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

YOUCAT Question n. 129 - Part II. 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 813 a) The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit" (UR 2 § 5). The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross,… restoring the unity of all in one people and one body" (GS 78 § 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 813 b) The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity" (UR 2 § 2). Unity is of the essence of the Church: What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her "Church" (St. Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1, 6, 42: PG 8, 300).    

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

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

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

(Youcat answer) 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 811) "This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic" (LG 8). These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other  (Cf. DS 2888), indicate essential features of the Church and her mission. The Church does not possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.    

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 812) Only faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human reason. As the First Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvellous propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an irrefutable witness of her divine mission" (Vatican Council I, Dei Filius 3: DS 3013).    

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

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 128 - Part IV.

YOUCAT Question n. 128 - Part IV. What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Church is the place in the world where the Holy Spirit is completely present.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 801) It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office [is[ not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good" (LG 12; cf. 30; 1 Thess 5:12, 19-21; John Paul II, Christifideles    Laici, 24), so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together "for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The people of Israel worshipped God in the Temple of Jerusalem. This temple no longer exists. It has been replaced by the Church, which is not limited to a particular place.”Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). What makes her alive is the Spirit of Christ: He lives in the Word of Sacred Scripture and is present in the sacred signs of the sacraments. He loves in the hearts of believers and speaks in their prayers. He leads them and bestows charisms on them—simple gifts as well as extraordinary ones. Anyone who enters into a relationship with the Holy Spirit can experience true miracles even today.    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 799) Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.      

(The next question is: Why can there be only one Church?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 128 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 128 - Part III. What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Church is the place in the world where the Holy Spirit is completely present.        

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 799) Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The people of Israel worshipped God in the Temple of Jerusalem. This temple no longer exists. It has been replaced by the Church, which is not limited to a particular place.”Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). What makes her alive is the Spirit of Christ: He lives in the Word of Sacred Scripture and is present in the sacred signs of the sacraments. He loves in the hearts of believers and speaks in their prayers. He leads them and bestows charisms on them—simple gifts as well as extraordinary ones. Anyone who enters into a relationship with the Holy Spirit can experience true miracles even today.    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 800) Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms (Cf. 1 Cor 13).     

(This question: What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 128 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 128 - Part II. What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Church is the place in the world where the Holy Spirit is completely present.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 798) The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body" (Pius XII, encyclical, Mystici Corporis: DS 3808). He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity (Cf. Eph 4:16): by God's Word "which is able to build you up" (Acts 20:32); by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body (Cf. 1 Cor 12:13); by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts" (LG 7 § 2); by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "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"  (LG 12 § 2; cf. AA 3). 798  

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The people of Israel worshipped God in the Temple of Jerusalem. This temple no longer exists. It has been replaced by the Church, which is not limited to a particular place.”Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). What makes her alive is the Spirit of Christ: He lives in the Word of Sacred Scripture and is present in the sacred signs of the sacraments. He loves in the hearts of believers and speaks in their prayers. He leads them and bestows charisms on them—simple gifts as well as extraordinary ones. Anyone who enters into a relationship with the Holy Spirit can experience true miracles even today.    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 809) The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the soul, as it were, of the Mystical Body, the source of its life, of its unity in diversity, and of the riches of its gifts and charisms.     

(This question: What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”? is continued)