Church: Conform or Reform? (Bulletin Article: 3-17-13)

                 Amidst the excitement of the conclave and election of our new Holy Father (which I hope we have by the time you read this!) I have heard a consistent desire from the secular world for us: the Church needs to get with the times.

                  Really?

                  Stop and think—would it actually be a good thing for our Church to “get with” our society?  Remember our society has taken God out of public places and schools, accepts abortion (while seeking justice for the environment), glamorizes infidelity, neglects the poor, encourages individualism and lives by its own golden rule—“He who has the most gold makes the rules”.  Open up any newspaper or watch any news broadcast and ask—is THIS what our Church should conform to? 

                  Shouldn’t it be the other way around? 

      In dark times like these I am so grateful for the gift of the Church.  God has given us the Mystical Body of Christ, not to conform with culture, but to transcend and transform culture.  Imagine if every individual in our society lived according to the two great commandments—to love God above all and (the real Golden Rule) our neighbor as ourselves.  The Church, like the North Star, is a reference point for us to follow that shines above the world in which we may find ourselves lost.  And in a sense, we SHOULD feel lost in our worldly society.  Remember our Lord’s warning: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 17:19). 

      Admittedly, the transcendent Church must always evangelize in a particular time, place and culture.  Thus it is good to speak through the languages and traditions of many different cultures.  And the Church HAS examined such questions in the best way possible—through the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II.  Anyone questioning the Church in relationship to the modern world ought to read about this Council and the writings produced therein. 

                 As we welcome our new Holy Father we thank God for the gift of His Church to us all.  We praise Him for this, our anchor to reality and guide to life, as we strive to live in but not of our world.