From the Diocese of Melbourne: "A Church without Martyrs"

Who will save us from endless runs of Big Brother, foot ball fever, celebrity worship, the lotto life, and the race to extend our life spans? Who will save us from the mentality of commercial television quiz shows?

We do not need more church growth gurus or mission statements or strategic plans. What we do need is to remember who we are.

We are the body of Christ through whom all things were made.

We are the salt of the earth without which life is tasteless.

We are the leaven in the lump without which the loaf is inedible.

We are the heralds of the new reality called the kingdom of God in which the lion will lay down with the lamb and the child will play over the hole of the asp.

There is just as much at stake for us as there is for men and women who are murdered for the faith they hold.

It is just that our demise will not be marked by bloodshed but by the almost imperceptible erosion of all that is good and true. The only thing that will be valued is what the market values. There will be no solid place we can place our foot.

Our only hope is the church, staggering, struggling, confused and fearful but bearing the only source of hope, Jesus Christ before whom kings will shut their mouths.

Read it all at The Diocese of Melbourne.