As we love our mothers, so we should naturally love our holy mother the Church. But it can sometimes be difficult to do so, especially when we see the human failings of members of the Church and the many difficulties she faces at the present time. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture, Fathers of the Church, Popes and St Josemaria Escriva to consider how:

• To love Jesus Christ is to love the Church, which is his Mystical Body
• The Church is truly our spiritual mother
• The Church is not a merely human institution but the Communion of Saints, with Christ as its head and the Holy Spirit as its soul
• The very survival of the Church to this day in spite of all the problems it has faced throughout the centuries can fill us with faith
• From the time of the apostles, there have always been human failings in members of the Church
• We should love the Church and pray very much for the Pope, the bishops and all in the Church.