Thursday, March 19, 2009

Heb 8, 6-7 He is mediator of a better covenant

(Heb 8, 6-7) He is mediator of a better covenant
[6] Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one.
(CCC 1076) The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Cf. SC 6; LG 2). The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the mystery" - the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, "until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26). In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls "the sacramental economy"; this is the communication (or "dispensation") of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's "sacramental" liturgy. It is therefore important first to explain this "sacramental dispensation". The nature and essential features of liturgical celebration will then appear more clearly. (CCC 1089) "Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. The Church is his beloved Bride who calls to her Lord and through him offers worship to the eternal Father" (SC 7).

No comments: