In this reflection let’s open the Scriptures and let’s open our hearts to truly understand ‘what is church’ and ‘what will make the church victorious’.

When Jesus was on earth He spoke these words to St. Peter.

Jesus said, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

Jesus chose St. Peter to build up a body of believers that would follow and obey Jesus and give God glory. That’s what the church is ‘a body of believers’, also known as the Body of Christ.

St. Paul was also chosen to build up the Body of Christ. In this passage St. Paul gives us a clear understanding of what the Church should be like.

St. Paul said, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27

The Church, the Body of Christ, is also commonly called the ‘Bride of Christ’ and Jesus is the ‘Bridegroom’ and the Head of the Church. Jesus desires an intimacy with us that is analogous to marriage where communication, compassion and love and forgiveness are always flowing.

The Church is called to be ‘holy and blameless’.

What does it mean for the Church to be holy?

In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah the Angels of God sing: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3

Holiness is one of the main attributes of God.

To be holy is to be like God—completely righteous, sinless, PERFECT.

We also consider holiness ‘being consecrated to God’ or ‘belonging to God’.

‘Holy people’ are dedicated or consecrated to God’s service. That’s what the Church is intended to be. Each of us is called to understand that our true purpose in this life is to serve God.

If we desire to be ‘holy’ then we must seek to understand God’s will and we must strive to do God’s will. We must separate ourselves from all that is ‘unholy’ and contrary to God’s will.

Sounds impossible?

“With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

In other words WE CANNOT BE HOLY UNLESS WE REMAIN UNITED TO GOD FOR GOD HIMSELF MAKES US HOLY!

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1 13:16

The Catholic Church has always referred to itself as the ‘Holy Catholic Church’.

Are pedophile priests holy?

NO!

Are priests that hide predators inside the Church holy?

NO! They become complicit and guilty of failing to protect the faithful and in so far as the Church leadership fails to eliminate these threats from inside the Church then Church leaders fail God and His people.

SO WHAT’S HOLY ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

THE ANSWER IS:

THE SACRAMENTS ARE HOLY!

It’s critical to remember that the Sacraments are ‘GOD MADE’ NOT ‘MAN MADE’!

The Sacraments are Holy because God creates them through the power of His Holy Spirit.

The Eucharist is the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus and it is the Work of God flowing from the redemptive sacrifice of Our Saviour Jesus Christ.

No priest, irrespective of their state of grace, can corrupt the Sacraments.

The sins of priests cannot defile or change the holy character of the Sacraments for they are God-Made!

So don’t doubt that the Catholic Church can remain holy in spite of all the scandals and abuses because the Sacramental life of the Church flows from the grace of Jesus Christ and as long as there is faith, Jesus will be present offering us His Body and Blood.

Jesus said, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

Jesus also said, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6: 55-57

Don’t leave the Catholic Church because of the scandals; for if you do you will be pleasing Satan!

Satan wants to separate you from the fount of God’s holiness – the Holy Sacraments. He wants you to think that Jesus has left the Church but that is a lie!

Remember what Jesus said to St. Peter about His Church “all the powers of hell will not conquer it”. And it is in fact the ‘power of hell’ (Satan’s evil power) that is responsible for the many horrific crimes by priests inside the Church. It is all part of Satan’s diabolical plan to distance people from Jesus and His Holy Sacraments.

For those of you who have been abused you may be thinking ‘you can’t possible understand the pain of sexual abuse’.

I can understand this pain because I too was sexually abused.

I know what it’s like to despair and feel like all is lost because people that you should have been able to trust have broken you.

I also know what it’s like to heal and conquer fear, humiliation, depression and anxiety.

I have spent the last fifteen years on the most exciting spiritual journey with Jesus. It has been a journey of healing, a journey of discovery and revelation, a journey of forgiveness and newfound freedom.

Jesus has healed me and he can help you to heal too if that’s what you need. Jesus has turned around my life and filled me with hope and gratitude that Jesus loves me and helps me to conquer sin and temptation day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

I would like to see the Catholic Church have a profound moment of humility.

To me humility is acknowledging our ‘nothingness’ and ‘God’s greatness’.

To me humility is giving God a blank page to write on.

It involves declaring our sinfulness and profound need for God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ.

It requires praying for God’s Holy Spirit to reveal to us all that is ‘working that is giving God glory’, all that is ‘not working that is offending God’ and all that is currently ‘missing that is needed to give the Church its victory over evil’.

In a truly humble moment the Church must ask Jesus who is the Head of the Church, Our Holy Bridegroom and Lord, what do we need to do to conquer evil and please You!

I have been praying on this and I feel the Holy Spirit has shown me some things that I will share with you.

For the next few moments I invite you to give God a blank page to write on by suspending all disbelief and prejudice and consider the following.

The Early Catholic Church had some characteristics that are missing today.

The Early Catholic Church acknowledged women in ordained roles.

St. Paul writes “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me. Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches.” Romans 16: 1-4

Today the Church does not permit women to be ordained as deacons or priests, yet we see here that more than two thousand years ago St. Paul was acknowledging and ordaining women, referring to them as his ‘co-workers’, ‘worthy of honor’.

The Early Church also permitted priests to marry.

St. Peter was a married man. In this passage St. Paul speaks about Church leaders in this way: “A spiritual leader must have a good reputation. He must have only one wife and have children who are believers. His children shouldn’t be known for having wild lifestyles or being rebellious.” Titus 1:6

The Catholic Church no longer permits its spiritual leaders to have a wife, but that was NOT the way of the Early Church.

I have been praying for many years about the type of change the Church needs to embrace to be victorious and this is what I believe the Holy Spirit has revealed to me.

Here are the words that I believe pave the way to victory!

THE CODE WORD IS ‘DIVINE’ AND EACH LETTER IN THE WORD ‘DIVINE’ REPRESENTS AN INGREDIENT THAT’S NEEDED FOR VICTORY.

D = DIVERSE & DESIROUS OF PLEASING GOD

I = INCLUSIVE OF ALL

V = VICTORIOUS THROUGH AN INTIMATE COMMUNION WITH JESUS, HUMBLE AND CONTRITE

I = INSPIRED THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

N = NEW LIFE IN CHRIST FULL OF FAITH HOPE AND LOVE

E = ENGAGED AND ENAMORED WITH JESUS CHRIST

 

LET’S REFLECT.

D = DIVERSE & DESIROUS OF PLEASING GOD

I have over 25 years of leadership experience in the business world and I can tell you that the most successful teams I encountered were always composed of men and women. I believe that an all male Catholic leadership structure at the global Vatican level is NOT the holy will of God.

Remember to be ‘holy’ is to do God’s will.  So it is very, very important that we reflect on how the Church is being limited by a lack of gender diversity in the upper echelons of leadership.

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

I believe God wants us to encourage gender diversity in the most senior leadership of the Church. This could be implemented immediately by including women in some of the important global Pontifical councils like the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity or the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.

If you disagree with this reflect again on the Words Jesus spoke to St. Peter: “whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Matthew 16:19  St. Peter permitted the ordination of women like Deacon Phoebe so why is this not permissible today?

I worked with many powerful business consultants who helped the large organizations I worked in craft innovative leadership structures to accelerate innovation. In these structures the leaders of teams like the Presidents of Pontifical Councils were not Senior Executives they were competent middle level managers who had access to Executive Champions that supported their team’s success. Perhaps the Church could consider Cardinals in some cases as ‘Executive Champions’ instead of working team leaders.  The team leaders in fact don’t even need to be priests.

One of the most important element of success is often ‘how much do you want it?’

Successful people desire success and they are always encouraging new diversity, eclectic leadership styles, recruiting motivated team players that want to serve the organization.  Zeal is NOT optional!

I = INCLUSIVE OF ALL

Diversity and inclusivity go hand-in-hand. Preclude diversity and you preclude inclusivity. The Church needs all the talents of the Body of Christ. We need to find new ways of including the opinions and talent of people from all walks of life, from all over the world, into the building up of the Church, including them in the task of local, regional and global leadership.  With the power of digital technology it is possible with the right vision and the right tools and leadership to include many more people in the positive development of the Church.

V = VICTORIOUS THROUGH AN INTIMATE COMMUNION WITH JESUS, HUMBLE AND CONTRITE

Satan cannot conquer a Church that stands with Jesus Christ for Jesus is all powerful! But if we disconnect from Jesus we will fail.

Let’s recall this message from Jesus: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” Matthew 15: 8-9

Jesus condemns duplicity and hypocrisy. Jesus wants to live intimately connected with us. He wants our hearts to be close to Him and our victory over sin and temptation is obtained ONLY IN COMMUNION WITH HIM. So let us receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist recognizing that we are receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Let us confess our sins and remember how much Jesus suffered to save us. Recall the Words of St. Paul: “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.” 1 Corinthians 11: 28-29

The Church must be humble and contrite:  “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  Luke 14:11

I = INSPIRED THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We must keep praying for the inspiration that comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us what is right and wrong, guiding us to please God. We must pray by living in the continuous presence of God. May every word and every deed give Him glory!

Remember the Words of Jesus “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  John 14:26

N = NEW LIFE IN CHRIST FULL OF FAITH HOPE AND LOVE

A complete surrender and total trust in Jesus Christ fills believers with faith, hope and love. Nothing short of complete trust in Jesus will lead the Church to conquer the forces of evil.   We must trust that Jesus can build us up into the people He wants us to be, inspiring and guiding our choices.  “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” Colossians 3:1

E = ENGAGED AND ENAMORED WITH JESUS CHRIST

The Church’s faith must always be engaged in good works that please Jesus. We must fall-in-love with Our Saviour Jesus Christ and remain always at His service listening to His Voice speak to our consciences guiding our day-to-day choices.  We must study His Word as spoken in the Holy Scriptures to understand God’s Will and God’s Way.

Jesus was tortured to death for us!  Let us give Him the love He deserves!

In addition to the ‘DIVINE’ ingredients needed for the success of the Church, there is one more word that the Holy Spirit keeps speaking to my heart and that word is ‘Unity’.

On the night before Jesus died, Jesus prayed that we would be ONE.

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one–as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” John 17:21

The Mercy Movement is a prayer movement that is uniting the Body of Christ all over the world in a daily, solemn moment of prayer and remembrance of the Passion of Christ @ the Time Jesus died for us, 3pm, in our local time zones. Pray for the Holy Spirit of God to breathe new life into the Church to save souls and to give God the glory that He so deserves!

“Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2