Pope John Paul I took up the topic of faith and the Church in his usual pastoral way on September 13, 1978 during a general audience. Here are excerpts for your consideration:
“Read St. Paul; ‘Corpus Christi quod est Ecclesia’. Christ and the Church are only one thing. Christ is the Head and we, the Church, are his limbs. It is not possible to have faith and to say, ‘I believe in Jesus, I accept Jesus but I do not accept the Church.’ We must accept the Church, as she is. And what is the Church like? Pope John called her ‘Mater et Magistra’. Teacher also. St. Paul said: ‘Let everyone accept us as Christ’s aids and stewards and dispensers of his mysteries.’…….. The Church is also a mother…… If mother is sick, if my mother by chance should become lame, I love her even more. It is the same, in the Church. If there are, and there are, defects and shortcomings, our affection for the Church must never fail.” — Pope John Paul I 13 Sept 78.
Those of us who love the Church, who have seen her from the inside as well as from the outside, know intuitively what the pope is saying here.
Christ’s first love was for the poor and the sick. They were his brothers and sisters. He would stand tall for them — remember the scene in Ben Hur when Jesus give water to Charlton Heston and then stood erect and silently face the Roman soldier who would try to hinder him.
Let us love the Church if we dare confess our faith in Jesus.
