November 20, 2014: One Bride
‘I in them and You in Me, Father. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me.’ (Jn 17:23)
Jesus is committed to one Church. He alone knows exactly who composes His bride; what we can know is that Jesus is singularly passionate for her.
I am growing in that passion for her too. I have always known that one cannot love Jesus without also loving His Church. That love culminated for me several years ago when I became a Roman Catholic. The historic church became a refuge for me amid cultural downturns in marriage and gender and the compromised response of Protestant denominations. Jesus and His friends met me there; daily Eucharist and the cheering on of the saints have bolstered me deeply.
I am grateful. And realistic. The Church’s strengths are also her weaknesses and necessitate I seek Jesus’ strength to love her as she deserves. Her weaknesses expose mine and require much mercy for me. But mercy works. I can extend that mercy freely to the Church for it is precisely Christ’s mercy through the Church that sustains me, keeps me free for love.
At times I miss my beautiful evangelical background. The vocation Jesus entrusted to Annette and I was born in the Vineyard church planting movement. We could not have asked for a better home. Open, humble, merciful: these are the faces I see from the Vineyard’s communion of saints that welcomed us and still inform us. On our Vineyard foundation, we will always pray for more of God’s Kingdom and Spirit for hurting people, and we shall always equip our fellow servants in the truth that Jesus calls and empowers them as surely as He does Pope Francis. We will adapt to the new ways God’s wants to meet people in order to reveal the same truths to new generations.
Catholics need to be empowered by the evangelical spirit, and evangelicals need the depth of Catholic teaching and worship. Each possesses a kind of authority that the other needs. I am grateful for both. In order to be whole, the Church needs both.
Early on in my Catholic conversion, I saw a picture of a huge river in which persons on both sides were drinking, soaking, and healing. Each shore revealed two distinct groups partaking of ‘living waters.’ Divided as Protestants and Catholics, they drew from the same Source. The river flowed: I could see some persons co-mingling until the two groups freely partook of the waters together.
Considering this vision, I wonder if the humbling impact of relational and sexual sins makes us less inclined to defend ourselves with doctrinal differences. Perhaps the wounds are too deep, the shame too great, to distance ourselves from the ‘other’ with a rosary or Bible verse. Broken, we cry out for mercy together and discover gifts the one possesses that the other needs.
My prayer has been partially answered by a series of trainings we sponsor in Mexico. Equal parts Catholic and evangelical, we are discovering one Jesus and one Bride. A river of water and blood runs through her.
‘Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one Body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all in all.’ (Eph. 4: 2-6)
Please join us as we pray for:
South, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Dean Greer – Coordinator: For new regional leadership to be identified and raised-up, for existing groups and to see new groups established.
Aguas Vivas: Baja California and Cuernavaca, Mexico: Guidance, wisdom and stamina for Maite at DSM/LW as she encourages and helps leaders to start ContraCorriente groups.
Restored Hope Network: Prayer for wisdom, discernment and protection for RHN board members: Andrew Comiskey; Stephen Black; Karen Booth; Robert Gagnon; Denise Schick; Jason Thompson.
“Courage for Pope Francis, that he would ensure that the Church becomes a clear fountain of transformation for persons with same-sex attraction!”
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