The Church

Yesterday, I wrote about the necessity of asking for the living water that Jesus promised to give, and about allowing Him to cleanse us from all sin, preparing us for communion with God as a bride prepares to meet her husband.  So, what part does the church play in this intimate union of the soul with God?

From the beginning, every single person in the church was a convert, either from Judaism or from paganism.  Every single person was a "first-generation" Christian.  The stories of each one's conversion, and how it came about, were the "resources" and the strength of the church.  Each story strengthened the faith of other believers.  In the Acts of the Apostles, the story of Paul's conversion and the story of the Roman centurian Cornelius had to electrify both Jews and pagans.  Surely, the stories were told and re-told, of God's amazing action on the part of unbelievers.

Even in the days of St.Augustine, (354-430 A.D.), when it was still somewhat dangerous to convert to Catholicism, the stories of the conversion of Anthony of the Desert, and of Augustine's close friends inspired and moved Augustine closer to the truth.  And finally, his own conversion story was told over and over to his friends, making them at first wonder and then themselves move toward conversion.

The church, ideally, is the gathering of all those who have experienced the action of God, the stirring of the Holy Spirit, and finally the surrender to Christ in their own hearts.  The stories of how God has acted on our behalf should be told and re-told; for one, it was the inspiration to pick up the Bible and begin reading, as for Augustine.  For others, it was the story of a friend's conversion that changed their hearts.  For others, the answer to a heart-felt prayer, and so on.  Our stories lead us forward, closer to God, enabling us to trust Him more.  Or they strengthen the faith of others who have also experienced the grace and action of God on their behalf.  We 'gather" to hear and to share our stories, matching them to the stories of the Bible, which then take on greater meaning for us.

The Church preserves for us the stories of the past, of how God has acted throughout history, from the time of Genesis forward.  The church preserves for us the Oracles of God, the commandments and instructions passed down to holy men who desired to hear His Word.  And the church preserves for us the written word, the Bible, in its final and edited form-- just as Judaism today carefully preserves the Torah and the Haf-torah in the Arks of its synagogues. 

When we hear the word of the Lord, we are encouraged, ennobled, and enabled to believe that what God has done in the past, He will again do for us today. We hear the stories; our hearts are stirred by the Holy Spirit, and we cry out "Abba, Father!"  With that cry, the Word takes root in our hearts, and we dare to believe that God is with us as He was with Moses, with Abraham, and with all the saints.

Yahweh carried the infant Israel through the desert for 40 years.  Their shoes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.  He fed them manna and slaked their thirst with water from the Rock.  Can we not believe He will do the same for us?  If we cannot believe because of their stories, perhaps we can believe because of the stories of our contemporaries.  When the woman at the well went into her village, the people came out to see Jesus for themselves, finally telling her, "At first, we believed because of what you had said, but now we have heard for ourselves the words of everlasting life."

This is the church -- the gathering of those whose bonds have been broken, who have been set free from the chains of sin, who are being cleansed daily by the washing of water with the Word and the action of the Holy Spirit.  Each sacrament brings us into contact with the Living Christ, Who acts on our behalf, Who leads us through the desert of our own lives, and Who feeds us with the Living Water of the Holy Spirit and with His own Body and Blood for nourishment. 

It is regrettable that we are no longer the church of converts, but of second-third- and 18th- generation Catholics who have never heard or who have forgotten the stories of the past.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is not confined by our cultural realities; He is still alive and active today in the hearts of those who want to know God, and the stories are still there for those who wish to hear them.