Yes, the world needs the Church. And the Church, to fully be Church, needs the mission of her members. The Church needs the full, conscious and active participation of her members – all of her members!
A body having some paralyzed members can survive, and can potentially do many things, but with handicaps that make the full activity of the body more difficult. Some activities may even be impossible to the body, because of the unresponsiveness of some of its members. So it is also with the Church, the Body of Christ upon this earth.
Each of us, all of us, are called to holiness. This is a truly awesome calling! It lies at the foundation of all other vocations in the Church. Every bishop is called first to holiness, and then to episcopal service in the Church. Every priest is called first to holiness, and then to the priesthood in Christ for His Church. Every deacon, every monk, every nun, every religious brother and sister, and every lay man and woman and child – all are called to holiness in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Imagine the power of a Church so sanctified in Christ! Imagine the unction of such life-witnesses, the influence of such temples of the Spirit, the effectiveness of such undeniable Christians, the fruitfulness of such laborers in the vineyard of the Lord! Imagine the light of Christ so radiating in this dark and confused world, that unbelievers could only say, “What do they have, that I do not have?” Then, Christ would be glorified in His people, the people for whom He died.
I am called to be a saint, as you are called to be a saint. Nothing less will satisfy our hearts, but such full self-gift to God. You and I were made for holiness, for sanctity, for divine intimacy in God the Holy Trinity – glass beads, hollow trinkets and empty suits will never substitute for the life He came to give us!
When will we begin to truly trust Him, and live in Him, and obey Him? When will we take the Faith in absolute and complete seriousness, and believe, and live what we believe? When will we say “Yes!” to Him, no matter the cost?
The Church needs saints, and the world needs a Church of saints. Let us resolve to be a better Christian today, than we were yesterday. Let us resolve to participate in the offering of each Mass more completely, to make each Holy Communion more fervent, to make each prayer more sincere, and each moment more aware that Jesus is so very, very near. Let us begin, brothers and sisters; let us begin.
Thomas
Renew The Church! - website and Blog 
Dear Thomas,
You pose a sobering example for us:
“A body having some paralyzed members can survive, and can potentially do many things, but with handicaps that make the full activity of the body more difficult. Some activities may even be impossible to the body, because of the unresponsiveness of some of its members. So it is also with the Church, the Body of Christ upon this earth.”
I believe, as you do, Thomas, that God wants us to be fully alive in Him, to be saints. Our call to holiness is His intention from the beginning, but how many of us have made it our own goal? How many can say honestly, “My aim in life is to be a saint”?
To the extent that we do not strive for holiness and become the saints God intended us to be in creating us, then to that extent, I believe, we really can “hurt” or even “paralyze” parts of the Body of Christ.
I believe that is why Pope Benedict continues to encourage people to practice “Lectio divina”. He knows how it can help us to come alive in Christ. The Pope reminded us just recently in his Wednesday audience that God will raise up His saints from every walk of life in every time and place, as He has done throughout history.
St. John of the Cross wrote that God’s only desire is the exaltation of the soul and this Mystical Doctor of the Church asks, “Who can express how much God exalts the soul that pleases Him?”
(from “The Spiritual Canticle” pages 520 and 540 respectively in “The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross).
Come Holy Spirit, Fire of Love. Burn away our lethargy, our indifference, and whatever else may keep us from You, so that we may press on to know, love and serve as we ought, in the Beautiful Body of Christ.
By: Deborah on January 17, 2010
at 2:04 pm
Thomas, I see some some good possibilities in your idea,though I do believe that once the catastrophic failure of the catechesis in the West [that’s us] no longer exists, then the New Evangelization and the Year of Faith will have done wonders in many ways, and there should be no more “blurring of the vocations of the priests and the laity”.
We laity will then joyfully understand and live our own vocations and the vocations of the priests will grow.
.Mary.
By: Mary A. Reinhardt on October 3, 2012
at 4:02 pm