It’s a question that touches both the heart and the mind. Many of us look at the Church and see the beauty of her sacraments, her teachings, and her saints—yet we also see scandal, weakness, and sin. How can both exist in the same Body of Christ? How can the Church still be called holy when her members are not always so?
The answer begins by remembering who the Church truly is. She is not a human organization built on moral perfection, but the Body of Christ Himself. Jesus, who is holy, makes His Church holy. Her holiness comes not from us, but from Him who dwells within her. As Saint Paul writes, “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, to make her holy” (Ephesians 5:25–26). The Church’s holiness is therefore a gift of grace, not an achievement of human virtue.
At the same time, the Church is made up of sinners—men and women who are still on the journey of conversion. We are like earthen vessels carrying a treasure far greater than ourselves. Sin within the Church does not destroy her holiness; it reveals our constant need for God’s mercy. This is why the Church never ceases to pray, to repent, and to call her members to renewal. She is holy because she always turns back to Christ, the source of all sanctity.
Throughout history, the greatest signs of the Church’s holiness have not been her institutions or achievements, but her saints—the men and women who allowed grace to transform them. In them we see what the Church is truly meant to be: the living presence of Christ’s love in the world. Their holiness does not erase the failures of others, but it shows that grace is stronger than sin, and that the Holy Spirit never abandons the Bride of Christ.
When we are scandalized by sin within the Church, the Lord invites us not to despair, but to pray. The holiness of the Church is not a mask to hide human weakness, but a promise that God’s grace will always be greater than it. We remain within her not because of the perfection of her members, but because of the perfection of her Savior.
May we never lose hope in the holiness of the Church, even when her human face is wounded. Christ still sanctifies His Bride through every Eucharist, every confession, every act of mercy. His light continues to shine through the cracks of our brokenness.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
