Why Church?

Catherine of Siena, (1347-1380), twenty-fourth of twenty five children, reared in a poor but devout Catholic family in an age of class feuds and religious wars. At the age of seven she vowed her virginity to God, at fifteen she cut off her hair in defiance of her parent's efforts to see her married. At eighteen she became a Dominican nun and began to live in solitude and silence going out of her room only for mass.

At 21, she returned to her family and spend her life helping the poor, serving as a nurse in homes and hospitals. Even though her fame spread from poor beggars to powerful popes, she managed to maintain a deep interior life of silence and devotion to God. Catherine was called upon to help settle political disputes and social unrest until her death in 1380. The Catholic church granted her the title, "Doctor of the Church."

In her "The Dialogue" she gives her glimpse of the importance of Church in the spiritual jurney:

"...And the hostelry of holy Church is there to serve the bread of life and blood lest the journeying pilgrims, my creatures, grow weary and faint on the way..."

(From Devotional Classics, Foster/Smith)

Most of my experiences with any type of church have fallen short of this goal. Is it attainable? Is it worth working towards? Perhaps. But only when each of us - me -- start asking the question, "what can I do to bring this reality to bear?" will we be able to make this vision a reality.

That question can stop each of us in our tracks and force the attention to be about what we individually can contribute to creating this for others. Perhaps we spend too much time in designing grand plans to "reach" people, when the people are all around us, we simply must pick up the work and do it, each as we know how, each as we can. No other way really works, I think. It seems so simple and yet we are so bad at it.