Inebriated in the Holy Tavern

St. Catherine of Sienna, in her Dialogues, speaks of being "inebriated with the blood of Christ" and then speaks of the Church as a tavern, provided by God for us on our journey over the Bridge to heaven, in which we receive rest, nourishment, fellowship and good spirits. This image of the Church as a "tavern" is rich and suggestive and not exactly commonplace among ecclesiologists. Tonight being shrove Tuesday and tomorrow the beginning of Lent, it is espceially helpful. Clearly, Catherine's idea of a tavern was not one of drunken revelry, but something like what we experienced in the pubs of Ireland: refreshment, laughter, great conversation, women and children of all ages, music and singing, and good cheer all around. This is the Church as I know it!