The Church in this world is
the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God
and men.
YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the
Catholic Church Lesson 123
Ave Maria series
123 What is the task of the Church?
The Church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has
already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations. [763-769,
774-776, 780]
The baptism of
infant Don C. Bragg at Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church,
Woodruff, WI (1970). (L to R) Lisa, Irma
Linskey, Charles Bayer, infant Don, dad Don and mother Rose. ”The Church is the Reign of Christ already
present in mystery” (see CCC #763 below). ….123.
Wherever Jesus went, heaven touched earth: the kingdom of
God was inaugurated, a kingdom of peace and justice. The Church serves this kingdom of God. She is not an end in herself. She must carry on what Jesus started. She should act as Jesus would act. She continues the sacred signs of Jesus (the
sacraments). She hands on Jesus’
words. That is why the Church, for all
her weakness, is a formidable bit of heaven on earth.
[763-769, 774-776,
780]
The Church - instituted by Christ Jesus
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 –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
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 LG 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
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."( 196 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
IN BRIEF
780 The Church in this world is the
sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and
men.
–CCC
People Baptism
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