I've been working on a new thought, so I decided that I would share my work thus far, and see what comes of it.
We are all familiar with the concept of the church as "the bride of Christ." If we carry this image forward we can look at the church like a human. As humans we all grow, change, and develop. So too, the church as grown, changed, developed. There have certainly been things during the church's adolescent times which we should and do regret. Could it be that the church, like human brides, needs some time to mature and develop, before she is appropriate marriage material?
I know this is kind of a rough sketch, but it is something that i have been pondering.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I suppose it's time for a little Catholic interjection to your blog (sorry, I've been slacking...). The topic you bring up is a very good one. I'll try and add my own thoughts which will undoubtedly differ from yours slightly.
I think that the image of the the Church of as the Bride of Christ is quite accurate and one of the best. It speaks of the total union that we seek to share with Christ. However, while you point out that the "church" has not yet become ready for marriage material, I'll counter that thought with this excerpt from http://www.catholic-pages.com/church/marks.asp
-----------------------------------
Lumen Gentium states further that:
"The Church ... is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as "alone holy", loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God."
The Church, then, is perfect and holy, the spotless bride of Christ, the undefiled Body of Christ Himself, filled with the Holy Spirit.
The mysterious paradox is that the Church is holy and perfect, even though she is made of imperfect sinners!
The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is "the sinless one made up of sinners". Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy."
--Catechism of the Catholic Church
-------------------------
The point I would like to make here is the difference between viewing the church as man-made and viewing the Church as Christ-made. In the man-made model, it is easy to understand that we would continuously need to grow and develop before we ever became worthy as a true "bride" -- if that could ever be achieved. However, Jesus Christ did not come and go and leave us to wait at the doors. He came and sanctified us in His blood and the Church is forever His. He has taken the Church as his bride and we are called to become members of that Mystical Body. As individuals we struggle to attain that holiness; but, Christ has already prepared it for us through the saving work of His death and resurrection. His Church, His bride, is forever fused with adoring love for her groom and we await the end of this wedding ceremony of the faithful at the end of time at the great Wedding Feast.
I suppose one way to approach your sketch is to recognize that as a Bride, the Church loves Christ but does not know all about Him yet, just as a woman won't understand all about her husband. That comes with time. As the centuries pass, the Church gains further insight into Christ -- and like a woman in love with her husband, the Church's understanding grows deeper with time.
-----------
I might add as an aside how these images as the Bride of Christ are key to the JPII's "Theology of the Body," a very, VERY, excellent and much needed work. I suggest anyone (even if you're not Catholic) try and get a piece of what's inside!
pjh
i could be entirely wrong, but doesn't Paul write in one of his letters about preparing the Bride for the coming of Christ?
I agree with pjh that it is a mystery, how the Bride is, in Christ, completely holy, and yet in our history, the Bride has been responsible for so many atrocities in Christ's Name.
I would say, however, that this mystery is analogous to the mystery revealed in us. That we are holy, though we are sinners, cut people off in traffic, lust, lie, steal, and otherwise sin. Sometimes (most of the time) I really don't feel holy at all. Yet I know that by some divine mystery (yes I'm pulling my card out, Dave), in Father's eyes I am pure and spotless, washed in the precious Blood.
*shrug* Beats me how it works. All I know is that all of us, including the Bride in space and time (let's not talk about the perfect Bride existing in a spiritual dimension outside of space and time), look through a glass darkly, and just like Paul, need to keep running our race.
kmn.
Post a Comment