For as long as the Catholic Church has been in existence, it has identified itself with the culture of the times in which it exists. We speak, therefore, of the “Early Church, Jewish and Christian. We hear a lot about the deep faith of the Church of the Middle Ages, or the more rich and flamboyant Church of the Renaissance, or, today, the Church of the Second Vatican Council. In every case the Church is identified with people, with their culture, their language, their habits and customs. One might need to say that the only Church that truly exists is the one that we know here and now, at this moment, in this place on this planet.

Another interesting element about Church is the question: “whose Church is it?” That may sound like a silly question because the Church doesn’t belong to anyone (not even the pope.) If the Church belongs to anyone, it belongs to Jesus Christ, the Founder!

But we have a lot of rather sorry history surrounding this very question: Who’s Church is it? Who controls it, whose is in charge?

I can still remember as a kid the disputes that went on in our Church of St. Henry over who was in charge: The church trustees or the pastor. In one instance, the trustees were so powerful that they actually persuaded the bishop to have the pastor deposed, sent packing!

Just recently we have a story in the Catholic news of the situation of a Polish church in St. Louis. There has been a battle going on for several years between the parishioners and Archbishop Raymond Burke over who owns the church’s financial assets, the parishioners or the bishop? The folks say, “The church is ours, we built it with our money.” The bishop says, “Sorry, I’m the boss, I call the shots.” In fact, it came to the point where the bishop closed the church altogether and excommunicated some of the parish leaders. The parishioners, for their part, went out and got their own pastor, a Polish priest from another parish! The battle continues. Pretty scandalous situation. But it tells you that people love their church and not even an archbishop is going to take it away from them. Of course, if someone tells you that it’s not about the money, it’s about the money! Jesus must be weeping.

In the Boston Archdiocese a similar situation is happening. The Archbishop closed a number of churches. In the case of the Church of St. Joan of Arc, the parishioners have occupied the church night and day for several months and refuse to leave.

Well, all of this tells you, of course, that over the centuries that the Church has been in existence, it has not existed in a vacuum. It always seems to take on the patterns of secular life, and that is not always a good model.

A good question to ask, of course, is this: What was it like in the beginning? What was in the mind of Jesus and the early Christians when Christianity took root? Obviously, Jesus himself did not set up any organization.

Within a few years, of course, those early disciples began to organize themselves into bodies called churches. Most of them were smaller than our normal parish today. Hence, the atmosphere was more intimate, close-knit.

Well, let me say that there is an answer to that question, Who’s Church Is It? You heard the answer a few moments ago when we listened to the second reading from the Letter of Peter

Let me warn you ahead of time that this is not the sort of language we use today. Nonetheless, it will tell you a lot about how those early Christians, our brothers and sisters, thought about themselves. Here is how the author of that letter to the Christians referred to them: Let me paraphrase it: “My brothers and sisters, remember, Jesus Christ is our living cornerstone, precious in the sight of God. And you too are living stones. Therefore, you must build yourselves up on the cornerstone that is Christ. After all, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation a people set apart to praise the God who has called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

My friends, to my mind that is one of the clearest descriptions of Church that I have ever heard. It tells us who we are, how we are related to Christ and what our task in the world is all about.

How different that is from the way we often think of Church today with all our organization, all our laws, all the competition that goes on over who makes decisions, who has the power, et cetera.

It occurs to me to say, therefore, that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if every parish, every Christian community were to gather once each year, aside from Mass, and discuss questions like this: What does this Christian community think about itself? What responsibility do we take for our Church? How do we think about our leaders, the bishop and the local pastor? Do we collaborate for the good of our parish or do we struggle for power? The answers to those questions might give the parish a clear idea of how it thinks of itself.

The point is, my friends, we just can’t take our church, our Christian community, for granted. We are all living stones, as the letter of Peter described. We are built on the cornerstone that is Christ.

Whether all this will change bishops’decisions to close churches, I don’t know. Whether it will help Christians understand their role as members of a parish, I have no idea. But one thing for sure, if we could only decide to use the model of those early Christians we just heard about, we’d all be a happier Church and the question Who’s Church Is It? Would never even raise its ugly head?

The scriptures: Acts 6 1-7; 1 Peter 2: 4-9; John 14: 1-12