Yesterday (well, today, but observance yesterday) was the feast of St Peter and St Paul.  As was covered in the homily at our parish, if either of these two were given a performance review today, they probably wouldn’t come out on top.  Think about it: St Paul spent his pre-conversion time hunting down Christians and getting them put to death, and St Peter managed to deny the man who he had seen firsthand was the Son of God – right when He needed him the most.  Not exactly fantastic character references, eh?

But, then again, how about taking another look?  St Peter – the rock on which our Church is formed – and St Paul – “Apostle to the gentiles” – both so firmly believed in God and the truth of His message of love, that they spent (literally) their lives spreading that Good News.  They preached far and wide a message that was very counter-cultural back then – and unfortunately still is today.  It’s a message that calls us all to look past ourselves and our own little lives, and look to our neighbour and see how we can help and how we can give of ourselves to them.  It’s a message that makes us realise that there is more to life than just what we see here, and that physical possessions and desires are fleeting (at best). 

Yet, it’s a message which still comes under attack and is very often misunderstood.  This is evident even on humble little blogs like this one.  I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the discussion on some of the posts from last week, and a couple of comments have really stuck out there for me.  One asked the oft-asked question: paraphrased to “why doesn’t the Church just sell up all its nice buildings and assets and give the money to the poor?”  And why not?  I mean, look at St Peter and St Paul?  No gold chalices for them! 

Tell you what, though – why stop at the Church?  Why not have the New Zealand government just sell all its assets and give the money to the poor?  Better yet – why even bother having money at all?  Why not just collect all the resources together and distribute them evenly amongst the community?  Ahh…sounds like utopia.

Of course, there is the ever so slight chance that such a governmental move might not work.  I can think of a couple of reasons why not.  Firstly, one would think that it would be tricky to maintain all that annoying “critical” infrastructure that the government runs on behalf of all the people in the community.  Secondly, there is no question in my mind that humanity is far from perfect.  I don’t really care what you believe about God or His alternatives – we as a species have an ability to stuff things up, and to let the weak links in the chain ruin it for everyone.  Call it “fallen nature” or “human greed”, but either way you’ll struggle to find a perfect example of society where we haven’t dropped the ball.

Okay, so let’s leave the government out of it and focus back on the Church that these two saints gave their lives to establish and grow.  Well, fine, but I think the same two reasons apply in this case too.  If the Church was to sell all the assets and infrastructure she owns and to give the money to the poor, would that solve poverty?  And I really mean “solve” it?  Because if there is any doubt that such an act wouldn’t provide the total solution, then I’d suggest the Church doesn’t sell up.  If there is still work to be done, then I suggest the Church is right to continue to grow and build her infrastructure – the infrastructure that often fills the gap left by others, namely helping those least fortunate in our society, and continuing to do so until the end of the world or the end of poverty and despair – whichever comes first.  :) 

Think about the impact that the Church has, for example, as being the largest care providers of HIV and AIDS in the world.  Now think about the same level of impact if you remove the infrastructure. 

To the other reason, that of the fallen nature of Man, one might think that there is still a lot of work to do here too.  Just maybe.  :)  Remember – the core mission of the Church, and her very reason for existing, is to draw people closer to God.  That’s it.  That’s why we have the churches and the ceremony, the sacraments and the schools, the charities and the societies – all is about drawing people closer (or, nowadays, back) to God. 

And why is this so important?  Because of that message.  That message which St Peter and St Paul died for.  That message which we, and so many before us and so many more to come will hold to so dearly.  That message which far surpasses pure scientific curiosity as to why and how we came to be…

…you want the summary?  ;)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbour as yourself.”

So sad that we need so much to explain something so simple.