so too it is not lawful
for them either to hand down any other faith or to institute any other
sacraments. Rather, the Church is said to have been built up with the 'sacraments
which flowed from the side of Christ hanging on the Cross' [6]
The Church must be recognised by the four marks in the profession of faith
of one of the first Councils, as we pray in the Creed of the Mass: One,
holy, catholic and apostolic Church [7]
These are the essential properties of the Church, which are derived
from its nature as Christ intended it. And, being essential, they are also
marks, signs, which distinguish it from any other human gathering, even
though in the others the name of Christ may be pronounced.
A little more than a century ago, Pope Pius IX briefly summed up this
traditional teaching: The true Church of Christ is constituted and recognised,
by divine authority, in the four marks which in the creed we affirm as
to be believed. And each of these marks is so united with the others that
it cannot be separated from them. For this reason, that which truly is
catholic and is called Catholic should at the same time shine forth by
the prerogatives of unity, of holiness and of apostolic succession. [8]
It is, I emphasize, the traditional teaching of the Church, which the Second
Vatican Council has repeated again, even though in recent years some may
have forgotten it, led by a false ecumenism. This is the sole Church
of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic,
which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral
care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it, and
which he raised up for all ages as the pillar and mainstay of the truth.
[9]
That they may be one, even as we are one , [10]
Christ cries out to his Father; that they may all be one; even as thou,
Father, art in me and I in thee; that they also may be in us. [11]
This exhortation to unity flows in a constant stream from the lips of Jesus,
for every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city
or house divided against itself will stand. [12]
It is a teaching which is converted into a vehement desire: And I have
other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they
will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock one shepherd. [13]
What beautiful tones Our Lord uses to express this doctrine! He multiplies
words and images so that we may understand it, so that this passion for
unity may remain engraved on our souls. I am the true vine and
my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit,
he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it
may bear more fruit . . . Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless
you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in
me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you
can do nothing. [14]
Do you not see how those who separate themselves from the Church, even
though they are full of foliage, quickly dry up, and their very fruits
are converted into a living bed of worms? Love the holy, roman, apostolic
Church. One! For as Saint Cyprian writes: He who reaps elsewhere, outside
the Church, dissipates the Church of Christ. [15]
And Saint John Chrysostom insists: Do not separate yourself from the
Church Nothing is stronger than the Church Your hope is the Church; your
salvation is the Church; your refuge is the Church It is higher than the
heavens, and broader than the earth; it never grows old, its vigour is
eternal. [16]
To defend the unity of the Church is to live very united to Jesus Christ
who is our vine. How? By growing in fidelity to the perennial Magisterium
of the Church: For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of
Peter not that they should manifest a new doctrine by his revelation, but
rather that with his assistance, they should religiously safeguard and
faithfully teach the revelation that was handed down through the Apostles
- the deposit of faith [17] By venerating
this Mother of ours without stain, and loving the Roman Pontiff, we will
preserve unity.
Some say that few men are left in the Church. I would say that if all
of us loyally safeguarded Christ's doctrine, our numbers would grow considerably,
since God wants his house to be filled. In the Church we discover Christ,
who is the Love of our loves. And we should desire for all men our vocation,
this intimate joy which intoxicates the soul, the limpid sweetness of the
merciful heart of Jesus.
One hears it said that we must be ecumenical. So be it. Nevertheless
I fear that behind some self-styled ecumenical activities there is a hidden
fraud: for they are activities which do not lead to the love of Christ,
to the true vine. For that reason they lack fruit. I ask Our Lord each
day to expand my heart, that he may continue to supernaturalize the love
he has put in my soul for all men, without distinction of race, nationality,
cultural condition or wealth. I sincerely esteem all men, Catholics or
not, those who do believe in something and those who do not. I feel sorry
for these unbelievers. But Christ founded only one Church: he has only
one Spouse.
The union of all Christians? Yes. Even more: the union of all those
who believe in God. But there exists only one true Church. There is no
need to rebuild it out of pieces dispersed throughout the world, and it
does not need to go through any sort of purification in order to be finally
cleansed. The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous, for she is incorruptible
and pure. Only one house knows and safeguards the inviolability of only
one bridal bed with chaste modesty. She preserves us for God, she destines
for the kingdom the children she has begotten. Anyone who separates himself
from the Church unites himself with an adulterer; he leaves behind the
promises of the Church and he who abandons the Church of Christ will not
achieve the rewards of Christ. [18]
Now we can understand better how the unity of the Church leads to her
holiness, and how one of the principal aspects of her holiness is that
unity centred on the mystery of the one and triune God. There is one
body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call; one Lord one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of us
all, who is above all and through all and in all. [19]
Holiness means none other than union with God; a greater intimacy with
the Lord, more sanctity. The Church has been willed and founded by Christ,
who carries out in this way the will of the Father; the Spouse of the Son
is assisted by the Holy Spirit. The Church is the work of the Blessed Trinity;
she is holy and our mother, our Holy Mother the Church. We can admire in
the Church one perfection which we could call original, and another final,
eschatological. Saint Paul refers to both of them in his letter to the
Ephesians. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that
he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish
[20]
The original and constitutive holiness of the Church can be hidden -
but never destroyed since it is indefectible: The powers of death shall
not prevail against it. [21] It can
be veiled from human eyes, as I was saying, in certain moments of obscurity,
which can become almost universal. But Saint Peter applies to Christians
the title of gens sancta, [22] a
holy nation. And being members of a holy nation, all the faithful have
received a call to holiness, and they must strive to correspond to grace
and to be personally holy. Throughout history and now as well, there have
been so many Catholics who have truly sanctified themselves: young and
old, single and married, priests and lay people, men and women.
But it happens that the personal sanctity of so many faithful - then
and now - is not something externally apparent. Frequently we do not recognise
the ordinary people, common and holy, who work and live alongside us. From
an earthly viewpoint, what stands out most is sin and unfaithfulness: these
are more conspicuous.
Gens sancta, a holy nation, composed of creatures with infirmities.
This apparent contradiction marks an aspect of the mystery of the Church.
The Church, which is divine, is also human, for it is made up of men, and
men have their defects: Omnes homines terra et cinis , [23]
we men are dust and ashes.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who founded the holy Church, expects the members
of this people to strive continually to acquire sanctity. Not all respond
loyally to his call. And in the spouse of Christ, at one and the same time,
both the marvel of the way of salvation and the miseries of those who take
up that way are visible.
It was one and the same purpose - namely, that of perpetuating on
this earth the salutary work of the redemption which caused the divine
Redeemer to give the community of human beings, founded by him, the constitution
of a society perfect in its own order, provided with all the juridical
and social elements ... If something is perceived in the Church which points
to the infirmity of our human condition, this is not to be attributed to
her juridical constitution, but to the lamentable tendency of individuals
toward evil, a tendency which her divine Founder suffers to exist even
in the higher members of his Mystical Body, for the testing of the virtue
of both flock and pastors, and for the greater merit of Christian faith
in all. [24]
This is the reality of the Church here and now. For this reason the
holiness of the spouse of Christ is compatible with the existence in her
bosom of individuals with defects. Christ did not will sinners to be
excluded from the society he had founded; if therefore some members are
spiritually infirm, this is no reason for lessening our love toward the
Church, but rather for increasing our compassion toward her members. [25]
It would be a sign of very little maturity if, in view of the defects
and miseries in any of those who belong to the Church (no matter how high
they may be placed by virtue of their function) , anyone should feel his
faith in the Church and in Christ lessened. The Church is not governed
by Peter, nor by John, nor by Paul; she is governed by the Holy Spirit,
and the Lord has promised that he will remain at her side always, to
the close of the age. [26]
Listen to what Saint Thomas Aquinas says, elaborating on this point.
He is speaking about receiving the sacraments, which are the cause and
sign of sanctifying grace: He who approaches the sacraments receives
the sacrament concerned from the minister of the Church not as such-and-such
an individual, but precisely as a minister of the Church. Hence so long
as the Church suffers him to remain in his ministry, one receiving a sacrament
from him does not share in his sin, but shares in the life of the Church
who publicly recognises him as minister. [27]
When the Lord permits human weakness to appear, our reaction ought to be
the same as if we were to see our mother ill or treated with disdain: to
love her all the more, to bestow on her a greater manifestation of affection,
both external and internal.
If we love the Church, there will never arise in us a morbid interest
in airing, as the faults of the Mother, the weaknesses of some of her children.
The Church, the spouse of Christ, does not have to intone any mea culpa
. But we do: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa . The only
true mea culpa is a personal one, not the one which attacks the
Church, pointing out and exaggerating the human defects which, in this
holy mother, result from the presence in her of men whose actions can go
far astray, but which can never destroy - nor even touch - that which we
call the original and constitutive holiness of the Church.
God our Lord has indeed compared the Church to the threshing floor where
the straw is piled together with the wheat from which will come bread for
the table and bread for the altar; he has compared the Church to a dragnet
ex omni genere piscium congreganti, [28]
which catches both good and bad fish, the bad ones of which are later thrown
away.
The mystery of the holiness of the Church - that pristine light which
can become obscured by the shadows of human baseness - rejects even the
slightest thought of suspicion, of doubt about the beauty of our mother.
Nor can we tolerate, without protesting, that others should insult her.
We cannot seek out in the Church vulnerable points in order to criticize
them, as some do who show thereby neither their faith nor their love. I
cannot conceive of anyone having true affection for his mother who speaks
of her with disdain.
Our Mother is holy, because she was born pure and will continue without
blemish for all eternity. If at times we are not able to perceive her fair
face, let us wipe clean our own eyes. If we are aware that her voice does
not please us, let us remove from our ears any hardness which prevents
us from hearing in her tone of voice the whistled beckoning of the loving
Shepherd. Our Mother is holy, with the holiness of Christ, to whom she
is united in body - which is all of us - and in spirit, which is the Holy
Spirit, dwelling also in the hearts of each one of us, if we remain in
the grace of God.
Holy, holy, holy, we dare sing to the Church, evoking a hymn in honour
of the Blessed Trinity. You are holy, O Church, my mother, because the
Son of God, who is holy, founded you. You are holy, because the Father,
source of all holiness, so ordained it. You are holy, because the Holy
Spirit, who dwells in the souls of the faithful, assists you, in order
to gather together the children of the Father, who will dwell in the Church
of heaven, the eternal Jerusalem.
God desires all men to be saved and to come to the konwledge of the
truth For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony
to which was borne at the proper time. [29]
Jesus Christ instituted only one Church. For this reason the spouse of
Christ is one and catholic: universal, for all men.
For many centuries now the Church has been spread throughout the world,
and it numbers persons of all races and walks of life. But the universality
of the Church does not depend on its geographical distribution, even though
this is a visible sign and a motive of credibility. The Church was catholic
already at Pentecost. It was born catholic from the wounded heart of Jesus,
as a fire which the Holy Spirit enkindled.
In the second century the Christians called the Church catholic in order
to distinguish it from the sects which, using the name of Christ, were
betraying his doctrine in one way or another. We call it catholic, writes
Saint Cyril, not because it is spread throughout the world, from one
extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and without defect
it teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, of both the visible
and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because it
draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and and those
who are ruled, the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because it cures
and makes healthy all lands of sins, whether of the soul or of the body,
possessing in addition - by whatever name it may be called - all the forms
of virtue, in deeds and in words and in every kind of spiritual gift. [30]
The catholicity of the Church does not depend either on whether or not
non-Catholics acclaim and acknowledge it. Nor does it have anything to
do with the fact that, in nonspiritual matters the opinions of some persons
in positions of authority in the Church are taken up - and at times exploited
- by those who fashion public opinion, when these churchmen have views
similar to theirs. It will often happen that the aspect of truth which
will be defended in any human ideology will find an echo or foundation
in the perennial teaching of the Church. This is, in a certain sense, a
sign of the divinity of the revelation which the Magisterium safeguards.
But the spouse of Christ is catholic, even when it is deliberately ignored
by many, and even abused and persecuted, as unfortunately happens in so
many places.
The Church is not a political party, nor a social ideology, nor a worldwide
organization for harmony or material progress, even though we recognise
the nobility of these and other activities. The Church has always undertaken
and undertakes today an immense work on behalf of the needy, of those who
suffer, of all those who bear in any way the consequences of the only true
evil, which is sin. And to all - to those who are in any way deprived and
to those who claim to enjoy the fulness of earthly goods - the Church comes
to confirm only one, essential, definitive truth: that our destiny is eternal
and supernatural, that only in Jesus Christ are we saved for all time,
and that only in him will we achieve in some way already in this life true
peace and happiness.
Ask God our Lord now, along with me, that we Catholics may never forget
these truths, and that we may resolve to put them into practice. The Catholic
Church does not need the approval of men, for it is the work of God.
We will show ourselves to be Catholics by the fruits of sanctity which
we produce, for sanctity does not admit of any frontiers, nor is it the
patrimony of any particular group. We will show ourselves to be Catholics
if we pray, if we strive to direct ourselves to God at all times, if we
make an effort always and in all things to be just - in the broadest sense
of the term justice, which is used frequently in these times with a materialistic
and erroneous connotation - if we love and defend the personal freedom
of other men.
I remind you also of another sign of the catholicity of the Church:
the faithful preservation and administration of the sacraments as they
were instituted by Jesus Christ, without human deformations or evil attempts
to interpret them psychologically or sociologically. For it is not for
one man to decide how another shall use what is under the latter's power
and authority. All he can decide is what is under his own power. Since,
therefore, human sanctification lies under the power of God who sanctifies,
it is not for man to decide of his own judgement which materials are to
be chosen for him to be sanctified by. This, rather, is something which
should be determined by divine institution. [31]
The attempt to take universality away from the essence of the sacraments
would perhaps be justified if it were only a matter of signs, of
symbols, which are subject to the natural laws of comprehension and understanding.
But the sacraments of the New Law are causes and signs at the same time.
Hence too it is that, as the usual formula puts it, they effect what they
figuratively express. And from this it is also clear that in them the essential
characteristics of a sacrament are perfectly fulfilled, inasmuch as they
are designed for something sacred in the sense not merely of being signs
of it but of being causes of it as well. [32]
The Catholic Church is roman. I savour that word, roman! I feel completely
roman, since roman means universal, catholic. For it leads me to love tenderly
the Pope, il dolce Cristo in terra, as Saint Catherine of
Siena, whom I count as a most beloved friend, liked to repeat.
From this catholic roman centre, Paul VI emphasised in the closing
stages of the Second Vatican Council, no one is, in theory, beyond reach;
all can and should be reached. For the Catholic Church, no one is a stranger,
no one is excluded, no one is to consider himself far away. [33]
I venerate with all my strength the Rome of Peter and Paul, bathed in the
blood of martyrs, the centre from which so many have set out to propagate
throughout the world the saving word of Christ. To be roman does not entail
any manifestation of provincialism, but rather of authentic ecumenism.
It presupposes the desire to enlarge the heart, to open it to all men with
the redemptive zeal of Christ, who seeks all men and takes in all men,
for he has loved all men first.
Saint Ambrose wrote a few words which comprise, as it were, a song of
joy: Where Peter is, there is the Church; and where the Church is, not
death, but eternal life reigns. [34]
For where Peter and the Church are, there Christ is; and he is salvation,
the only way.
Our Lord founded the Church on the weakness - but also on the fidelity
- of a few men, the Apostles, to whom he promised the constant assistance
of the Holy Spirit. Let us read again the well-known text, which is ever
new and up-todate. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you
always, to the close of the age. [35]
The preaching of the Gospel does not arise in Palestine through the
personal initiative of a few fervent individuals. What could the Apostles
do? They were nothing in their time. From a human point of view they were
neither rich nor learned, nor heroes. Jesus places on the shoulders of
a handful of disciples an immense, divine task: You did not choose
me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit
and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in
my name, he may give it to you. [36]
Through two thousand years of history, the apostolic succession has
been preserved in the Church. The bishops, declares the Council
of Trent, have succeeded in the place of the Apostles and are placed,
as the Apostle (Paul) himself says, by the Holy Spirit to rule the Church
of God (Acts 20:28) . [37] And, among
the Apostles, Christ himself made Simon the object of special attention.
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. [38]
I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have
turned again, strengthen your brethren. [39]
Peter moves to Rome and there establishes the see of primacy of the
Vicar of Christ. For this reason it is in Rome that the apostolic succession
is seen most clearly. And for this reason Rome is called the apostolic
see by antonomasia. The First Vatican Council proclaimed, with the words
of a prior council, that of Florence: All the faithful of Christ must
believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possess primacy
over the whole world, and that the same Roman Pontiff is the successor
of blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and true vicar of Jesus Christ,
and head of all the Church, and father and teacher of all Christians; and
that to him was given by Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the person of blessed
Peter, full power to feed, rule and govern the universal Church [40]
The supreme power of the Roman Pontiff and his infallibility, when he
speaks ex cathedra, are not human inventions. They are based on
the explicit foundational will of Christ. How foolish it is, then, to confront
the government of the Pope with that of the bishops, or to reduce the validity
of the pontifical Magisterium to the consent of the faithful! Nothing is
more foreign to it than a balance of powers; human moulds of thought do
not help us, no matter how attractive or functional they may be. No one
in the Church enjoys absolute power by himself, as man. In the Church there
is no leader other than Christ. And Christ constituted a vicar of his -
the Roman Pontiff - for his wayfaring spouse on earth.
The Church is apostolic by constitution. That which truly is and
is called catholic, should stand out at one and the same time by the prerogatives
of unity, holiness and apostolic succession. In that way, the Church is
one, with a clear and perfect unity of the whole world and all nations,
with that unity of which the principle, root and indefectible origin is
the supreme authority and most excellent primacy of blessed Peter, prince
of the Apostles, and his successors in the Roman See. And there is no other
Catholic Church, but that one which, built on the one Peter, rises up on
the unity of the faith and on charity in one unique body, joined together
and compact. [41]
We help to make that apostolic continuity more evident in the eyes of
all men by demonstrating with exquisite fidelity our union with the Pope,
which is union with Peter. Love for the Roman Pontiff must be in us a delightful
passion, for in him we see Christ. If we deal with the Lord in prayer,
we will go forward with a clear gaze that will permit us to perceive the
action of the Holy Spirit, even in the face of events we do not understand
or which produce sighs or sorrow.
The Church sanctifies us after we enter into her bosom through baptism.
Newly born into natural life, we can already take refuge in sanctifying
grace. The faith of one person, even more, the faith of the whole Church,
benefits the child through the action of the Holy Spirit, which gives unity
to the Church and communicates the goods of one another. [42]
This supernatural maternity of the Church, which the Holy Spirit confers,
is truly marvellous. Spiritual rebirth which is brought about by baptism
is in some way similar to bodily birth. Just as children in the womb of
their mothers do not feed themselves, but rather are nourished from the
sustenance of the mother, so also the little ones who do not have the use
of reason and are like children in the womb of their mother the Church,
receive salvation through the action of the Church and not by themselves.
[43]
The priestly power of the Church, which proceeds directlyfrom Christ,
stands out in all its greatness. Christ is the source of every priesthood:
for the priesthood of the Old Law was as its figure: but the priesthood
of the New Law acts in the person of Christ, as is written in 2 Cor (2:10)
: What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your
sake in the person of Christ. [44]
The saving mediation between God and man is perpetuated in the Church
through the sacrament of Holy Orders, which gives to men the power - through
sacramental character and consequent graces - to act as ministers of Jesus
Christ on behalf of all souls. That one person can carry out an act
that another cannot does not stem from a difference of goodness or malice,
but from an acquired power, which one possesses and the other does not.
Therefore, since the layman does not receive the power to consecrate, he
cannot bring about the consecration, no matter what his personal goodness
may be. [45]
In the Church there is a diversity of ministries, but there is only
one aim: the sanctification of men. And in this task all Christians participate
in some way, through the character imprinted by the sacraments of baptism
and confirmation. We must all feel responsible for the mission of the Church,
which is the mission of Christ. He who does not have zeal for the salvation
of souls, he who does not strive with all his strength to make the name
and doctrine of Christ known and loved, will not understand the apostolicity
of the Church.
A passive Christian has failed to understand what Christ wants from
all of us. A Christian who goes his own way, unconcerned about the
salvation of others, does not love with the heart of Jesus. Apostolate
is not a mission reserved for the hierarchy, priests and religious. The
Lord calls all of us to be, with our example and word, instruments of the
stream of grace which springs up to eternal life.
Whenever we read the Acts of the Apostles, we are moved by the audacity,
the confidence in their mission, and the sacrificing joy of the disciples
of Christ. They do not ask for multitudes. Even though the multitudes come,
they address themselves to each particular soul, to each man, one by one.
Philip, to the Ethiopian; [46] Peter, to
the centurion; [47] Paul, to Sergius Paulus.
[48]
They have learned from the Master. Remember the parable of the labourers
who awaited work in the middle of the marketplace of the village? When
the owner of the vineyard went out, already late in the day, he found that
there were still labourers standing idle. Why do you stand here idle
all day? Because no one has hired us , [49]
they answered. This should not happen in the life of a Christian. No one
should be found around him who can assert that he has not heard of Christ
because no one has bothered to tell him.
Men often think that nothing prevents them from leaving God out of their
lives. They deceive themselves. Though they may not know it, they are stretched
out like the paralytic at the pool of Bethsaida - unable to move towards
the waters which save, towards the doctrine which puts joy into the soul.
So often the blame lies with Christians. The lame and sick of soul could
repeat: hominem non habeo, [50] I
do not have even one person to help me. Every Christian should be an apostle,
because God, who does not need anyone, nevertheless needs us. He counts
on us to dedicate ourselves to propagating his saving doctrine.
We are contemplating the mystery of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church. It is time to ask ourselves: Do I share with Christ his zeal for
souls? Do I pray for the Church of which I form part, in which I must carry
out a specific mission which no one else can do for me? To be in the Church
is already much, but it is not enough. We must be the Church, because
our Mother must never be a stranger to us, something external, foreign
to our deepest thoughts.
Let us conclude our consideration of the marks of the Church. With the
help of the Lord they will become engraved on our souls, and we will be
confirmed by this clear, sure, divine criterion in order to love more this
holy mother, who has brought us to the life of grace and who nourishes
us, day by day, with inexhaustible care.
If by chance you hear offensive words or shouts hurled against the Church,
show their loveless authors, with humanity and charity, that they cannot
mistreat a mother in that way. They attack her now with impunity, because
her kingdom which is that of her Master and Founder, is not of this world.
As long as the wheat groans among the straw, as long as the spikes of
wheat sigh among the cockle, as long as the vessels of mercy lament among
those of ire, as long as the lily sobs among the thorns, there will always
be enemies who say: when will she die and her name perish? They think there
will come a time in which the Church will disappear and there will be no
more Christians ... But, when they say this, they of necessity die. And
the Church remains. [51]
No matter what happens, Christ will not abandon his spouse. The Church
triumphant is already with him at the right hand of the Father. And our
Christian brothers beckon us to join them there, they who glorify God for
this reality which we still see in the clear shadow of faith: the one,
holy, catholic and apostolic Church.