Many of you will have encountered Michael Voris, the Catholic layman with a mission, from his 5-minute videos entitled The Vortex. Through these regular short episodes, Voris aims to inform and educate fellow Catholics and those looking in from the outside. He exposes lies and falsehoods in the Church in a no-nonsense, no-holds-barred kind of way. Some love both his clean, crisp style and his message, while others are less fond of the messenger, but largely agree with what he has to say. And then there are those who dont warm to either. Although he regularly highlights and calls to account the all too frail and fallible human element within the Church, one is left in no doubt that he is driven by a passion. A passion for the Bride of Christ.
In a recent episode of the Vortex, Michael Voris usual clarion call gives way to pure poetry in a love song for the Church:
The Catholic Church is magnificent.
She stands like a great and noble city, a sparkling jewel splendorous.
The Bride of Christ, loved from all Eternity in the Bosom of the Holy Trinity.
Presaged by Israel with the Father, purchased with the blood of the Son, brought into visible reality by the Spirit.
Brought into being in time, her destiny is now Eternity.
What existed from all time in the mind of the Father will be alive forever in the heart of the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Church soars to the heavens in the depth of Her teachings.
She possesses infinity in a finite tabernacle.
She glories with the saints and angels in heaven even now as She lifts up her heart in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
She lives and moves and has Her Being in the Divine Majesty.
She is raised up from the dust of the earth through the waters of baptism.
She lives in perpetual virginity through everlasting espousal to Christ.
She is the delight of the Lord of Lords and is the Bride of the King of Kings.
When She speaks, her honeyed voice is truth and goodness and beauty.
When She breathes, it is the air of courts of Heaven, the intoxicating fragrance of love.
THIS is the Church.
Our Blessed Lord would prepare nothing less than perfection for his Bride, as He prepared nothing less than perfection for His Mother.
This is the Bride of Christ, and She is worth fighting for. Her sons are summoned to defend Her honour, her daughters to proclaim Her beauty.
There is nothing more noble to which man can aspire, than to sit in Her courts and muse on Her Truth.
Through the deepest reality of love that God could offer man Himself in the form of bread, His very humanity and divinity we have noble blood now flowing through our veins.
The very DNA of God Himself joins to our DNA, literally transforming us into Christ. For this reason a man leaves his parents and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh.
This is the great reality of the Holy Eucharist: that we have the very Blood of Christ flowing through our veins. His flesh becomes our flesh. We are prepared by slowly being transformed for our Heavenly home.
The Church makes possible for us the commandment that Our Blessed Lord gave to each of us: Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.
When the apostles heard their Masters words, they were awestruck and said: But who then can be saved?
Our Lord answered them: For man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
This is why the Church exists, so that Almighty God may LOVE us into Eternity with Him.
So many people simply do not see the Church in this manner. This is a cause of continual sadness for those of us who do. It must continue to be a source of sadness for us, so we can stay motivated and energised to pray and preach and sacrifice.
The greatest gift this side of Eternity has been handed to those baptised into the Catholic Faith. Freely we have received, now freely we must give.
The Catholic Church is the door to eternal life, because it is so closely wedded to Christ Himself, as a husband to his wife, that the two have become one flesh: the same flesh.
So when Our Lord says of Himself that He is the Door, He refers also to His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. He identifies with Her so closely and so freely, that He made no distinction between the Church and Himself when He confronted Saul on the road to Damascus and said: Saul, Saul why do you persecute ME?
One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism.
It is all contained in the Catholic Church, fully and completely.
This Truth its worth fighting for.
You know how sometimes you come across a gem you wish youd been inspired or gifted enough to write yourself? For me the above falls into that category. Michael Voris piece is entitled From the Heart. Though the words are his, their truth and beauty will surely find an echo in many a faithful Catholic heart.
The original version of the transcript, delivered by Voris himself, can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUoxe_7Vm-k