Family Ties

An interesting fact which I came across in the book, Confessions of a Mega-Church Pastor: there are 33,000 sects of Christianity in the world! Take it in – 33,000!!! In my time, I knew of one church which had been begun by an acquaintance and her spouse, when they no longer agreed with their pastor. And now I know of another woman who has been telling me about searching the web for an appropriate name for the church she and some of her friends are going to start because, again, they think their pastor has gone too far afield. Neither of these churches is Catholic. Wherever in the world we have wandered, be it someplace in the US or on some Caribbean Island, whether the Mass is in English or Spanish, we know what’s going on. There’s ritual, there’s an expectant rhythm; we are comfortable with the prayer and know that there’s unity of belief in the Eucharist. This morning I went to the prayer site, Pray As You Go, a Jesuit site from England. The reflection was on the beatitudes, the gospel from today’s morning Mass which I had just heard read by Fr. Dave in Dayton Ohio, shortly before. Ours is one big Church, with lots of room for disagreement and lots of opinions as well. There are many ways of praying, and lots of wrestling with Church positions. But we are a family, arguments aplenty and baggage in tow; we’re not abandoning ship and we’re certainly not starting our own churches – at least for the most part. We are catholic, in the best sense of the word – open to all. ‘Here comes everyone,’ as the saying goes. And I’m proud to be part of this.