In Love with the Church

Tags: Church, Priesthood, In Love with the Church

The core of this book is three homilies on themes related to the Church, given in 1972-73, when the author suffered much over the confusion of the post-conciliar years. The title captures his attitude of filial love for the Spouse of Christ that permeates these pages.

The first homily, Loyalty to the Church, reflects on the marks of the Church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic). The second, The Supernatural Aim of the Church, pays homage to the Church as the ‘universal sacrament of salvation,’ and rejects the attempts to limit the Church to a purely human goal.

A Priest Forever, the third homily, ponders the nature of the Catholic priesthood, its necessity, dignity, relation to the Mass, as well as the relation between priests and laity in the Church.

These three homilies were published separately before his death. In 1985 they were collected into the Spanish Amar a la Iglesia. Two subsequent English translations were published under two different titles, In Love with the Church and In God’s Household. Both English translations added an improved translation of the homily Passionately Loving the World from the book Conversations with Monsignor Escrivá, as well as an epilogue by Álvaro del Portillo written on the 10th anniversary of Saint Josemaría’s death.