BEAUTY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Source: Br. Stephen George Collection
Episode - 1:
I Believe in ... the Holy Catholic Church "
What does "Church" mean ?
The Greek word for--> church is "ekklesia" = those who are called forth. All of us who are baptized and believe in God are called forth by the Lord. Together we are thee Church. Christ is, as Paul says the Head of the Church. We are his body.
When we receive the sacraments and hear God's Word, Christ is in us and we are in him-- that is the --> CHURCH. The intimate communion of life with Jesus that is shared personally by all the baptized is described in Sacred Scripture by a wealth of images: Here it speaks about the People of God and in another passage about the Bride of Christ; now the Church is called Mother, and again she is God's family, or she is compared with a wedding feast. Never is the Church a mere institution, never just the "official Church" that we could do without. We will be upset by the mistakes and defects in the--> Church, but we can never distance ourselves from her, because God has made an irrevocable decision to love her and does not forsake her despite all the sins of her members. The Church is God's presence among us men. That is why we must love her.
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.
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.
Why is the Church more than an institution ?
The Church is more than an institution because she is a -> MYSTERY that is simultaneously human and divine.
True love does not blind a person but rather makes him see. With regard to the -> CHURCH, this is precisely the case: Viewed from outside, the Church is only a historical institution with historical achievements, but also mistakes and even crimes--a Church of sinners. But that is not looking deep enough. After all, Christ became so involved with us sinners that he never abandons his Church, even if we were to betray him daily. This inseparable union of the human and the divine, of sin and grace, is the mystery of the Church. Seen with the eyes of faith, the Church is therefore indestructibly holy.
The Church is more than an institution because she is a -> MYSTERY that is simultaneously human and divine.
True love does not blind a person but rather makes him see. With regard to the -> CHURCH, this is precisely the case: Viewed from outside, the Church is only a historical institution with historical achievements, but also mistakes and even crimes--a Church of sinners. But that is not looking deep enough. After all, Christ became so involved with us sinners that he never abandons his Church, even if we were to betray him daily. This inseparable union of the human and the divine, of sin and grace, is the mystery of the Church. Seen with the eyes of faith, the Church is therefore indestructibly holy.
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