By M. ELIZABETH GILLSON
The phone rang a few minutes after six last Saturday. We were in the middle of dinner preparations, but it was my sister who gets to the point quickly, so I answered.
“I just got out of Mass, and the priest said in his homily, ‘Let’s all take a minute and pray to God for the people of Ukraine. Ask him, or her, to protect them. And if you don’t feel like prayer is really working, then just send them good vibes’.”
“Oh dear. And this is the same parish where the priest compared the COVID vaccine to Baptism because it’s a promise of new life?”
Christ’s line, “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on Earth?” used to perplex me. How could Jesus say that? For two thousand years, Christians have been fed to lions, set on fire, crucified, beheaded, imprisoned, yet the faith has endured and spread. Indeed, the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” However, in recent years, His question has resonated with me.
What if the Church were persecuted from within? What if the servants of God, themselves, were the cause of the Church’s suffering? What if priests laid their anointed hands on innocent children? And the shepherds of the flock protected evildoers? What if the princes of the Church embezzled funds, engaged in unnatural relationships, and plotted against the faithful among them? What if priests, bishops, and even the Pope, sowed confusion and mistrust about eternal truths, and celebrated Masses that resembled the circus, and brought pagan statues into the sanctuary? Then what? Would people hold fast, would there be faith on Earth?
I don’t know. I can only attest to why I still believe and practice, despite many and grave injuries and disappointments.
I know a lot of brave, devoted priests who are distraught over their brother priests’ words and actions. They gave up the comfort and joy of wife and children to serve the Church. They suffer deeply because the liturgy is debased, and bishops do not defend orthodoxy, and their fellow priests’ actions move people to look on them as predators.
I do not personally know any bishops, but I have witnessed courageous bishops proclaiming the truth “in season and out of season.” They conduct the liturgy with reverence, and demand the same of their priests. They commit diocesan resources to removing predators, and they allow the light of truth to bring justice and healing to a suffering Church. I pray for these men, because not only does the world hate them, but so do many associated with the Church.
The witness of faithful priests and bishops inspires me, and I am told that the perseverance of Catholic families inspires the clergy. They say that despite our flaws and brokenness, faithful families who drag their kids to Mass and Confession, who accept the financial, emotional, and physical burden of several children, and who fight with all their power to keep the evils of the world from entering the sanctuary of their homes, give meaning to the life of the priest.
Community is fundamental to faith in God, not only because we encourage and inspire each other, but because God reveals Himself and saves humanity by means of the community. Humans are social creatures, and the God who made us that way bestows the gift of faith, and nourishes it through a social structure, the Church.
Vatican II documents speak of the Church as the “People of God.” Even before the coming of Jesus Christ, God called and formed a People — the Israelites. He revealed Himself to mediators — Abraham, Jacob, David, Moses, the prophets — who then witnessed to Him before their community. When the Eternal Son, took flesh, he was born and “grew in wisdom and grace” within the community of God’s Chosen People. While on Earth, by word and deed, Jesus assembled a community around Himself.
The Gospels tell the story of this nascent Church. Though crowds frequently assembled around Him, He called particular men to accompany Him and follow Him throughout His ministry. Knowing that “He was returning to God” (John 13:3), Christ “appointed twelve, whom also He named apostles, to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach” (Mark 3:16). Just as God had established the 12 tribes of Israel, Christ chose the 12 apostles “to be his witnesses, in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
To carry out this mission, Christ promised to send “another Advocate to be with [them] always, the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17), who would “teach [them] everything and remind [them] of all that [he] told [them]” (John 14:26). The synoptic Gospels end with Jesus renewing the promise of the Spirit, commissioning the apostles, and assuring His Church, “I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20).
From among the twelve, Jesus established Peter as primarily responsible to care for Christ’s flock and to strengthen the other apostles (John 21:15-19, Luke 22:32). Christ commissioned him, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19). The Gospel of John ends with Jesus reminding Peter, that though he has been given charge, Christ is Lord, and His will determines the direction of the Church. He reiterates the command to Peter, “Follow me!” (John 21:19, 22).
When Christ returns, will His Church exist on Earth? If our faith is in Jesus — His saving words, deeds, and presence in the Church, and if we recognize that despite the clergy being weak men, the Spirit guides the Church, then we may keep faith, and when Christ returns, go out to welcome Him.
(M. Elizabeth Gillson is a wife and mother. She and her husband of 25 years are raising their 10 children in the Diocese of Arlington, Va. She holds a master’s degree in theology. Her writings reflect on Sacred Scripture and the response of faith to the contemporary culture.)
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