The Church

I saw a sign on my way home tonight as I drove past a Catholic parish.  Our Protestant brothers and sisters are known for putting signs outside their churches with a line or quote that try to make you think or get a reaction of some sort.  It is not quite as usual to see one by a Catholic church.  The line that I did see tonight at one, though,  is one I imagine some of you have seen, heard, or read before, be it at a Protestant or Catholic church:

"What is missing from Ch ch?  U r."

I thought to myself whether or not that sign accurately reflects the reality of the situation, especially since it was posted on the property of a Catholic parish.   There is nothing missing in the Catholic Church.  The Church has the fullness of Truth.   There are some things in the Church that are not right, of course, but in terms of lacking anything, it does not.   
I think often times we hear so much about what is not right in the Church, how it is suffering so much, how few people go, and perhaps even how irrelevant it is.   All of these are things that we absolutely should be concerned with.
However, the majesty and beauty that is the Church needs to be discussed all well.  Despite the sin and weakness in the Church. there is a divine element to it, that makes it ever so glorious and perfect.  Let me quote a few lines from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
#763  "The Church is the Reign of Christ already presence in mystery."  Christ is the King of the Church, wow what a King!
#768 "Henceforward the Church...receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom."  God's Kingdom with Christ as King will be fully achieved at some point, but to think that the Church is the seed of that Kingdom, how important it must be!
#775 "The Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God.  Because men's communion with one another is rooted in that union with God, the Church is also the sacrament of the unity of the human race."   The Church is the sign and instrument of unity between God and His people.  The Church is where the human meets the Divine!
#823 "The Church is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy.  This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as 'alone holy', loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.  The Church, then, is "the holy people of God", and her members are called "saints".   Wow, isn't that beautiful?  I love the image of the Church as the Bride of Christ.  The Church has received so much from Our Lord that She cannot possibly be anything less than the fullness of Truth, the fullness of Life, the fullness of Love.  Who would not want to be a part of this?  
While the local parish may be missing you, and rightfully wants you to come back to regular attendance at Mass, the real truth of the matter (and this does not read well in parish bulletins or signs on the front lawn of the church), is that it is you who are missing out more so than the Church.  The Church has the fullness of everything, with or without you, and it is truly humbling to think that despite that, Our Lord, working through Her, never stops calling your name, and trying to draw you into His loving embrace which is sacramentalized fully only by becoming a living active member of the Church.

In 1870, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church.  On earth, he guarded and watched over Our Blessed Lord.  From heaven, he does the same for the Church who, while perfect, battles with sin as it gathers sinful people in a sinful world into her bosom to build up an army of saints for the Kingdom of Christ.

Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for us.