Catholics often like to complain about the state of the Church. We lament the lukewarmness of some of the faithful, the rigidity or laxity of the Church’s pastors, the abuses committed within her, the discord among the assembly of believers, and many other problems. The reality we see is often a stark contrast to the escatological vision of the bride of Christ offered in today’s first reading from Revelation 21, that of the new Jerusalem, radiant and beautiful with the splendor of God.
Yet the contrast between the reality we see and the vision we desire should not be a cause for despair. Rather, it is an invitation to faith and to hope. The vision of Revelation is that of the Church Triumphant, which even now exists in a heavenly reality. We can hope to join in the reality of this vision one day, and we can pray that the earthly Church be made to look more like its heavenly model. Here on earth, however, we live in the reality of the Church Militant, which the Holy Father has described as a “field hospital”; hence, we should not be scandalized by the messiness we find in the Church. Instead, we are challenged to persevere in the knowledge that Christ himself is the one who makes His Church into the spotless bride she is called to be.
Today, then, let us examine our own attitude toward the Church, asking for the grace to love her even in her messiness and to persevere in hope.