We Are The Church

Today our Church leaders elected Pope Leo the XIV. We heard about it on the way home from the doctor office so we rushed inside and turned on the news. Then we waited. JoAnne says he was getting dressed. I said he was writing his speech.Either way, when he stepped out on the balcony and they said he was from America, my jaw dropped and it stayed that way for nearly an hour...

    I know and I firmly believe that God helps the people he chooses to lead by giving them grace. Even when I don't understand I believe God's choice is the right one, the best one for us and for our situation at every time and place. So I'm really interested in seeing what comes next. What I really wanted to do first was to sit down and write Leo a card, thanking him for saying "yes". 

    Yes is a wonderful word. We all use it. We say yes to jobs, to relationships, to new cars (or used), to friends, to our doctors (ahem, ahem...) to the good and to the not so good. We even say yes to our confusion or our inability to understand. I believe that we said yes to this life we are living--but don't bend your brain on that one, it can be really confusing. Life is a journey. Somewhere along the line we said "Yes! This is what I want...!"

    And we can say yes in many ways, often without even using words. Like the story about the father with two sons. He wanted to get a job done so he told one son to go do it. The son said "yes" but never went. He told his other son to do it and that son said "no thanks", but changed his mind and did the job. I want to be like the second son. Let my actions inform my words. (See Mat 21:28)

    Teresa of Avila said "God writes straight with crooked lines." He leads his Church with uncertain servants. The holy Spirit works in the world and will not be denied worthy results. This is a powerful hope for all of us. Working together we form a net with all the holes covered--my weakness is covered by your strength. We are "hole-y people". Together, we are perfect for the job. 

    And this is what our Church teaches us. The mission of believers is to do God's work in the world. For ideas about that work, we look to Jesus (and his brothers), teaching, healing, feeding, protecting. "The work is great," he says, "while the workers are few. Come and see where I live." (Mt 9:37 with Jn 1:39) Pope Leo, and Pope Francis before him, make that work real. Serving so close to Christ they remind us every day that this work continues uninterrupted from the night of the Last Supper. My work, your work, our work is all woven into one Work, which is Christ, working in and through the holy Spirit, to unite all humanity with himself. 

    We really need each other. We are the Church.