God wants to redeem
us, not individually, but together.
YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson
122
Ave Maria series
122 Why does God want there to be a Church?
God wills the Church because he wants to redeem us, not
individually, but together. He wants to
make all mankind his people. [758-781, 802-804]
Landscape
with Noah's Thank Offering (painting about 1803 by Joseph Anton Koch). .....122
God said: This
is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every
living creature with you for all ages to come: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as
a sign of the covenant
between me and the earth.—Genesis 9:12-13
No one gets to heaven by the asocial route. Someone who thinks only about himself and the
salvation of his own soul is living a-socially.
That is impossible both in heaven and on earth. God himself is not a-social; he is not a
solitary, self-sufficient being. The
Triune God in himself is “social”, a communion, an eternal exchange of
love. Patterned after God, man also is
designed for relationship, exchange, sharing, and love. We are responsible for one another.
When the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your
brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I
my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9
[758-781, 802-804]
THE CHURCH'S ORIGIN, FOUNDATION AND MISSION
758 We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by
meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive
realization in history.—Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Second Edition
759 "The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly
gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole
universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life," (Lumen gentium 2)150 to which he calls all men in his Son.
"The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church
those who should believe in Christ." (Lumen gentium 2)151 This "family of God" is gradually formed and
takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's
plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world,
this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of
Israel and the old Alliance. Established in this last age of the world and made
manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious
completion at the end of time." (Lumen gentium 2)152 --CCC
760 Christians of the first centuries said, "The world
was created for the sake of the Church." (Pastor
Hermae, Vision 2,4,1:Patrologia
Graeca 2,899; compare Aristides, Apol.
16,6; St. Justin, Apol.
2,7:Patrologia Graeca 6,456; Tertullian, Apol.
31,3; 32,1:Patrologia Latina 1,508-509)153 God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine
life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in
Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church. The Church is the goal
of all things, (compare St. Epiphanius, Panarion 1,1,5:Patrologia Graeca 41,181C)154 and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels'
fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of
his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world: –CCC
Just
as God's will is creation and is called "the world," so his intention
is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church." (Clement
of Alex., Pæd. 1,6,27:Patrologia Graeca 8,281)155
–CCC
761 The gathering together of the People of God began at the
moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among
themselves. The gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction
to the chaos provoked by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the
heart of all peoples: "In every nation anyone who fears him and does what
is right is acceptable" to God. (Acts of the
Apostles 10:35; compare Lumen gentium 9; 13; 16)156 –CCC
762 The remote preparation for this gathering together of
the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become
the father of a great people. (compare Genesis 12:2; Gen 15:5-6)157 Its immediate
preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God. By this
election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of all nations. (compare Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 7:6; Isaiah 2:2-5; Micah 4:1-4)158 But the prophets
accuse Israel of breaking the covenant and behaving like a prostitute. They
announce a new and eternal covenant. "Christ instituted this New
Covenant." (Lumen gentium 9;
compare Hosea 1; Isaiah 1:2-4; Jeremiah 2; Jer 31:31-34; Isaiah 55:3)159
--CCC
763 It was the Son's task to
accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its
accomplishment was the reason for his being sent.(
Compare Lumen Gentium 3; Ad Gentes 3.)160 "The Lord Jesus
inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the
Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures."(Lumen Gentium 5.)161 To fulfill the
Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church
"is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery."( Lumen Gentium 3.)162 --CCC
764 "This
Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of
Christ."( Lumen Gentium 5.)163 To welcome Jesus'
word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself."( Lumen Gentium 5.)164 The seed and
beginning of the Kingdom are the "little flock" of those whom Jesus
came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is.( Luke 12:32;
compare Matthew 10:16; Mt 26:31; John 10:1-21.)165 They form
Jesus' true family.( Compare Matthew 12:49.)166 To those whom
he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting" and a
prayer of their own.( Compare Matthew 5-6.)167 --CCC
765 The Lord Jesus
endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is
fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as
their head.( Compare Mark 3:14-15.)168 Representing the
twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem.( Compare Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30; Revelation 21:12-14.)169 The Twelve and
the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his
lot.( Compare Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1-2; Matthew 10:25; John
15:20.)170 By all his
actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church. --CCC
766 The Church is
born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in
the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin
and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed
from the open side of the crucified Jesus."( Lumen Gentium 3;
compare John 19:34.)171 "For it was
from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that
there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'"( Sacrosanctum
Concilium 5.)172 As Eve was formed
from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of
Christ hanging dead on the cross.( Compare
St. Ambrose, In Luc. 2,85-89:Patrologia Latina 15,1666-1668.)173 --CCC
767 "When the work which the
Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent
on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church."( Lumen Gentium 4;
compare John 17:4.)174 Then "the
Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among
the nations, through preaching, was begun."( Ad Gentes 4.)175 As the
"convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature
is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them.( Compare Matthew 28:19-20; Ad Gentes 2; AG 5-6.)176 --CCC
768 So that she
can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied
hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her."( Lumen Gentium 4.)177 "Henceforward
the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his
precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of
proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of
God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom."( Lumen Gentium 5.)178 --CCC
769 "The Church
. . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven,"( Lumen Gentium 48.)179 at the time of
Christ's glorious return. Until that day, "the Church progresses on her
pilgrimage amidst this world's persecutions and God's consolations."(
St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 18,51:Patrologia Latina 41,614;
compare Lumen Gentium 8.)180 Here
below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full
coming of the Kingdom, when she will "be united in glory with her
king."( Lumen Gentium 5;
Compare Lumen Gentium 6; 2
Corinthians 5:6.)181 The Church, and through her the world, will
not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will "all the
just from the time of Adam, 'from Abel, the just one, to the last of the
elect,' . . . be gathered together in the universal Church in the
Father's presence."( Lumen Gentium 2.)182 --CCC
770 The Church is
in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the
eyes of faith"( Roman Catechism I,10,20.)183 that one can see her
in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer
of divine life. --CCC
771 "The one mediator, Christ,
established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of
faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he
communicates truth and grace to all men."( Lumen Gentium 8 § 1.)184 The Church is
at the same time:
- a "society
structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ;
- the visible
society and the spiritual community;
These dimensions
together constitute "one complex reality which comes together from a human
and a divine element"( Lumen Gentium 8.)186 --CCC
The
Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible
realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the
world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed
toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation,
and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.( Sacrsanctum
Concilium 2; compare Hebrews 13:14.)187 --CCC
O
humility! O sublimity! Both tabernacle of cedar and sanctuary of God; earthly
dwelling and celestial palace; house of clay and royal hall; body of death and
temple of light; and at last both object of scorn to the proud and bride of
Christ! She is black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, for even if the
labor and pain of her long exile may have discolored her, yet heaven's beauty
has adorned her.( St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, In Cant. Sermo 27:14:Patrologia Latina 183:920D.)188 --CCC
772 It is in the Church that Christ
fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to
unite all things in him."( Ephesians 1:10.)189 St. Paul calls the
nuptial union of Christ and the Church "a great mystery." Because she
is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a mystery in her turn.( Ephesians 5:32; Eph 3:9-11; Eph 5:25-27.)190 Contemplating this
mystery in her, Paul exclaims: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."( Colossians 1:27.)191 --CCC
773 In the Church
this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is
the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied
to this passing world.( 1 Corinthians 13:8;
compare Lumen Gentium 48.)192 "[The
Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And
holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which the Bride
responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom."( John Paul II, Mulieris
Dignitatem 27)193 Mary goes before us all in the holiness that
is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle."( Ephesians 5:27.)194 This is why
the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the
"Petrine."( Compare John Paul II, Mulieris
Dignitatem 27)195 --CCC
774 The Greek word mysterion was
translated into Latin by two terms: mysterium and sacramentum.
In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible
sign of the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mysterium.
In this sense, Christ himself is the mystery of salvation: "For there is
no other mystery of God, except Christ."( St.
Augustine, Ep. 187,11,34:Patrologia Latina 33,846.)196 The saving
work of his holy and sanctifying humanity is the sacrament of salvation, which
is revealed and active in the Church's sacraments (which the Eastern Churches
also call "the holy mysteries"). The seven sacraments are the signs
and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head
throughout the Church which is his Body. The Church, then, both contains and
communicates the invisible grace she signifies. It is in this analogical sense,
that the Church is called a "sacrament." --CCC
775 "The
Church, in Christ, is like a sacrament - a sign and instrument, that is, of
communion with God and of unity among all men."( Lumen Gentium 1.)197 The Church's first
purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner
union of men with God. Because men's communion with one another is
rooted in that union with God, the Church is also the sacrament of the unity of the human race. In her,
this unity is already begun, since she gathers men "from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and tongues";( Revelation 7:9.)198 at the same time,
the Church is the "sign and instrument" of the full realization of
the unity yet to come. --CCC
776 As sacrament,
the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the
instrument for the salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of
salvation," by which Christ is "at once manifesting and actualizing
the mystery of God's love for men."( Lumen Gentium 9 § 2,48 §
2; Gaudium et Spes 45 § 1.)199 The Church
"is the visible plan of God's love for humanity," because God desires
"that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of
Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit."( Paul VI, June 22, 1973; Ad Gentes 7 § 2;
compare Lumen Gentium 17.)200 --CCC
777 The word
"Church" means "convocation." It designates the assembly of
those whom God's Word "convokes," i.e., gathers together to form the
People of God, and who themselves, nourished with the Body of Christ, become
the Body of Christ. --CCC
778 The Church is
both the means and the goal of God's plan: prefigured in creation, prepared for
in the Old Covenant, founded by the words and actions of Jesus Christ,
fulfilled by his redeeming cross and his Resurrection, the Church has been
manifested as the mystery of salvation by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
She will be perfected in the glory of heaven as the assembly of all the
redeemed of the earth (compare Revelation 14:4). --CCC
779 The Church is
both visible and spiritual, a hierarchical society and the Mystical Body of
Christ. She is one, yet formed of two components, human and divine. That is her
mystery, which only faith can accept. --CCC
780 The Church in
this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the
communion of God and men. --CCC
781 "At all times and in every race, anyone
who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has,
however, willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any
bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who might
acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the Israelite
race to be his own people and established a covenant with it. He gradually
instructed this people. . . . All these things, however, happened as
a preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified
in Christ . . . the New Covenant in his blood; he called together a
race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not according to the
flesh, but in the Spirit."201 --CCC
IN BRIEF
802 Christ Jesus
"gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for
himself a people of his own" (Titus 2:14). –CCC
804 One enters into the People of God by faith
and Baptism. "All men are called to belong to the new People of God" (Lumen
Gentium 13), so that, in Christ, "men may form one family and one
People of God" (Ad
Gentes 1). --CCC
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