Today’s question has no one, single answer. It’s a question each of us needs to ponder separately. The question is this: what do you think about when you hear the word “church?” Just what is a “church?” Now some of you may think about a particular structure, a building. Perhaps Christ the Good Shepherd. Or maybe in your mind, you see the image of a classical, little, white church in the country. Or maybe for you, the word “church” conveys a mind’s eye view of a Gothic Cathedral, like St Patrick’s in New York City. And yet, we all recognize that the word “church” means more than a building.
Sometimes we speak not of “a” church, but rather “the” church. We say this when we want to focus on the people who make up the church as a community, rather than as a building. If you’ve taken any adult education classes with me, you’ve heard me speak about the “ecclesia,” the gathering of the people. You may also have heard about different “models” of the church. Avery Dulles, a Jesuit priest and theologian who became a U.S. Cardinal, wrote a significant book on this subject, called “Models of the Church.”
He wrote it at a time when the major model, the major way of looking at the church, the people of God at the time of Vatican II, was that of the “institutional church.” Prior to Vatican II, the focus for the Roman Catholic Church was as an institution, one established by Christ, himself, as a hierarchy of clergy and laity. A gathering, perhaps, but one governed by the Pope through archbishops, bishops and priests. The function of the rest of the gathering was to pray and to obey.
Fr. Dulles said there are other ways to look at the church, the ecclesia, the gathering of the people. He proposed several alternate models. He proposed that, together, we make up a “mystical community.” By that, he didn’t mean some weird sort of mysticism, not a so-called “new age” gathering of people with wooly heads in some other universe. Rather he referred to an image going back to St Paul, in which all of us make up the mystical body of Christ, in which we are the members of his body with Christ as our head. It’s an image at the opposite end of the spectrum from that of an institutional church ruled by clergy with the laity as mere subjects.
Fr. Dulles proposed other “models” for consideration. He also saw the church as “sacrament.” The church is a visible sign of an invisible reality. As with all sacraments, the church confers grace, God’s gift of His love to a community of believers. But Fr. Dulles also cautioned that an over-reliance on this model could lead to a problem. It could create a community which was focused only on itself; one that saw no reason for an outreach to others who were not yet believers within the community.
So Fr. Dulles proposed another model, one he called “the church as Herald.” A herald in the ancient world was a man who proclaimed the message of the one who sends him forth. We, as church, under this model, are to proclaim the message of Christ. We are to proclaim that the Kingdom of God has begun. Many Christians incorporate this model when they say that to be saved, one must “believe in your heart and profess with your lips that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior.”
However, Fr. Dulles also pointed out that a reliance on this model of the church as Herald had its own limitations. For many people, the mission of the church is more than preaching about Jesus the Christ. It is more than just being his herald. For them, the mission of the church is becoming actively involved in serving others. And so, Fr. Dulles proposed a model of the church as “Servant of God.” In this model, you must put into practice what you preach. In this model, the church works for social justice and has a preferential treatment for the poor, the marginalized.
Of course, what Fr. Dulles concludes in his book is that there is no one, perfect model of the church. We can probably agree that the Catholic church indeed has elements of being an institutional church, with specific roles performed by one group that cannot be performed by another. We also, I think, acknowledge that the church is the mystical body of Christ with us as members of that body and Christ is our head. There are those who are called to be heralds and proclaim the message. There are those who are called to lives of service for others. The church means many things, has many roles for each of us.
Now some of you may be wondering why I’ve focused today on the models of the church. The church as institution, as sacrament, as mystical community, as herald and as servant. I’ve done this for several reasons. First of all there are the readings for today and for the next few Sundays to come, as we prepare for the completion of the Easter Season. Next week we celebrate the Ascension. And then Pentecost, the birthday of the church. For these Sundays, our first readings are taken from the Acts of the Apostles: those times when the followers of Christ first gathered together as a community, as a church.
Today we heard how the church grew beyond its Jewish origins, beyond its original dietary laws, so that it became the church of gentiles as well. It was in Antioch, you will recall, that our church, our gathering, became known as Christians. In today’s second reading we heard about the new Jerusalem, the new community come down from heaven, in which there is no temple structure: no building to contain the glory of God, but rather the whole city, the whole community, “had no need for sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the lamb.” Yes, the temple-limited God had become the city enlightened by Christ, himself.
And in our gospel reading we heard, once more, how upon returning to the Father – Jesus and his Father would send forth the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to teach us everything and remind us of all that he had told us. So it seemed to me that today would be a good day to have us reflect on the models of the church, what analogies we might use to describe the church.
And in this light, there is another model I want to mention. It is an ancient model of the church which we also need to recall. Especially today, when we celebrate mothers’ day. How many of you recall the time when we spoke of the church as “Holy Mother Church?” And just what do we mean when we think of this model?
● Consider those mothers who gave us life. Who gave us our new breath. From whom we were born.
● Consider those mothers who nourished and nurtured us. Those who provided for our every want and need … even when we were obstinate and refused the love they offered.
● Consider those mothers who comforted us, who cradled and hugged away our tears and hurts.
● Consider those mothers who forgave us when we did things we should not have done. Those mothers who showered us with love and mercy we did not merit … that we need not earn.
● Consider those mothers we tend to take for granted, whom we honor only once or twice a year, when, in fact, we owe everything we are, or hope to be, to them.
Yes, these are the women whom we love and honor in a special way today … but really should love and honor every day. And so today, as we celebrate Mothers’ Day, a day dedicated to those women in our lives who have meant so much to us, I would also suggest that we take a moment to recall our debt of gratitude not only to them but to Holy Mother Church, as well. And remember the words spoken to us a few minutes ago: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” May the peace of Christ be with you. May motherly love be with you. May our Holy Mother Church be with you.
Sixth Sunday of Easter; May 13, 2007 (Mothers’ Day)
Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29