One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

This past weekend, the church I am a member of held a meeting after mass to discuss a change that is taking place July 1st.  Throughout Holy Trinity’s history, there hasn’t been a clear designation of what the church is.  While it was most often referred to as a mission church throughout the years, it has been operating more as a parish, with trustees  and with a separate checking account.  To ensure the church is in proper order, it is being designated as an oratory of the larger parish, All Saints, July 1st.   At the meeting, I was shocked by the angry responses, the attacking questions, and the comments that people made as if they knew better than the Bishop.  As the representative from the Diocese explained that those attending Holy Trinity would be members of All Saints when the change happens, it was disappointing to see how people acted.  For some reason, there are people who are anti- All Saints, and some who even refuse to step foot into the church to attend mass there.  This is not the way that Jesus calls us to.  We are one universal church with the same mission.

Every week in the creed, we express that we believe in “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”  Jesus established one Church, the Catholic Church.  This means that every single Catholic church is the same and professes the same beliefs and teachings.  We can walk into any Catholic church anywhere and know exactly what is going on and what to do.

For some reason, some people seem to have too much pride in which church they belong to and where they go to mass.  It is good to belong to a church and be an active member, contributing in different ways and with our time and money.  But at the end of the day, what really matters is that we are attending mass weekly.  It doesn’t matter where we are going to mass, as long as we are going.  In the Green Bay diocese, we are blessed with so many Catholic churches.  We live in an area with tons of options.  We should never take that for granted and should be grateful that we don’t have to go far.

I’m not sure what people are so defensive about when it comes to other parishes.  Whether it is a concern about money, an issue with other people, or something else, if that’s what people are worried about, they are probably approaching church with the wrong mindset.  Every Catholic church we walk into has Jesus, and that’s what really matters.

There seems to be a lot of separation and division among people within neighboring churches.  We must not be separated by different church buildings, but rather joined by our faith in Jesus Christ, the eucharist, and the one true Catholic Church.  We are only, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  Let’s start acting like it.