Sunday, February 21, 2016

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 122 - Part X.



YOUCAT Question n. 122 - Part X. Why does God want there to be a Church?  


(Youcat answer - repeated) God wills the Church because he wants to redeem us, not individually, but together. He wants to make all mankind his people.  

A deepening through CCC  

(CCC 774) 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"). 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."     

Reflecting and meditating    

(Youcat comment) No one gets to heaven by the asocial route. Someone who thinks only about himself and the salvation of his own soul is living a-socially. That is impossible both in heaven and on earth. God himself is not a-social; he is not a solitary, self-sufficient being. The Triune God in himself is “social”, a communion, an eternal exchange of love. Patterned after God, man also is designed for relationship, exchange, sharing, and love. We are responsible for one another. 

(CCC Comment)   

(CCC 802) Christ Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own" (Titus 2:14).   

(This question: Why does God want there to be a Church? is continued)

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