Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”

In Tobit 13 the author, speaking of Jerusalem, the holy city, voices the hope that “Within you the Lord may comfort every exile, and within you God may love all those who are distressed for all generations to come.”  Jerusalem is often a picture or foreshadowing of what the Church should be. Many images of the Church could profitably be replaced with the one given here: a place where the exiled, the distressed in any way, the suffering and oppressed, the poor and ignored, would find care and compassion. Wouldn't it be a lot better to see it that way or, to use Pope Francis’ term, as a “field hospital” than as another large corporation, bureaucracy or power structure?

Despite all the theoretical definitions that are given for the Church, in reality it becomes what we, its members, make it to be or allow it to be. We still have a way to go in overcoming the definition, given by in the nineteenth century, of the church as an organization of bishops and priests to which lay people may belong. The quotation above suggests an attractive vision of the church as the place where the love and forgiveness of Jesus are continued and shown in flesh-and-blood individuals. Francis echoes this: "The Church must be a place of mercy, freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the gospel."

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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