In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus pronounces "woes" on three towns - Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.
Jesus, speaking to the seventy-two disciples He was sending ahead of him, says, "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
Of course we would never like to think that we are rejecting Jesus. After all, we call ourselves Christians. But there are many today who reject the Church. Without knowing it, they are rejecting Jesus. Because the Church is Christ's messenger in the world. Now this doesn't mean that we agree with or like everything that every priest of bishop says or does. But the Church has been given authority by Christ to bring His message - and Him, sacramentally - into the world.
Father, may we never reject Jesus, and be faithful sons and daughters of His Holy Church. Amen.
Amen Gus! And we can do that in so many ways!
I understand that there is just so much you can cover in “60 seconds!” Fr. Mike Schmitz (in his Catechism in a Year podcast) helped me a lot when he explained how the Church is both divine and human. The divine Church of Jesus is perfect, but the human Church is comprised of broken people – including a number of the clergy and hierarchy.