Universal Call to Holiness

Msgr. Luigi Giussani states:  "[T.S. Eliot] asked himself "Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?" . . . Both, both, because first and foremost it is mankind who failed the Church, because if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away. No one chased after it . . . The Church began to fail mankind, as I see it . . . because she forgot who Christ was, she did not rely on..., she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who Christ is."  I think this quote is very interesting because it points out two major concerns with the Church and mankind. The first is mankind failing the Church because "if i need something, I chase after it if it goes away." I think this quote is touching on taking things for granted. So many people often take their faith for granted and take the Church for granted as well. In the quote it says that the only reason why we chase after things we need is because it might go away. I think this is true because if something we need is always at our side we won't be very concerned about going and getting it. We do not feel that it is necessary to go out of our way to understand something that has always been around. This is the reason why mankind has failed the Church. Mankind always wants things that it can not have. As a result if mankind has always had religion and the Church then there is no reason to go out and chase after it. If all religions in the world were to end in two weeks, everyone would be chasing after religion and finding it. There is no need to do that now because it is around. Mankind takes religion and the church for granted.

      Msgr. Luigi Giussani also states that the Church has failed mankind. "The Church began to fail mankind, as I see it . . . because she forgot who Christ was, she did not rely on..., she was ashamed of Christ, of saying who Christ is." The way I see this quote is that the Church might have lost it's path somewhere along the way. The quote says that the Church forgot who Christ was, and she did not rely on (him). I think that this means that at one time the Church was pure to the cause of Jesus Christ and his mission but it has become a different meaning today. The Church did not rely on what Christ means and was ashamed of Christ. To say that the Church is ashamed of Christ is a bold statement. This means that the Church is embarrassed to recognize who Christ really is and does not want to say who Christ is. This is how the Church failed mankind. The Church is supposed to be this upstanding community who speaks and acts the truth in the footsteps of Jesus Christ but if they are ashamed of saying who Christ is, then how can they be fully devoted to the cause.