Tag Archives: ministry

The Church offers itself as the human space of fraternity in which every believer can and must experience that union among men and women and with God which is a gift from on high. The Acts of the Apostles is a splendid example of this dimension of the Church: there we find described a community of believers profoundly marked by fraternal union, by the sharing of material and spiritual goods, by kindness and sentiments (Acts 2, 42-48), to the point of being of “one heart and soul” (Acts 4, 32).

If every vocation in the Church is a gift to be lived for others, as a service of charity in freedom, then it is also a gift to be lived with others. Therefore it is discovered only living in fraternity. via New Vocations for a new Europe

I might tweak that quote by saying that it is God who offers the church as this human space, but obviously she offers herself if the Lord does. Sometimes we’re ready to live for others, but not with others. Our gifts can be employed only as we do both. So I agree with the sentiments expressed here, in spite of its source.