The Church

The Church was never a building.  It is an assembly or gathering of people.  Christ said that wherever there are two or three gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).  Christ is present in every Mass or Eucharist or Divine Liturgy (as the Eastern Catholics prefer to call it). 

It is very difficult to separate Christ from His Church because His Head and Body are one.  Any persecution on His Body (the Church) is also a persecution on Christ the Head.  The Apostle Paul explained the Church in this way: 

1 Corinthians 12:14-18  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

Because the Catholic Church is rich in a variety of religious organizations, liturgies, songs, prayers, devotions, etc., it has an appeal to each and everyone.  I tend to think that the NCW is the feet because we "walk" and go on missions.  I also tend to think that the Charismatic Catholics (although they also do missionary work) tend to be the voice because they enjoy singing.  Many others contribute to the building up of Christ's body, the Church.  In the Traditional Latin Mass, everyone including the priest faces the altar because Christ is present there.  Some people mistake the Novus Ordo Mass as "people-centered", because the priest face the people, but this is false.  The Novus Ordo Mass is also Christ-centered just like the Traditional Latin Mass.  After all, Christ is also in the people.  

Someone told me that what makes us Christian is following the Gospel of Love, which is Jesus Christ.  Being a Christian was never about who is right or wrong.  It is about the love of God and neighbor.  There are times that we will fall, but we have Christ to pick us up when we fall so that we can continue our walk.