October 7, 2024 – Saint of the Day—Saint Bruno

“He supported Pole Gregory VII in the fight against the decadence of the clergy. Bruno’s house was plundered for these efforts.”

“The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike.  As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc.” (Augsburg Confession, Article VII)

The church is not filled with holy, or righteous people. The church is filled with broken pots, cast-aside plates, cracked cups, and over-used tablecloths. In other words, the church is filled with broken, damaged, and forgotten people—as well as those who have been set aside to teach and preach. But even those people are broken. It is Christ who makes us whole. It is the Holy Spirit that fills us again and again as the world drains and destroys us.

As I watch the process of determining if one broken person is “worthy” to be elected to the Supreme Court, or elected to be president of the United States, I cannot help but see irony in the process of broken people trying to assess the qualifications of another broken person. I am greatly distressed—for them, for their future, for the future of our country and our world. But then I am reminded that “…it is Christ who makes us whole.”

Pastor Dave