The Church

“If you say that the history of the Church is a long succession of scandals, you are telling the truth, though if that is all you say, you are distorting the truth.” ~Gerald Vann, British Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher (1906 – 1963)


“What do you mean by THE CHURCH?” snarled the Deacon to my left. “I guess I mean Church with a big ‘C’” I responded rather timidly. “Shocked” would be the word which described my state of mind however. Teresa and I were attending our monthly Deacon Deanery meeting. We were in the midst of a contemplative reflection on John 21*…or so I thought. The concept is simple enough. The scripture passage is read aloud then, those who feel moved to do so, share whatever comes to mind. (*John 21: The Miraculous Catch of Fish)

Leaning on some recent reading, I had suggested Peter’s fishing boat could be seen as a symbol for “the church” and the turning of the boat toward Jesus on the shore indicated the importance of keeping “the church” focused in the direction of Christ. I had also thrown in some choice factoids regarding the symbolism of the “153 fish” in the catch and that Peter “throws on clothes” before entering the water. Admittedly, I was showing off a little.

“We all know the symbolism in the story”, grumped the Deacon. “But I’ve got people in my office everyday complaining about the Church.” “The Church is in trouble…” His rant continued.

It would not be unusual for someone to ask a clarifying question during a scripture meditation, but a confrontational diatribe is a bit like bringing a hand gun to a garden party. I put on my best conciliatory smile and listened, though I admit, not very attentively. Several times I tried to interject an explanation, but it didn’t really matter what I said. The script for the lecture we were receiving had undoubtedly been fixed in the Deacon’s mind before he arrived that evening. I had simply made myself a convenient target by trying to demonstrate my scriptural prowess. Finally… he was finished.

The meeting broke up shortly thereafter. As we headed for the parking lot I grumbled under my breath “This is the last one of these meetings I’m going to attend.” Teresa just smiled and patted me on the back. That’s her code for, “Yes Dear.”

“What do we mean when we refer to “the church”? When we complain about “the church” who or what do we identify as “the church”? Undoubtedly, to many of us, “the church” is in Rome or, no closer than the Archdiocesan Offices in downtown LA. We institutionalize the church believing it is represented by the guys in pointy hats, red beanies and black suits with backwards collars. However, as stewards of “the faith” we are, for all intents and purposes, stewards of “the church” as well. In other words, “we are the church”. Vatican II said as much.

Regardless of how one defines “the Church” our church is currently being severely criticized and not without provocation or precedence. For most of its 2000 year history, the Church has been in conflict. We have experienced periods of great persecution and confrontation. Surprisingly, the times of great persecution have also been times of great evangelization. Look at the first 300 years of Christianity.

While today’s institutional church fights press releases with press releases…trading punches with the media like a couple of heavyweight boxers, how do we, as the stewards of the faith, respond? The perfunctory response would be to “circle the wagons” to protect ourselves from attack. We envision this as a war and we are under siege. So we turn inward in an attempt to defend ourselves…to protect ourselves

In point of fact, our response should be quite the opposite. Taking our queue from Christ we must turn ourselves outward and open ourselves to the world. Christ never defended himself. Our principle image of Him is nearly naked, arms outstretched, nailed to a cross…defenseless, vulnerable. If we are to see our current state of affairs for the gift that it is…we must acknowledge it is an opportunity to reform and renew, to go deeper in our faith. Only then can we return this gift to God with increase, but we can not do so from a protectionist posture.

Closed, fisted hands can neither give nor receive. We must open ourselves compassionately to the world allowing it to engage us…to experience our faith at street level. Society can not see into our churches. Society can only see those of us who come out into the light of the world. We can ill afford to allow our church to be defined by the 6:00 news. Therefore, we need to “stop doing church and start being the church” (Albert L. Winseman).

In our very secularized culture our lives may be the only scripture others read or the only homily some people hear. Our behaviors may be the only liturgy they experience. Only 28% of the American population is Catholic, so we may well be the only version of Catholicism the general populace will ever encounter, except for the New York Times…scary thought.

Christ does not call us to be protectionists, but evangelists. This time of confrontations and sometimes persecution is a time for evangelization. Evangelization is not about indoctrination, it is about conversation. We are not called to educate but to demonstrate. To be stewards of our faith we must begin by being present to our faith in the world as well as in our churches. Our lives are our best advertisement.

Jesus stumbled and fell often on his way to Calvary only to be ultimately resurrected. As the face of Christ to our communities we must come to expect that we too will stumble and fall on the way to our reward. There is no reason to believe otherwise. St Paul reminds us that all things are possible through Christ; but he never said things would be easy.

Dear God: Help me to make my life a homily.


“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.” ~Bridget Willard, contemporary American author


© 2010 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.

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