"Two churches"

February 26, 2019

It almost seems as if we have two kinds of churches. One is the church of evangelization. The other is the church of development. One is the church of individual sanctification and the other that of social action. One emphasizes contemplation and the other political directives. There is a division throughout the entire Western world as regards these two churches. Is the division justified? Let us go to the Mount of Transfiguration for the answer. Our Blessed Lord took with him Peter, James, and John to the mount. When they arrived, Jesus became transfigured. We see the heavenly Father renew Jesus' commission to redeem the world. Peter, James, and John are awed by this. Peter, in fact, is so struck by it that he says, 'Lord, it is wonderful to be here. Let us build three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah' But scripture says, 'He knew not what he said.' Now remember, here is the Church. Here are three members of the apostolic body. This represents one Church.    It represents those who would like everything to be rather calm, to enjoy the pieties and niceties of religion, to stand in the glare of the divine beauty, and to be a sharer in the vision and understanding of the Old Testament. It also represents part of the divine commission to redeem the world, even though it meant the death of the Savior. This is apt to be the older aspect of the Church. It is content with the vision. But our Blessed Lord said, 'Let us go down the hill.' He was reminding the disciples that there was no such thing as capturing that transient glory. 'You'll have to go down this hill and you will find something else. Then you will climb another hill which will be Calvary, and then you will come to perfect glory. But not now.'