Church + Frailty = Hope

When I look at the church, what gives me hope?

I see in the church today a fresh sense of brokenness and uncertainty, a people who remember the hegemony of the past and the power-broking position that Christianity recently held, as well as people who’ve never had the experience of standing on that so-called higher ground. A generation ago we may have called them the committed and the seekers. Not today.

Whether High Mass or house church, I experience a living faith today that seems willing to remain in a place of brokenness, uncertainty, and need. We have a renewed interest in ancient text from Torah to Apocrypha to Paul to Gospel to Didache and St. Benedict. Our questions and our desires to meet God are more profound than ever. Our frailty gives me hope. I think it’s godly.

Jon M. Sweeney is an independent Catholic scholar, the publisher at Paraclete Press, and a writer of popular history. His book The Pope Who Quit has been optioned by HBO, and his latest book, When Saint Francis Saved the Church, is just out from Ave Maria Press.

You may also want to read

Church + Mission Integral = Hope

By Alexia Salvatierra
Immigrant churches fueled by reverse missionaries from the Global South are often vital and vibrant.  Although they may not have a developed theology around justice,

Sunday in the South

By Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

 

Service starts at 11:00 am at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church. In eight months, Leah and I have never yet been on time. When we chain our bikes to the handrail on the handicap ramp, I can hear the hum of the electric organ and the pulse of hands clapping.