THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH

May 22, 2009

Some hearts are anxious because they don't know what the future holds for them, for society, or for the Church. Let us consider the Church’s future.

It is ultimately in God's hands, but in virtue of the freedom God has given us, it is to a large extent also in ours, who are its members. The question, then, is: What will we do to make the Church of tomorrow one that is energetically one, holy, catholic, and apostolic?

We should first understand that the Church is already present among us. It is a pure grace from God. Its basic nature is imprinted on it by our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a gift we should receive humbly and gratefully.

Second, we should realize that the Church is alive and constantly in need of renewal. It is like a beautiful, living plant that must be watered and weeded, nurtured and protected, in order to grow. It requires our commitment, work, and sacrifice.

Third, the Church is something to be handed on, a tradition that is not just a piece of the past dragged along into the present, but rather the truth and love of Christ received into the present and passed on into the future.

We have a sacred trust with Christ to keep the Church from error by keeping ourselves free from error, to keep the Church pure and holy by keeping ourselves pure and holy, to keep the Church
strong and vigorous in acts of service by ourselves living the Christian life in a strong and vigorous way.

We do not enter the Church simply to receive benefits, as if it were a club to be joined for the sake of the privileges of membership. We enter to give ourselves to Christ and to his work on earth. We enter to suffer and die to ourselves in Christ, and so to live a new life in him. We enter to represent the truth and compassion of Christ to others.

When we understand the Church as gift, task, and tradition to be handed on, we can begin to anticipate the future by trying to understand what God is giving us, what we must do, what we are to pass on to future generations.

We already know much about the Church of the future by our knowledge of the Church of today. For instance, the future Church will be a community of humble service that responds like Jesus did to human needs, both spiritual and material. It will be a Church that celebrates all God's gifts, most especially the gift of his son Jesus Christ, as our Savior. The Church will gather for the Mass and sacraments as the center of its life. It will be a Church that is serious about renouncing sin and pursuing the path of holiness. It will be a Church of compassion and mercy, which knows we need more than science and technology; we need human kindness. The Church will be a rainbow community that welcomes everyone, a place everyone can call home.

What we must do to make our dreams for the Church come true is to work now to renew our own faith, and renew our local parish community of faith.

If our dreams for the future of the Church are to come true, each of us must cultivate certain qualities that will enable us to receive the future Church as a gift, and to renew it as our task.

The Church's faithful will have to be just that ‑‑ faithful, faithful in their own lives to everything they should be and do as believers. Moreover, they will have to take active responsibility not just for themselves, but for the Church's life and mission as a whole. To do this, they will have to deepen their knowledge of their Church's teachings, and deepen their prayer life.

If the faithful lose the light of faith, they cannot be the light to the nations Christ has called his followers to be. If they lose touch with God working in their own interior due to a neglect of prayer, they will lose their taste for the work of the gospel and they will be like salt without savor.

If the members of the Church take these simple kinds of steps – trust that God will continue to protect and guide the Church; care for the Church as a beautiful flower; faithfully receive, live, and hand on the Church’s faith; keep ourselves free from error, renounce sin, and seek purity and holiness; see serve Christ by serving the life and mission of the Church; and speak and live in the truth -- we can be assured we will have left the Church stronger and more vibrant for the future than when we were received into it through baptism.

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 11-Jan-2010 8:22 sitemap