PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO I. THE CREEDS
ARTICLE 9 "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"
[Paragraph 2. The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit]
[Paragraph 3. The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic]
PARAGRAPH 1. THE CHURCH IN GOD'S PLAN
[Paragraph 3. The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic]
PARAGRAPH 1. THE CHURCH IN GOD'S PLAN
I. NAMES AND IMAGES OF THE CHURCH
751 The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia, from the
Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of") means a convocation or an
assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious
purpose. [Acts:19:3]
Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the
assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount
Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy
people.[Ex. 19] By calling itself "Church," the first community of Christian
believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is
"calling together" his people from all the ends of the earth. The
equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the
German Kirche are derived, means "what belongs to the Lord."
752 In Christian usage, the word "church"
designates the liturgical assembly,[1Cor. 11:18; 14:19,28,34,35] but also the local community142 or the
whole universal community of believers.143 These three meanings are
inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God gathers in the whole
world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above
all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of
Christ and so herself becomes Christ's Body.
Symbols of the Church
753 In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and
figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the
Church. The images taken from the Old Testament are variations on a profound
theme: the People of God. In the New Testament, all these images find a new
center because Christ has become the head of this people, which henceforth is
his Body.144 Around this center are grouped images taken "from the life of
the shepherd or from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or from
family life and marriage."145
754 "The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole
and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God
himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though
governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished and led by Christ
himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his
sheep.146
755 "The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of
God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets
and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and
will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been
planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life
and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain
in Christ, without whom we can do nothing.147
756 "Often, too, the Church is called the building of
God. The Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but
which was made into the corner-stone. On this foundation the Church is built by
the apostles and from it the Church receives solidity and unity. This edifice
has many names to describe it: the house of God in which his family dwells; the
household of God in the Spirit; the dwelling-place of God among men; and,
especially, the holy temple. This temple, symbolized in places of worship built
out of stone, is praised by the Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in
the liturgy to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. As living stones we here on
earth are built into it. It is this holy city that is seen by John as it comes
down out of heaven from God when the world is made anew, prepared like a bride
adorned for her husband.148
757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem
which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the
spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself
up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an
unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and
cherishes.'"149
II. 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.
A plan born in the Father's heart
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,"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."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 Advance.
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."152
The Church- foreshadowed from the world's beginning
760 Christians of the first centuries said, "The world
was created for the sake of the Church."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,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:
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."155
The Church - prepared for in the Old Covenant
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.156
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.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.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."159
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.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."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."162
764 "This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in
the works and in the presence of Christ."163 To welcome Jesus' word is to
welcome "the Kingdom itself."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.165 They form Jesus' true family.166
To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting"
and a prayer of their own.167
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.168 Representing the twelve
tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem.169 The
Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but
also in his lot.170 By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.
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."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.'"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.173
The Church - revealed by the Holy Spirit
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."174 Then "the
Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among
the nations, through preaching, was begun."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.176
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."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."178
The Church - perfected in glory
769 "The Church . . . will receive its perfection only
in the glory of heaven,"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."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."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."182
III. THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
770 The Church is in history, but at the same time she
transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith"183 that one can
see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as
bearer of divine life.
The Church - both visible and spiritual
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."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;
- the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly
riches."185
These dimensions together constitute "one complex
reality which comes together from a human and a divine element":186
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.187
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.188
The Church - mystery of men's union with God
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."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.190 Contemplating this mystery in her, Paul
exclaims: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."191
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.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."193 Mary
goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the
bride without spot or wrinkle."194 This is why the "Marian"
dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine."195
The universal Sacrament of Salvation
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
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."
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."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";198 at the same
time, the Church is the "sign and instrument" of the full realization
of the unity yet to come.
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."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."200
IN BRIEF
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.
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 (cf. Rev 14:4).
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.
780 The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation,
the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.
[Paragraph 2. The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit]
[Paragraph 2. The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit]
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