“Very much indeed did the Church need renewal from within in the new situation of today. Yet it must not be forgotten that the Church has always remained the Church, and that at any time in history the way of the Gospel could be found and was found in it....”
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 1966
Our office building is undergoing a facelift which means loud thumping, startling machine noises at inopportune times, and on a positive note for this guy, the requirement to use the elevator while the stairs are under construction. As the construction crew put the finishing touches on some scaffolding by the main entrance, where a poster illustrated the future finished product, I asked one of the workers how long the cover was going to be necessary. “Let’s just say it’s going to be beautiful when it’s done,” he responded. “But it’s going to be ugly getting there.”
As I left the office that day, I thought about the challenges and changes facing our Church in the years ahead. As a leader, I try to describe the beauty of the promised land. I may even caution people of the challenges ahead, but do I help build the scaffolding to keep them safe? Do I take the time to map out the detours and shield them as best I can from the unexpected falling objects? In a project like discipleship that will never be finished, how do I draw on God to help guide me through the ugly and remind me of what He wants to build through us and more importantly in us? As we continue to journey as a Church through this restoration, let’s be instruments of the Lord’s scaffolding for all those who will come in and out of our lives.
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