Thought for the Day – 16 December – Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
The Roots of Faith
Once again, O Lord of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
Take care of this vine
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man, whom you yourself made strong.
Psalm 80:15-16
What does it mean to be a CATHOLIC?
Jesus gave the best definition of the term when He said:
“In my Father’s house there are many rooms.”
This is not a description of a certain geography of heaven
but a revelation of the breadth of God’s heart….
To belong to a Church is to be loyal to many things, not just one thing.
A healthy member of a church community does not pick, in an “either/or fashion”
between having boundaries or emphasising freedom,
between believing in defined doctrines or emphasising individual conscience,
between the gift of legitimate institutionalised authority or the importance of individual charisma,
between the role of ordained ministers and the priesthood of all people,
between the needs of the local community and the needs of the larger universal Church,
between what the gifted artist brings to the community and what the poorest of the poor brings,
between liberal and conservative,
between old and new,
or even between what is being said by those church members who are still alive
and those who have died but with whom we are still in communion.
To be a member of the Church, is not to choose among these.
It is to CHOOSE THEM ALL!
Like our God in heaven, we too need a heart with many rooms.
Lord Jesus, give Your people hearts to embrace one another,
to embrace Your Holy Church and all its teachings, its works and its words
and to invite everyone in. Amen.
(Excerpted from Fr Ronald Rolheiser’s “Light for the World”)
AnaStpaul 