There is a revolution going on in today’s Church. Very ordinary people are discovering the energy, the
insight, and the power that comes with a real spiritual life. And, as it happens when the Holy Spirit
steps out of the chanceries of the world, quite ordinary people are being spiritually empowered to
make decisions on their own.
They know they have been sent to live the beatitudes in a world where two-thirds of the people are
deprived of the basics of life. They know they have been sent to be the sign of the call, the gospel
commitment, in a world that wants power and profit instead. They know they have been sent to
become the Christ-figure in a world that says, “You get them before they get you!” In a Church that
says some of us are inadequate images of Christ. They know they have been sent to turn the world
around, one part at a time.
A folk tale may explain it best.
Once upon a time a priest announced that Jesus, himself, was coming to church the following Sunday.
How the people turned up in large number, of course, to see him.
Everyone expected Jesus to preach. But he only smiled. And everyone offered him hospitality, but he
refused. He wanted to spend the night in church, he said. “How could he!” everyone thought. But the
next morning, by the time the church doors were open, Jesus had already slipped away. And to their
horror, the priest and the people discovered that their church had been vandalized.
Scribbled everywhere on the walls was the single word, “Beware!” No part of the church was spared;
the doors and the windows, the pillars and the pulpit, the altar; even the Bible that rested on the
lectern. “Beware!” Wherever the eye rested one could see the word, “Beware!” Shocking! Yet,
confusing. Hauntingly terrifying! What were they supposed to be aware of?
The first impulse of the people was to wipe out every trace of this defilement, this sacrilege. The only
thing that stopped them from doing it was the awareness that it was Jesus, after all, Jesus, himself,
who had done this deed.
But the days went by. That mysterious word, “Beware,” began to sink into the minds of the people
each time they came to church. They began to beware of the Scriptures, so they were able to profit
from them without falling into bigotry. They began to beware of the Sacraments, so they were
sanctified without becoming superstitious. The priest began to beware of his power over the people,
so he was able to help without controlling. And everyone began to beware of religion, which leads the
unwary to self-righteousness.
They became law-abiding, yet compassionate to the weak; they began to beware of prayer, so it no
longer stopped them from becoming self-reliant; they even began to beware of their notions of God, so
they were able to recognize God outside the narrow confines of their church. Finally, they inscribed
the shocking word over the entrance of their church and as you drive past at night you can see it
blazing above the church in multi-colored neon lights. The message is a simple one: Beware! Beware of
power without spirituality and beware of any spirituality that does not empower. Beware. Beware.
Beware. For the sake of the Church, and the sake of the children, I’m begging you, beware.
– from “Empowerment and Spirituality,” by Joan Chittister, Creation magazine, March/April, Vol. 6, No.
2, 1990
insight, and the power that comes with a real spiritual life. And, as it happens when the Holy Spirit
steps out of the chanceries of the world, quite ordinary people are being spiritually empowered to
make decisions on their own.
They know they have been sent to live the beatitudes in a world where two-thirds of the people are
deprived of the basics of life. They know they have been sent to be the sign of the call, the gospel
commitment, in a world that wants power and profit instead. They know they have been sent to
become the Christ-figure in a world that says, “You get them before they get you!” In a Church that
says some of us are inadequate images of Christ. They know they have been sent to turn the world
around, one part at a time.
A folk tale may explain it best.
Once upon a time a priest announced that Jesus, himself, was coming to church the following Sunday.
How the people turned up in large number, of course, to see him.
Everyone expected Jesus to preach. But he only smiled. And everyone offered him hospitality, but he
refused. He wanted to spend the night in church, he said. “How could he!” everyone thought. But the
next morning, by the time the church doors were open, Jesus had already slipped away. And to their
horror, the priest and the people discovered that their church had been vandalized.
Scribbled everywhere on the walls was the single word, “Beware!” No part of the church was spared;
the doors and the windows, the pillars and the pulpit, the altar; even the Bible that rested on the
lectern. “Beware!” Wherever the eye rested one could see the word, “Beware!” Shocking! Yet,
confusing. Hauntingly terrifying! What were they supposed to be aware of?
The first impulse of the people was to wipe out every trace of this defilement, this sacrilege. The only
thing that stopped them from doing it was the awareness that it was Jesus, after all, Jesus, himself,
who had done this deed.
But the days went by. That mysterious word, “Beware,” began to sink into the minds of the people
each time they came to church. They began to beware of the Scriptures, so they were able to profit
from them without falling into bigotry. They began to beware of the Sacraments, so they were
sanctified without becoming superstitious. The priest began to beware of his power over the people,
so he was able to help without controlling. And everyone began to beware of religion, which leads the
unwary to self-righteousness.
They became law-abiding, yet compassionate to the weak; they began to beware of prayer, so it no
longer stopped them from becoming self-reliant; they even began to beware of their notions of God, so
they were able to recognize God outside the narrow confines of their church. Finally, they inscribed
the shocking word over the entrance of their church and as you drive past at night you can see it
blazing above the church in multi-colored neon lights. The message is a simple one: Beware! Beware of
power without spirituality and beware of any spirituality that does not empower. Beware. Beware.
Beware. For the sake of the Church, and the sake of the children, I’m begging you, beware.
– from “Empowerment and Spirituality,” by Joan Chittister, Creation magazine, March/April, Vol. 6, No.
2, 1990
BEWARE. BEWARE. BEWARE.
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