Reflection for April 24

Unfortunately, for centuries the Christian vision of church was narrowed to what we have today—a preoccupation with very private salvation. Our “personal relationship with Christ” seems to be with a very small notion of Christ. We’ve modeled church after a service station where members attend weekly services to get their faith fix. We’ve commodified the very notion of salvation. No wonder church attendance and membership is down, while there’s a dramatic increase in the “Nones” and the “Spiritual-but-not-religious”—those who don’t identify with a particular religious tradition at all.

People want something more from church; they long for a spirituality that connects with their whole life, not just on Sunday morning. The very nature of our lifestyle and our church teaching must point to the goal: the communion of saints, a shared life together as one family, Trinitarian relationship, the “Reign of God.” Church is meant to be a place that nurtures and supports individuals along their journey toward this goal. (Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, “The Loss of Community”).