Thursday, March 24, 2016

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 129 - Part III.



YOUCAT Question n. 129 - Part III. Why can there be only one Church?


(Youcat answer - repeated) Just as there is only one Christ, there can be only one Body of Christ, only one Bride of Christ, and therefore only one Church of Jesus Christ. He is the Head, the Church is the Body. Together they form the “whole Christ” (St. Augustine). Just as the body has many members yet is one, so too the one Church consists of and is made up of many particular churches (dioceses). Together they form the whole Christ.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 814) From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them. Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together. Among the Church's members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life. "Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions" (LG 13 § 2). The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity. Yet sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. And so the Apostle has to exhort Christians to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus built his Church on the foundation of the Apostles. This foundation supports her to this day. The faith of the apostles was handed down from generation to generation under the leadership of the Pope, the Petrine ministry, “which presides in charity” (St. Ignatius of Antioch). The sacraments, too, which Jesus entrusted to the apostolic college, still work with their original power.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 866) The Church is one: she acknowledges one Lord, confesses one faith, is born of one Baptism, forms only one Body, is given life by the one Spirit, for the sake of one hope (cf. Eph 4:3-5), at whose fulfillment all divisions will be overcome.       

(This question: Why can there be only one Church? is continued)

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