We all feel a certain emptiness and search for meaning in life. We all experience moments in which we are lifted out of ourselves by something that transcends our being. We all need to be with others whom we love and who love us.
Today, as always, the world needs a reminder and an image of what it means to be a caring and sharing community, and that is a function well-suited to the church. Other communities can and may and do exhibit the same wholeness, and the function of the church in this regard is to celebrate the love and happiness it sees elsewhere, to reach out to it, and to exemplify that love and happiness in its own being, extending the invitation to share in its community.
The function of the church is threefold. First, and speaking negatively, it is not to convert people to the “one true religion”. It is, rather, to help everyone overcome their parochial perspective, search for meaning, experience those “moments”, and love and be loved.
Secondly, the function of the church is to share the story in Jesus that we are enabled to overcome our parochialism, fill the void in our lives, discover God anew in those moments, and love others.
And, thirdly, we must join with others in doing good in the world.
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