134. God willed one Church for all.

God willed one Church for all.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 134

Ave Maria Series

Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

Anyone who, in union with the Pope and the bishops, is united to Jesus Christ through profession of the Catholic faith and reception of the sacraments is in full communion with the Catholic Church.  [836-838]

Dr. Don C Bragg, third from left, during a lunch break for the basic excavation crew -Arkansas Archeological Survey ,  Toltec Mounds Research Station, Arkansas. …..134

God willed one Church for all.  Unfortunately we Christians have been unfaithful to this wish of Christ.  Nevertheless, even today we are still deeply united with one another by our faith and common Baptism.

“Just as there are also uncatholic things in the Catholic Church, so too we can find something catholic even outside the Catholic Church.  Many who seem to be outside are inside; many who seem to be inside are outside.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

[836-838]

Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

836 "All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God. . . . And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God's grace to salvation."(Lumen gentium13)³²⁰ –Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Second Edition

837 "Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'"(Lumen gentium 14)³²¹ --CCC

838 "The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter."(Lumen gentium 15)³²² Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church."(Unitatis redintegratio 3)³²³  With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist."(Paul VI, Discourse, December 14, 1975; cf. Unitatis redintegratio 13-18)³²⁴ –CCC

People  Don C.