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§700
The
finger. «It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out
demons.» 55 If God's law was written on tablets of stone «by
the finger of God,» then the «letter from Christ» entrusted to
the care of the apostles, is written «with the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.» 56 The
hymn Veni Creator Spiritus invokes the Holy Spirit as the «finger of the
Father's right hand.» 57
§701
The
dove. At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove
released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a sign
that the earth was again habitable.58 When Christ comes up from the
water of his baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon
him and remains with him.59 The Spirit comes down and remains in the
purified hearts of the baptized. In certain churches, the Eucharist is reserved
in a metal receptacle in the form of a dove (columbarium) suspended above the
altar. Christian iconography traditionally uses a dove to suggest the Spirit.
III. God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises
§702
From the beginning until «the fullness of time,» 60 The joint
mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work.
God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed
but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation.
So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches
there for what the Spirit, «who has spoken through the prophets,"
wants to tell us about Christ.61
By «prophets» the faith of the Church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in the composition of the sacred books, both of the Old and the New Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law (the five first books or Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and prophetic books) and finally the Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms).62
In creation
§703
The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every
creature:63
It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son.... Power over life pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son.64
§704
«God fashioned man with his own hands [that is, the Son and the Holy
Spirit] and impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way
that even what was visible might bear the divine form.» 65
The Spirit of the promise
§705
Disfigured by sin and death, man remains «in the image of God,» in
the image of the Son, but is deprived «of the glory of
God,» 66 of his «likeness.» the promise made to Abraham
inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of which the Son
himself will assume that «image» 67 and restore it in the
Father's «likeness» by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is
«the giver of life.»
§706
Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of
faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit.68 In Abraham's progeny all
the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ
himself,69 in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will «gather
into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.» 70 God
commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and «the
promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it.» 71
In Theophanies and the Law
§707
Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the
patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the
missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that
God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which
the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.
§708
This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law.72 God
gave the letter of the Law as a «pedagogue» to lead his people
towards Christ.73 But the Law's powerlessness to save man deprived of
the divine «likeness,» along with the growing awareness of sin that
it imparts,74 enkindles a desire for the Holy Spirit. the lamentations
of the Psalms bear witness to this.
In the Kingdom and the Exile
§709
The Law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the
hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth.
«If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.» 75 But after David, Israel
gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. the
Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David,76 would be
the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according to the
Spirit.
§710
The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is
the Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact the
mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised
restoration, but according to the Spirit. the People of God had to suffer this
purification.77 In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow
of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the Exile is one of
the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.
Expectation of the Messiah and his Spirit
§711
«Behold, I am doing a new thing.» 78 Two prophetic lines were
to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing
to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the
people of the poor, who await in hope the «consolation of Israel» and
«the redemption of Jerusalem.» 79
We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning himself. We limit ourselves here to those in which the relationship of the Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.
§712
The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the «Book of
Emmanuel» ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory,» 80
speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11:
81
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
§713
The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the «Servant
songs.» 82 These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and
show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an
outsider, but by embracing our «form as slave.» 83 Taking our
death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
§714
This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his
own the following passage from Isaiah:84
The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor.
§715
The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are
oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the
promise, with the accents of «love and fidelity.» 85 St. Peter
will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost.86
According to these promises, at the «end time» the Lord's Spirit will
renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile
the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and
God will dwell there with men in peace.
§716
The People of the «poor» 87 - those who, humble and meek, rely
solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but
of the Messiah - are in the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's
hidden mission during the time of the promises that prepare for Christ's
coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit,
which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready
«a people prepared for the Lord.» 88
IV. The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time
John, precursor, prophet, and baptist
§717
«There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.» 89 John
was «filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's
womb» 90 by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived
by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God
to his people.91
§718
John is «Elijah (who) must come.» 92 The fire of the Spirit
dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the
precursor, the Holy Spirit completes the work of «[making] ready a people
prepared for the Lord.» 93
§719
John the Baptist is «more than a prophet.» 94 In him, the Holy
Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of
prophets begun by Elijah.95 He proclaims the imminence of the
consolation of Israel; he is the «voice» of the Consoler who is
coming.96 As the Spirit of truth will also do, John «came to bear
witness to the light.» 97 In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings
to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of
the angels.98 «He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain,
this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. and I have seen and have borne
witness that this is the Son of God.... Behold, the Lamb of
God.» 99
§720
Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man
of «the divine likeness,» prefiguring what he would achieve with and
in Christ. John's baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit
will be a new birth.100
«Rejoice, you who are full of grace»
§721
Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission
of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the
plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the
dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this
sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom
in relation to Mary.101 Mary is acclaimed and represented in the
liturgy as the «Seat of Wisdom.»
In her, the «wonders of God» that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ
and the Church began to be manifested:
§722
The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of
him in whom «the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily» 102
should herself be «full of grace.» She was, by sheer grace, conceived
without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the
inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel
to greet her as the «Daughter of Zion":
«Rejoice.» 103 It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of
God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle104 lifts up to
the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.
§723
In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness.
With and through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the
Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became
uniquely fruitful.105
§724
In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of
the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with
the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is
to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him
known.106
§725
Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of
God's merciful love,107 into communion with Christ. and the humble are
always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and
groom at Cana, and the first disciples.
§726
At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve
("mother of the living»), the mother of the «whole
Christ.» 108 As such, she was present with the Twelve, who «with
one accord devoted themselves to prayer,» 109 at the dawn of the
«end time» which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of
Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church.
Christ Jesus
§727
The entire mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of time, is
contained in this: that the Son is the one anointed by the Father's Spirit
since his Incarnation - Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
Everything in the second chapter of the Creed is to be read in this light.
Christ's whole work is in fact a joint mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Here, we shall mention only what has to do with Jesus' promise of the Holy
Spirit and the gift of him by the glorified Lord.
§728
Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been
glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he
alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that
his own flesh will be food for the life of the world.110 He also
alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus,111 to the Samaritan
woman,112 and to those who take part in the feast of
Tabernacles.113 To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in
connection with prayer114 and with the witness they will have to
bear.115
§729
Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the
coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill the
promise made to the fathers.116 The Spirit of truth, the other
Paraclete, will be given by the Father in answer to Jesus' prayer; he will be
sent by the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send him from the Father's
side, since he comes from the Father. the Holy Spirit will come and we shall
know him; he will be with us for ever; he will remain with us. the Spirit will
teach us everything, remind us of all that Christ said to us and bear witness
to him. the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and will glorify Christ. He
will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
§730
At last Jesus' hour arrives:117 he commends his spirit into the
Father's hands118 at the very moment when by his death he conquers
death, so that, «raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father,» 119 he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by
«breathing» on his disciples.120 From this hour onward, the
mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: «As the
Father has sent me, even so I send you.» 121
V. The Spirit and the Church In the Last Days
Pentecost
§731
On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's
Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given,
and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours
out the Spirit in abundance.122
§732
On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom
announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility
of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy
Trinity. By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to
enter into the «last days,» the time of the Church, the Kingdom
already inherited though not yet consummated.
We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us.123
The Holy Spirit - God's gift
§733
«God is Love» 124 and love is his first gift, containing all
others. «God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us.» 125
§734
Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the
gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. the communion of the Holy
Spirit126 in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness
lost through sin.
§735
He, then, gives us the «pledge» or «first fruits» of our
inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as «God
(has) loved us.» 127 This love (the «charity» of ⇒ 1
Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible
because we have received «power» from the Holy Spirit.128
§736
By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has
grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear «the fruit of the Spirit:
. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control.» 129 «We live by the Spirit»; the more we
renounce ourselves, the more we «walk by the Spirit.» 130
Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God «Father» and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.131
The Holy Spirit and the Church
§737
The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the
Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This
joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion
with the Father in the Holy Spirit. the Spirit prepares men and goes out to
them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. the Spirit manifests the
risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the
understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of
Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them
into communion with God, that they may «bear much fruit.» 132
§738
Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy
Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the
Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery
of the communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next article):
All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, . . . and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.133
§739
Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the
head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and
organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear
witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his
intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ
communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. (This
will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)
§740
These «mighty works of God,» offered to believers in the sacraments
of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the
Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.)
§741
«The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for
words.» 134 The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God's works, is the
master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.)
IN BRIEF
§742
«Because you are sons,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba!
Father!"' (⇒ Gal 4:6).
§743
From the beginning to the
end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their
mission is conjoined and inseparable.
§744
In the fullness of time
the Holy Spirit completes in Mary all the preparations for Christ's coming
among the People of God. By the action of the Holy Spirit in her, the Father
gives the world Emmanuel «God-with-us» (⇒ Mt
1:23).
§745
The Son of God was
consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at his
Incarnation (cf ⇒ Ps 2:6-7).
§746
By his Death and his
Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in glory as Lord and Christ (cf
⇒ Acts 2:36). From his fullness, he poured
out the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the Church.
§747
The Holy Spirit, whom Christ
the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church.
She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men.
«I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH»
§748
«Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart-felt
desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit,
that, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature, it may bring to all men that
light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church.» 135
These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church. By choosing this starting point, the Council demonstrates that the
article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning
Christ Jesus. the Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a
favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its
light reflected from the sun.
§749
The article concerning the Church also depends entirely on the article about
the Holy Spirit, which immediately precedes it. «Indeed, having shown that
the Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness, we now confess that it is
he who has endowed the Church with holiness.» 136 The Church is, in
a phrase used by the Fathers, the place «where the Spirit
flourishes.» 137
§750
To believe that the Church is «holy» and «catholic,» and
that she is «one» and «apostolic» (as the Nicene Creed
adds), is inseparable from belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. In the Apostles' Creed we profess «one Holy Church» (Credo .
. . Ecclesiam), and not to believe in the Church, so as not to confuse God with
his works and to attribute clearly to God's goodness all the gifts he has
bestowed on his Church.138
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.139 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.140 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,141 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 comer-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 marvellous 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: mystenum and
sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of
the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mystenum. 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.