Vigils Reading

THE TRUE NATURE

OF THE CHURCH

From “Life and Holiness” by Thomas Merton

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We must not regard the Church purely as an institution or an

organization. She is certainly visible and clearly recognizable in her teachings,

her government, and her worship. These are the external lineaments through

which we may see the interior radiance of her soul. This soul is not merely

human, it is divine. It is the Holy Spirit itself. The Church, like Christ, lives and

acts in a manner at once human and divine. Certainly there is imperfection in

the human members of Christ, but their imperfection is inseparably united to

his perfection, sustained by his power, and purified by his holiness, as long as

they remain in living union with him by faith and love.

Through these members of his the Almighty Redeemer infallibly

sanctifies, guides, and instructs us, and he uses us also to express his love for

them. Hence the true nature of the Church is that of a body in which all the

members “bear one another’s burdens” and act as instruments of divine

providence in regard to one another. Those are most sanctified who enter most

fully into the life-giving Communion of Saints who dwell in Christ. Their joy is to

taste the pure streams of that river of life whose waters gladden the whole City of

God.

Our perfection is therefore not just an individual affair, it is also a

question of growth in Christ, deepening of our contact with him in and through

the Church… This means, of course, a closer union with our brethren in Christ, a

closer and more fruitful integration with them in the living, growing spiritual

organism of the Mystical Body.

This does not mean that spiritual perfection is a matter of social

conformism. The mere fact of becoming a well working cog in an efficient

religious machine will never make anyone into a saint if he does not seek God

interiorly in the sanctuary of his own soul.

For example, the common life of religious, regulated by traditional

observances and blessed by the authority of the Church, is obviously a most

precious means of sanctification. It is, for the religious, one of the essentials of

his state. But it is still only a framework. As such, it has its purpose. It must be

used. But the scaffolding must not be mistaken for the actual building. The real

building of the Church is a union of hearts in love, sacrifice, and self-

transcendence. The strength of this building depends on the extent to which the

Holy Spirit gains possession of each person’s heart, not on the extent to which

our exterior conduct is organized and disciplined by an expedient system.

Human social life inevitably requires a certain order, and those who love

their brother and sister in Christ will generously sacrifice themselves to

preserve this order. But…the most important, the most real, and lasting work of

the Christian is accomplished in the depths of his own soul. It cannot be seen by

anyone, even by himself. It is…the interior, anguished, almost desperately

solitary act by which we affirm our total subjection to God…