THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH

Is historically, the continuing presence in the world of the Incarnate Word of God.
 Historical tangibility
 Event (where Christ Himself is present)
 Redemption is felt in the congregation by becoming sacramentally visible
It is the extension of Christ in space and time, is first and foremost, a human-
divine reality

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…

THE CHURCH AS MYSTERY

The Church as a mystery is essentially a transcendent, divine reality (supernatural

entity) that has to do with salvation and is in some sensible way, revealed and
manifested.
As a mystery, it implies that the Church is not fully intelligible to the finite mind of
man, and that the reason for this lack of intelligibility is not poverty but the richness
of the Church itself.

The Church is both visible and spiritual, a hierarchal 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. (CCC, 779)

THE CHURCH AS THE UNIVERSAL SACRAMENT OF SALVATION

 Christ is the sacrament of God; the Church is the sacrament of Christ; she
represents him, in the full and ancient meaning of the term, she really makes him
present.
 Any human institution is its founder’s continuation.
 As a sacrament, it is a sign and an instrument of Christ.

As a SIGN, the Church is:

 the sacrament of the inner union of men with God (CCC, 775)
 the sacrament of the unity of the human race (CCC, 775)
 a sign of God’s presence in the world (AG, 15)
 a sign which points out Christ to others
(AG, 20)
 to make God the Father and His Incarnate Son present and in a sense visible
(GS, 21)
As an INSTRUMENT, it is an instrument of the glorified Lord and His spirit for
continuing through the centuries the mission of the Incarnate Word (viz., salvation of
all) Hence, Christ acting in and through her.

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.
THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD

– God wiled men to make them holy and save them, not as individuals without
any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who might
acknowledge him and serve him in holiness.
– He chose the Israelites to be his own people and established a
covenant with it.
– He gradually instructed his people… All things however, happened as a
preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified
in Christ.
– He called together a race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one,
not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit, and this race would be the People of God

A. Characteristics of the People of God:

The Church is the People of God.
• Membership in this people is by Faith in Christ, and Baptism
• Its Head is Jesus Christ (the anointed, the Messiah)
• The status of this people is the dignity and freedom of the son of God, in
whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple.
• Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us.
• Its mission is to be the salt of the earth and light of the world.
• Its destiny is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on
earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by
him at the end of time.

B. It is a fellowship of life, charity and truth.

C. It is a priestly, prophetic and royal people

THE CHURCH AS THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST

– The real, personal body which lived, died and was glorified and with which the
bread in the Eucharist is identified.
– The Body raised from the dead and given life by the Spirit.

Points to consider:
• The risen Christ who has been
transformed in his human nature by the
Spirit and has become spiritual through
and through.
2. Our union in that (Mystical Body), is union in grace.
Faith- provides the basis of our worthiness
Baptism- by which we are incorporated in the body of Christ
Grace- a share in the blood and body of Christ

The very life of Christ circulates in us so that in sharing the same life, we are like a
spiritual body which has its life in Christ, and which depends on Christ.

The mystical body of Christ is a communion which is at once inward and external, an
inner communion of spiritual life signified and engendered by an external communion
in profession of faith, discipline and the sacramental life.
THE CHURCH AS THE TEMPLE/WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
• What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ,
which is the Church (CCC, 797)
• As the soul of the Church, the Holy Spirit is the principle of every vital and
truly saving action in each part of the body.
THE CHURCH AS THE TEMPLE/WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• The Church as the work of the Holy Spirit is not merely continuing the mission
of Christ but completing the work of salvation.
• The Holy Spirit working inwardly in the life of the Church with the apostolic
ministry working outwardly

How does the Spirit work?

• By God’s Word- to build us up
• By Baptism- through which he forms Christ’s body
• By the Sacraments- which give growth and healing to Christ’s members
• By the Virtues- which makes us act according to what is good
• By the many “Charisms”- by which he makes the faithful “fit and ready to
undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church”.

THE CHURCH AS INSTITUTION

• The Church is a society, a perfect society, in the sense that it is subordinate
to other and lacks nothing required for its own institutional completeness.
• Hence, the society is the outward manifestation of the community, and the
society exists in order to promote the realization of the community.

OTHER SCRIPTURAL SYMBOLS OF THE CHURCH

• The Church as a Sheepfold; God is the Shepherd
• The Church as a Building; Christ is the Cornerstone
• The Church as a Cultivated Field
• The Church as the Manifestation of the Kingdom of God

The Origin and Progressive Realization of the Church in History

The Essential Characteristics of the Church
This is the sole of the Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one,
holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Savior, after his resurrection, entrusted to
Peter’s pastoral care (Jn. 21:7), commissioning him and the other apostles to extend
and rule it (Mt. 28:18ff.), and which he raised up for all ages as the “pillar and
mainstay of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). This Church, constituted and organized as a
society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by
the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless,
many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines.
Since these are gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling
towards Catholic unity. (LG 8)