The Marks of the Church

If an uncle of yours, whom you had never seen, was home from Australia and you had to meet him off the train at the station, you might wonder how you were going to pick him out from the other passengers.  But if you had a photograph taken of him in his early days, you would find it fairly easy.  You would look at his photograph and study his features.  You would see that he was tall, with thick black hair, bushy eyebrows, and a hooked nose.

So, when you went off to the station, you would know what you were looking for.  As the passengers came along the platform, you might see a tall man coming along, and you would think, “Ah, here he is”, but as he got nearer you would see that he had a snub nose, and you would know that he was not your uncle after all.  Then you would see another tall man and at once you would look for the features you had seen in the photograph.  “Yes, thick hair – going a bit grey now – bushy eyebrows, and a hooked nose”.  And you would know that this was your uncle.

Now we know that Jesus founded the Church and we know what it was like in its early days.  There are four Marks or features (the family likeness) by which we can recognise the Church.  They are: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.  Today we shall think about the second Mark.