Reflections on Church Ambivalence

One of the things that disturbs me about Christians my age is the total ambivalence and at times hatred they have for the Church. I know that it's hard to blame people. The Church is a messy business. But, the mantra of many young Christians concerning the Church is, "no thanks". For all of its foibles and sins, the Church is still the Bride of Christ. It makes me so sad that so many believers are giving up on her. Today I came across this quote from Carlo Carretto, which shows such a beautiful and authentic heart for the Church:

How baffling you are, oh Church, and yet how I love you! How you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you! I should like to see you destroyed, and yet I need you presence. You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand sanctity. I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false, and I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful. How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms. No, I cannot free myself from you, because I am you, although not completely. And where should I go?