7th Sunday of Easter

 

The Creed Pt. 4

What is the Church??

Is it a building?

Is it an Institution?

Is it a community of believers?

A herald of the Gospel?

At the Council of Nicea in 325 the bishops tried to explain what Church is.

First They said it was One.

While we are many parts,

We are all One Body in Christ.

Sometimes however in the body,

the heart desires one thing,

And the mind something else.

And so the body is sometimes divided in itself.

The Church also has many parts,

That don’t always agree.

Are we a source of unity or division in the Church?

In the Parish?

In spite of those differences

We are One Body, One Body in Christ!

The Church is also Holy.

At times the Church appears “all too human.”

But We should not be discouraged when we or others in the Church fall short.

For no matter what, the gates of hell will not prevail.

It is not however enough just to be good.

Each one of us is called to be Holy as God is Holy. 1Pt. 1-5

The key to holiness is to hunger for it.

For blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Holiness,

For they will be satisfied. Mt. 5:6

The Church is Catholic!

The word Catholic means Universal.

The Church includes every race, language and culture.

Rich and poor;

Democrat and Republican.

Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes.

He loved His enemies;

And associated with the poor and lowly.

With Jew and Gentile.

If we are truly Catholic then we too should eat with sinners.

Love our enemies;

And associate with the poor and lowly.

With those “outside of our group.”

Love and Forgiveness is Catholic;

A Universal gift given to everyone.

The Church is Apostolic!

We all have a family tree whereby we can trace our roots and where we came from.

So does the Church.

She can trace her family tree all the way back to Apostles.

This is most evident in that the remains of all 12 Apostles

are found in Roman Catholic Churches throughout the world.

But it is not enough to be part of the tree.

To be truly Apostolic one must continue

To be Faithful to what has gone before,

And to bear fruit so that the tree can continue.

Each one of us is part of that tree whose roots go back to the Apostles.

But how Faithful are and do we bear fruit?

When we say that we believe in

One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,

We are not just talking about the Church in Rome

But also the one right here in which we are sitting.

God Bless