Transcript The Church, the Light of Nations - St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal

© 11/29/2012, Jeffrey Bame – Content of this presentation may not be used without explicit permission.
“The Church, the Light of the Nations”
 Cornerstone document: Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church: Lumen Gentium
 Date: November 21, 1964
 English Copy:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vati
can_council/documents/vatii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html
 Spanish Copy:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vati
can_council/documents/vatii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_sp.html
Outline of Lumen Gentium (LG)
 Ch. 1 - The Mystery of the Church
 Ch. 2 - On the People of God
 Ch. 3 - The Hierarchical Structure of the Church
 Ch. 4 - The Laity
 Ch. 5 - The Universal Call to Holiness
 Ch. 6 - Religious
 Ch. 7 - Eschatological Nature of the Pilgrim Church
 Ch. 8 - The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Church Hierarchy
4. The Laity
5. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
1. The Mystery of the Church
 God created the world and man according to his
mysterious plan, in His wisdom and goodness.
 His plan was to raise man to participation in divine life
 After the fall of man (original sin), he foreshadowed
the Church through his covenants and promises
 Through Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost, the Church was made manifest
 “At the end of time, it will gloriously achieve
completion, when…all the just…will be gathered
together with the Father in the universal Church.”
(LG 2)
Ch. 1 – The Mystery of the Church
The Church is (the four marks of the Church):
 One – unity found in her source: the Holy Trinity
 Holy – filled with the Holy Spirit and made one in
marriage with Christ
 Catholic – universal through the presence of Christ in
her as well as in her mission to the whole human race
 Apostolic – founded on the apostles
- LG 8 and CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church
813, 823, 830-831, 857)
Ch. 1 – The Mystery of the Church
 Christ is the Head of the Church, which is the Mystical
Body of Christ (of which we are all members)
 Metaphors for the Church
 Sheepfold (Is 40:11; Ez 34:11; Jn 10:1-10)
 Land to be cultivated (Mt 21:33-43; Jn 15:1-5; 1
Cor 3:9)
 The building of God (Mt 21:42; 1 Cor 3:9)
 Our Mother (Gal 4:26; Rv 12:17; Rv 19:7
 The Church is also seen as the virginal Bride of Christ
(see parables of the bridegroom)
1. The Mystery of the Church
A Pilgrim Church…
“The Church, ‘like a stranger in a foreign land, presses
forward amid the persecutions of the world and the
consolations of God’, announcing the cross and death
of the Lord until He comes. By the power of the risen
Lord it is given strength that it might, in patience and in
love, overcome its sorrows and its challenges, both
within itself and from without, and that it might reveal
to the world, faithfully though darkly, the mystery of its
Lord until, in the end, it will be manifested in full light.”
(LG 8)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
 “For as in one body we have many members, and all
the members do not have the same function, so we,
though many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another.” (Rom 12:4-5)
 “For just as the body is one and has many members,
and all the members of the body, though many, are
one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one
Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12-13)
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
 Mystici Corporis Christi – Pope Pius XII, 1943
 Pius XII takes scripture and tradition and coins this
term – “Mystical Body of Christ”
 Lumen Gentium affirms this theory, teaching that the
Church is more than a human institution or a political
structure, but is a mystical, spiritual reality – the
MBOC is made up of all of the baptized faithful who
are joined in spirit with Christ the Head. This union is
experienced and continually maintained through the
Eucharist.
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
 We speak of the Mystical Body of Christ and in
comparison, we see the very visible structures of the
Church.
 “But, the society structured with hierarchical organs
and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be
considered as two realities, nor are the visible
assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly
Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things;
rather they form one complex reality which coalesces
from a divine and a human element.” (LG 8)
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
 We are not individuals who go to church – we are
Church.
 Not about “just me and Jesus”
 We see this in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the altar in
which we are unified with all believers in Christ.
 “All men are called to this union with Christ, who is the
light of the world, from whom we go forth, through
whom we live, and toward whom our whole life
strains.” (LG 3)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
“Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it
teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an
exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in
His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and
the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself
affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby
affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through
baptism as through a door men enter the Church.
Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church
was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or
to remain in it, could not be saved.” (LG 14)
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
 “Catechumens who, moved by the Holy Spirit, seek
with explicit intention to be incorporated into the
Church are by that very intention joined with her. With
love and solicitude Mother Church already embraces
them as her own.” (LG 14)
 “He is not saved, however, who, though part of the
body of the Church, does not persevere in charity.” The
faithful must remember that our status as God’s
children is a gift of grace. “If they fail moreover to
respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not
only shall they not be saved but they will be the more
severely judged.” (LG 14)
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
 Salvation of Other Christians, Non-Christians?
 Salvation of Agnostics and atheists?
“Those can also attain to salvation who through no fault
of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His
Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace
strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them
by the dictates of conscience…Nor will divine providence
deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those
who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at
an explicit knowledge of God, and who, no without grace,
strive to lead a good life.” (LG 16)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
4. Church Hierarchy
 Apostolic succession – the bishops come from the line
of the apostles (LG 20)
 “The individual bishops represent each his own
church, but all of them together and with the Pope
represent the entire Church in the bond of peace, love
and unity.” (LG 23)
 A bishop’s primary role is to preach the Gospel
 “In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in
the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their
teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent.” (LG
25)
4. Church Hierarchy
 In the early church, the bishops ordain priests
(presbyters) to share in their priestly ministry in order
that the Eucharist and the sacraments may be
celebrated more often in more places
 “Priests are united with bishops and by the power of
Orders, in the image of Christ the high priest, they
preach the Gospel, shepherd the faithful, and
celebrate divine worship.” (LG 28)
 Ordained priesthood vs. common priesthood – the
ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common
priesthood of believers
4. Church Hierarchy
 “It is not right that we should give up preaching the
word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick
out from among you seven men of good repute, full of
the Spirit and of wisdom, who we may appoint to this
duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the
ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-4)
 Over the centuries, the diaconate faded away as a
permanent state – restored by Vatican II (LG 29)
 Deacons have hands imposed, but “not unto the
priesthood, but unto a ministry of service.” (LG 29)
4. Church Hierarchy
 Pope as Bishop of Rome
 Matthew 16:18-19 as scriptural foundation of papacy
 “And in order that the episcopate itself might be one
and undivided, He placed Blessed Peter over the other
apostles, and instituted in him a permanent and
visible source and foundation of unity of faith and
communion.” (LG 18)
4. Church Hierarchy
 Papal infallibility – myth vs. reality
 "After the reading of the foregoing epistle [The Tome
of Leo], the most reverend bishops cried out: ‘This is
the faith of the fathers! This is the faith of the
apostles! So we all believe! Thus the orthodox believe!
Anathema to him who does not thus believe! Peter
has spoken thus through Leo! . . . This is the true faith!
Those of us who are orthodox thus believe! This is the
faith of the Fathers!’" (Council of Chalcedon, session
2, A.D. 451)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
5. The Laity
The Laity defined:
“The term laity is here understood to mean all the
faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state
of religious life specially approved by the Church. These
faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and
are constituted among the People of God; they are in
their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical,
and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their
own part the mission of the whole Christian people in
the Church and in the world.” (LG 31)
5. The Laity
“But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of
God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering
them according to the plan of God. They live in the world,
that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and
occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of
family and social life, from which the very web of their
existence is woven. They are called there by God that by
exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of
the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the
world from within as a leaven. In this way they may
make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony
of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity.” (LG 31)
5. The Laity
 “For their pastors know how much the laity contribute
to the welfare of the entire Church. They also know
that they were not ordained by Christ to take upon
themselves alone the entire salvific mission of the
Church toward the world. On the contrary they
understand that it is their noble duty to shepherd the
faithful and to recognize their miniseries and
charisms, so that all according to their proper roles
may cooperate in this common undertaking with one
mind.” (LG 30)
 Charisms, gifts of the Holy Spirit
5. The Laity
“For all their works, prayers and apostolic endeavors,
their ordinary married and family life, their daily
occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if
carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if
patiently borne—all these become ‘spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’. Together with
the offering of the Lord's body, they are most fittingly
offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as
those everywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity
consecrate the world itself to God.” (LG 34)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
4. Church Hierarchy
5. The Laity
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
6. Family – The Domestic Church
“The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it
parents should, by their word and example, be the first
preachers of the faith to their children; they should
encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each
of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred
state.” (LG 11)
6. Family – The Domestic Church
“For where Christianity pervades the entire mode of
family life, and gradually transforms it, one will find
there both the practice and an excellent school of the lay
apostolate. In such a home husbands and wives find
their proper vocation in being witnesses of the faith and
love of Christ to one another and to their children. The
Christian family loudly proclaims both the present
virtues of the Kingdom of God and the hope of a blessed
life to come. Thus by its example and its witness it
accuses the world of sin and enlightens those who seek
the truth.” (LG 35)
6. Family – The Domestic Church
“Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and ‘a
school for human enrichment.’ Here one learns
endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous
– even repeated – forgiveness, and above all divine
worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life.” (CCC
1657)
“…those in society who are in charge of schools must
never forget that the parents have been appointed by
God Himself as the first and principal educators of their
children and that their right is completely inalienable.”
(Familiaris Consortio 40)
6. Family – The Domestic Church
 Holy Family as model – they underwent trials of
poverty, persecution, and exile, yet glorified God.
 “Thus the little domestic Church, like the greater
Church, needs to be constantly and intensely
evangelized: hence its duty regarding permanent
education in the faith.” (Familiaris Consortio 52)
 “The future of humanity passes by the way of the
family.” (Familiaris Consortio 86)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Church Hierarchy
4. The Laity
5. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
7. Call to Holiness
 “Fortified by so many and such powerful means of
salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or
state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to
that perfect holiness whereby the Father Himself is
perfect.” (LG 11)
 “Therefore in the Church, everyone whether belonging
to the hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to
holiness, according to the saying of the Apostle: ‘For
this is the will of God, your sanctification’.” (LG 39; cf
1 Thess 4:3; Eph 1:4)
7. Call to Holiness
For priests:
“They participate in the grace of their office and they
should grow daily in their love of God and their neighbor
by the exercise of their office through Christ, the eternal
and unique Mediator. They should preserve the bond of
priestly communion, and they should abound in every
spiritual good and thus present to all men a living
witness to God.” (LG 41)
7. Call to Holiness
For married persons:
“Furthermore, married couples and Christian parents
should follow their own proper path (to holiness) by
faithful love. They should sustain one another in grace
throughout the entire length of their lives. They should
embue their offspring, lovingly welcomed as God's gift,
with Christian doctrine and the evangelical virtues.” (LG
41)
7. Call to Holiness
For single and widowed persons:
“A like example, but one given in a different way, is that
offered by widows and single people, who are able to
make great contributions toward holiness and apostolic
endeavor in the Church.” (LG 41)
7. Call to Holiness
For ALL people:
“Finally all Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions,
duties and circumstances of their lives — and indeed
through all these, will daily increase in holiness, if they
receive all things with faith from the hand of their
heavenly Father and if they cooperate with the divine
will. In this temporal service, they will manifest to all
men the love with which God loved the world.” (LG 41)
Tonight’s Outline
1. The Mystery of the Church
2. The Mystical Body of Christ
3. Church Hierarchy
4. The Laity
5. Salvation – Is the Church Necessary?
6. Family – the Domestic Church
7. Call to Holiness
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
 The Great Commission
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you; and
behold, I am with you always, to the close of the
age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
 The Church will reach its perfection only in the glory of
heaven, when all things will be restored upon Christ’s
return
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
 The Church Militant, the Church Suffering (Penitent), &
the Church Triumphant
 “Until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the
angels with Him and death being destroyed, all things
are subject to Him, some of His disciples are exiles on
earth, some having died are purified, and others are in
glory beholding ‘clearly God Himself triune and one,
as He is’; but all in various ways and degrees are in
communion in the same charity of God and neighbor
and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God.” (LG
49)
 Union in the sacred Liturgy
8. The Mission of the Pilgrim Church
“It is not therefore a matter of inventing a "new
programme". The programme already exists: it is the plan
found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the
same as ever. Ultimately, it has its centre in Christ himself,
who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we
may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform
history until its fulfilment in the heavenly Jerusalem. This is
a programme which does not change with shifts of times
and cultures, even though it takes account of time and
culture for the sake of true dialogue and effective
communication. This programme for all times is our
programme for the Third Millennium.” (Pope John Paul II,
Novo Millennio Ineunte 29)
Links for Other Papal Documents Referenced:
 Pius XII - Mystici Corporis Christi:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/
documents/hf_p-xii_enc_29061943_mystici-corporischristi_en.html
 John Paul II – Familiaris Consortio:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_
exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html
 John Paul II – Novo Millennio Ineunte:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_l
etters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20010106_novomillennio-ineunte_en.html
The Liturgy of the Hours (The Divine Office)
 “Pray without ceasing…” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
 The Hours of the Day
 Office of Readings (formerly Matins)
 Morning Prayer (Lauds)
 Daytime Prayer (Terce/Sext/None)
 Evening Prayer (Vespers)
 Night Prayer (Compline)
 Format
 Purpose
The Liturgy of the Hours (The Divine Office)
 “Through it all the faithful…fulfill a role of prime
importance: Christ’s prayer goes on in the world…”
 Through the Divine Office “this prayer of Christ to
which we give voice, our day is sanctified, our
activities transformed, our actions made holy. We
pray the same psalms that Jesus prayed and come
into personal contact with him – the person to whom
all Scripture points, the goals to which all history is
directed…”
- Pope John Paul II, Address at St. Patrick’s Cathedral,
1979
© 11/29/2012, Jeffrey Bame – Content of this presentation may not be used without explicit permission.