March 1, 2025

The Roman Catholic Church does not save people.  God saves people – hence, the name Jesus literally means God Saves.  The Roman Catholic Church is the living tradition of Jesus on earth.  It thus makes sense that the Church is desperate to maintain the memory and presence of Jesus even if it means rigidity or being misunderstood or conflict.  Such intentionality and commitment allows Jesus to be known in very real ways.  Indeed, the Church’s insistence on priesthood and sacramentality and rubrics and calendars gives us a sense of Jesus and perhaps allows us the dignity of exploring how Jesus, like a well-formed key, fits neatly into our complex human wounds.  Once we know and believe in Jesus at this level, however, the wound will only ever heal from within, in the intimacy and secrecy of a hidden life with the divine.  The Roman Catholic Church is thus necessary in this grand project of salvation, but only because God Saves.  Let’s therefore learn to strike a balance between respect for the legitimate and awesome Jesus tradition of the Church with a willingness to take a real risk of faith, outside the bounds of the safety of institutional life, on the God who Saves.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica.