Many people ask me this with an honest ache: How can I truly love the Church when she is made up of imperfect people? It’s a question that touches both our faith and our wounds. To love the Church as Christ loves her is not a matter of blind loyalty—it’s about sharing in His divine love, a love that is patient, sacrificial, and full of hope.
When Saint Paul wrote, “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25), he revealed something profound: Jesus’ love for the Church is not based on her perfection, but on His desire to make her holy. He loved her even when she was broken. He washed her with His own Blood, not because she was spotless, but to make her spotless. To love the Church as Christ does means to look upon her with that same merciful gaze—to see not only what she is now, but what she is called to become.
Loving the Church this way means staying with her, even when it’s hard. Just as Christ never abandoned His disciples, even when they failed Him, we too are called to remain faithful. Our love for the Church grows deeper when we serve, pray, forgive, and build her up rather than tear her down. The saints remind us that holiness doesn’t mean ignoring sin or failure—it means responding with humility and charity, always seeking renewal in the Spirit.
This love also has a mission. Christ’s love for His Bride is not static—it’s fruitful. When we love the Church as He does, we become part of her mission to bring His light into the world. We love her by living as her living members, by sharing the Gospel, by receiving the sacraments, and by helping others encounter her beauty. To love the Church is to say, with our lives: “This is where Christ dwells. This is my home.”
To love the Church as Christ does is to let our hearts be shaped by His Cross—faithful in suffering, hopeful in weakness, and radiant with mercy. May we never forget that every act of love for the Church is, in the end, love for Christ Himself.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
