Hanging in there with the Church

As the weaknesses and sins of Church members are daily brought to light, as the tensions between different groups within the Church increase, as the hostility from without intensifies - I find myself  returning again and again to the basics:  The Church is my God-given home, my spiritual family, a source of endless good in my life.

I am hanging in there within the community of faith; I am going nowhere. 

In all that is happening, my firm belief is that God is bringing light from darkness!

I find the wise, humble words of Italian mystic, Carlo Carretto, a support:

“How baffling you are, oh Church, 
    and yet how I love you! 
How you have made me suffer, 
    and yet how much I owe you! 
I would like to see you destroyed, 
    and yet I need your presence. 
You have given me so much scandal 
    and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is. 
I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, 
    and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful. 
How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, 
    and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms."