Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 123 - Part V.

YOUCAT Question n. 123 - Part V. What is the task of the Church?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 774 a) The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mysterium and sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mysterium. In this sense, Christ himself is the mystery of salvation: "For there is no other mystery of God, except Christ" (St. Augustine, Ep 187,11, 34: PL 33, 846). 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").       

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) 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.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 774 b) 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."      

(This question: What is the task of the Church? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 123 - Part IV.

YOUCAT Question n. 123 - Part IV. What is the task of the Church?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations.       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 769) "The Church… will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven" (LG 48), 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" (St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 18, 51: PL 41, 614; cf. LG 8). 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" (LG 5; cf. 6; 2 Cor 5:6). 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" (LG 2).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) 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.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 770) The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith" (Roman Catechism I, 10, 20) that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life. (CCC 780) The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.      

(This question: What is the task of the Church? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 123 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 123 - Part III. What is the task of the Church?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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" (LG 4; Cf. Jn 17:4). Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun" (AG 4). 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 (Cf. Mt 28:19-20; AG 2; 5-6).     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) 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.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 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" (LG 4). "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" (LG 5).    

(This question: What is the task of the Church? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 123 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 123 - Part II. What is the task of the Church?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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 (Cf. Mk 3:14-15). Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem (Cf. Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30; Rev 21:12-14). The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot (Cf. Mk 6:7; Lk 10:1-2; Mt 10:25; Jn 15:20). By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) 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.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 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" (LG 3; cf. Jn 19:34). "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" (SC 5). 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 (Cf. St. Ambrose, In Luc. 2, 85-89: PL 15,1666-1668).    

(This question: What is the task of the Church? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 123 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 123 - Part I. What is the task of the Church?

(Youcat answer) The church’s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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 (Cf. LG 3; AG 3). "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" (LG 5). 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" (LG 3).    

Reflecting and meditating  

(Youcat comment) 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.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 764) "This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself" (LG 5). 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 (Lk 12:32; cf. Mt 10:16; 26:31; Jn 10:1-21). They form Jesus' true family (Cf. Mt 12:49). To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting" and a prayer of their own  (Cf. Mt 5- 6).    

(This question: What is the task of the Church? is continued)