We hear the calls coming from secular society, the media, politicians and confused Catholics about the direction the Church needs to go in. She must open up and allow the laity to help decide moral issues, must allow women priests, embrace homosexuality and catch up with the times on issues like contraception, abortion and every other new trendy pursuit.
These people don't understand the nature of Holy Mother Church, but luckily the Holy Father wasted no time this morning in his first homily as Pope in reminding us about exactly what the Church's mission is.
"We can walk all we want, we can build many things, but if we don't proclaim Jesus Christ, something is wrong. We would become a compassionate NGO and not a Church which is the bride of Christ...He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil. When we don't proclaim Jesus Christ, we proclaim the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of the demon."
That is, The Church is not simply a worldly charitable organization, subject to the whims and tastes of a majority of it's human members, conforming it's positions to whatever current socially acceptable practices it sees around it. It is the Bride of Christ and at the same time His Mystical Body, with the sole purpose of leading souls to Heaven, by teaching them His laws. It is accountable to and guided by God and God only.
Her Priests are not glorified social workers, striving to conform to whatever debauchery and societal ills their flock is engaging in so that they don't offend them. They are men who take the place of Christ at The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, uniting us, His Bride, with Him. Their mission is to feed us Christ's Body and Blood, forgive our sins in His name and to guide us to Heaven to be with Him.
As Pope Francis says, we are called to be holy. We are called to seek Christ first. When we don't do this, we are cooperating with the Evil One.
The Church has a clear social mission, and the Holy Father has provided us with a wonderful example of how this works. Regardless of whether or not a person is a sinner, we are commanded by Our Blessed Lord to minister to that person's needs. We are not, however, to enable that person in their sins, by refusing to condemn them. Christ told us to love our neighbor. When we love some one, we want to provide them with food and clothes, but also we want to help free them from the slavery of sin. We want them to be happy with Jesus in Heaven forever. When we refuse to do this, we aren't doing them any favors, and are in fact, proclaiming "the worldliness of the devil."
photo: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Pope-Francis-celebrates-Mass-at-the-Sistine-Chapel/OTb-ODs200GMHDV0UqOY7A.cspx
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