What Does The Church Need To Do For You?

I really liked this Elizabeth Duffy post, responding to some proposals that since Church teachings on birth control can result in larger families, the Church needs to "follow through" by providing more services to overwhelmed young moms. This section sums things up nicely, but the entire post is very much worth reading:

I think we fall into the same trap when we make demands of the Church, holding that wherever I have a vested interested, the Church must meet my needs. I’m being chaste, therefore the Church must be my matchmaker. I’m not using birth control, so the Church must be my nanny. I’m fighting a culture war, so the Church must provide me with beautiful liturgy, better music, and fine art.

The Church is Christ’s body on earth, and as such, it doesn’t really owe any of us anything.

On the contrary, we owe Christ and his body on earth good marriages strengthened over time by our individual and gradual perfection in virtue; we owe him fidelity even at the times when being faithful causes us suffering; we owe him the best music, art and liturgy we can provide because it’s balm for a suffering body, not necessarily because bad art is an affront to me, personally.