Nothing is more important than the Church.
Most Christians will agree that God should be our first priority – family our second. The Church is both. Nothing is more important than the Church.
“God is more important,” some will protest. God and the Church are one. To say that God is more important than the Church is like saying that a husband is more important than his wife. In truth, a husband is the head of his wife, but she is not his inferior. It is in the same way that Christ is the head of His Church (cf. Eph. 5:23). Only through the Church can you come to Christ.
“You’re idolizing a man-made institution,” others will accuse. The God-Man made the Church. His Body is the Church (cf. Col. 1:24). The Body of Jesus Christ is no idol.
The Church is God and family. It is God’s family. The Church makes bold to call God, “Father,” – even, “Abba” (Gal. 4:6). The Church is the children of God. The Church is God’s Son – Jesus, the Son of God. The Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus. As God the Son is to God the Father, so the Church is to God. The Church and God are one.
The Church is the Bride of Christ. As in marriage, the two are made one (cf. Eph. 5: 31- 32).
What is this Church? It is not the guy in the next pew – nor myself, a sinner. It is not the priest, nor the bishop, nor the pope. I do not worship men. It is not the saints nor the angels that I worship. I do not worship flesh and blood, but the awesome God. But this God I worship is in the angels and the saints. He is in men. He is in the pope, the bishop, and the priest. He is in the guy in the next pew. And He is in me, a sinner. And all these are in God, too.
God is in the Church and the Church is in God. “There is no salvation outside the Church.”
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5 comments:
Welcome to bloging! Hope to read some good stuff here. :)
You write wonderfully, John, and I'm very happy to add you to my daily reading list. Your expression of the church in this latest post was clear and rationale, even while expressing a mystical truth. This combination of reason and mysticism is a rare thing--except perhaps in the reality of the Church itself.
I am adding this blog to my list of links.
I protest you not mentioning that the Church is not a man made institution. :)
Welcome oh font of church trivia. Remember playing stump the Catholic?
:) You're on my list.
-Andrea
stargazershaven.blogspot.com
What is stump the Catholic? And can I play?
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