“The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.”

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
 no hands but yours,
 no feet but yours,
 Yours are the eyes through which to look out
 Christ's compassion to the world
; Yours are the feet with which he is to go about 
doing good;
 Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.” – St. Teresa of Ávila

Scripture Text: (EZ 47:1-2, 8-9, 12)

The angel brought me

back to the entrance of the temple,

and I saw water flowing out

from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,

for the façade of the temple was toward the east;

the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple,

south of the altar.

He led me outside by the north gate,

and around to the outer gate facing the east,

where I saw water trickling from the southern side.

He said to me,

“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,

and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.

Wherever the river flows,

every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,

and there shall be abundant fish,

for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;

their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.

Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,

for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.

Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

Here is the universal church—wherever God makes himself present in his Word, in the Eucharist, in the people.

It may be a humble brick chapel in Kentucky.

Or a cinderblock multi-purpose building in Africa.

Or a bamboo shack in the rice fields of Vietnam.

It is who we are and what we believe—the Church wherever it is found throughout history.

It is monks worshipping in a rustic stone chapel on a windswept hill in a forgotten corner of Europe.

It is Jesuit missionaries praying in a wooden building in the wilderness of upstate New York, giving their lives to convert that corner of the world to Christ.

It is a priest celebrating Mass this very Sunday on a folding table under a tent in Iraq, surrounded by refugees who have no place to go.

We can never forget: our Church was founded by a carpenter. And he left us with the tools to finish what he began: lessons in love and sacrifice, fidelity and mercy.

The work is far from finished……………………..It is up to us to pick up the tools and carry it on.