Body of Christ

Today we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral of Rome originally dedicated to the Savior, but then to St. John the Baptist.

John Chrysostom says that just as the Lord is called by many names; Church goes by many names also such as a bride, a daughter, mother, a virgin, a handmaid, a queen, a garden, a fountain etc. The writings on Mary reflect the same theology – whatever symbols they used for the church were used for Mary also. The Greek word for ‘Church’ is ecclesia, which means ‘to be called out’. We are the people that are called out by God. There are a quite number of symbols that portray the idea of the church: church as the sheepfold, church as edifice. St. Cyprian says the church is not just the material building of God; it is the house of faith – body of Christ.

Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic in nature. In reality all those who form the church have violated every word of the definition entirely in all respects. “Religion has become a bit of a dirty work. It sounds dead, old fashioned, archaic” says George Gallup. Some still believe that it is a kind of opium. Atheists and followers of Nietzsche believe that God is dead. Youth has its own way of killing whatever little spirituality found at homes by making the homes look like just breathing spaces. Enough is said and done on sex scandals and faulty leaderships in the church. Spirituality has been pushed out to accommodate psychology, administration and preventive laws on thousand things. More and more children walk in to inspect the craftsmanship of the church; couples walk in to steal some quiet moments together and older people to fret over their lost opportunities in life. We all have gone astray and lost our focus. JP II says, Acknowledging the weakness of the past is an act of honesty and courage which helps us to strengthen our faith, which alerts us to face today’s temptations and challenges and prepares us to meet them.

We all agree that our Church needs direction and focus. Even before we talk about direction, we must feel the need that the Church needs life today. The church is transformative in nature. As church we strive to live the values of the Gospel; strive to become more like Jesus. Transformation is to be felt in all the areas of our Christian living: Christian bodies, Christian emotions, Christian minds, and Christian hearts all need true and complete transformation.

Christian living is a call to authentic living. There is no point in worrying that after 50 years all these churches are going to be museums or public offices if we go on with our religious practices today. But every Christian has the obligation and responsibility to make his/her self, family, community and church authentic by being fully human and fully alive. Christians don’t divide but form. We build the church with our faith, our hope and our love. Let us pray that our building up of church take deep consideration for the future. Amen.