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THE CHURCH MEANING AND NATURE  THE CHURCH Context: Majority of us Filipino Catholics when ask the question “what is the Church?” will inevitably reply “there is the Church” referring to a place of worship or building where people go to pray....

THE CHURCH MEANING AND NATURE  THE CHURCH Context: Majority of us Filipino Catholics when ask the question “what is the Church?” will inevitably reply “there is the Church” referring to a place of worship or building where people go to pray. And if ask another question like “who are the Church’s people?”, certainly they will convey by mentioning Church’s leaders like bishops, priests, deacons or religious group like nuns and brothers or particular Church organizations.  Etymology The word “Church” (Latin Ecclesia, from the Greek Ekklesia, to “call out of”) means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose. Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy people. The equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means “what belongs to the Lord.”  In Christian usage, the word “Church” designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. These three meanings are inseparable. “The Church” is the People of God that gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ’s Body. What do we mean by “Church?” The Church appears as a visible reality. A reality of men gathered for religious goals, hierarchichally organized. She has her own way of life expressed in rites, ceremonies, and sacraments. She has temples, laws, and a wide body of moral and dogmatic doctrines that explicitate and facilitate the contents of the gospel.  These visible realities, however, do not constitute the deep reality of the Church. They only point out to the other realities of the Church: the spiritual and supernatural order. This society is not only a society of men but is, at the same time, a people chosen by God who become members of the mystical body of Christ. The Church, then, is a divine-human reality.  The word Church connotes a reality with two distinct but inter-related aspects. She is a visible assembly and at the same time a spiritual community. Christ instituted only one Church where the divine and human elements come together. Consequently, the Church is that community of the people of God, which serves as the living extension of Christ’s salvific action in time and history.  The ecclesial reality then, should not only be an object of study, but also an object of faith. Although we can analyze her visible aspects, her history, her coherence, we need mostly our faith to understand in depth her supernatural reality.  FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH Whether the Church was Truly Founded by Christ. The origin of the Church lies in the will of the heavenly Father. The Father sent his Son into the world to give mankind a share in his divine life. And the Holy Spirit is to complete the work of Christ through the Church.  Hence, the Church fulfills this task of extending Christ’s salvific act. However, we need to illustrate here two important facts: – that the Church has been truly instituted by Christ, for He is the only mediator between God and man; – that Jesus founded this Church for the purpose of continuing His divine mission throughout history.  Jesus Instituted a Church Scriptures give us the necessary data that Jesus indeed founded the Church. However, we have to distinguish two stages: 1. Preparatory Stage Even at creation, God already prefigures the Church of Christ as the family of God. He wants that man’s social nature and character will have a religious link. Hence, God calls man to be a part of the family of God. This divine decision is indeed a pre- figuration of the Church of Christ, the people of God.  God prepared the Church in the history of the people of Israel in the OT. He chose Abraham and his descendants and established covenants with them: “God made a covenant with Abraham and promised him a fruitful descendants.” (Gn. 17:1-8). “God made a covenant with the people of Israel through Moses and gave them the commandments, the natural moral law.” (Ex 19:5-8).  Finally, God promised David that the future Savior will come among his descendants and will establish an eternal Kingdom.” (2 Sam 7:12-16). In all these covenants, God took the initiative. And through the prophets, God kept this hope for salvation. Consequently, we see these covenants, too, as figures and preparations of the Church. 2. The Stage of Institution Unlike in a juridical society whose institution is proclaimed by signing an official document, Jesus accomplished the institution of the Church, not by a single act, but by a series of actions. The earthly life of Jesus was actually the laying of the foundation of the Church. However, His death on the cross and the sending of the Holy Spirit were most significant to the institution of the Church. And we have to consider other instances too that were essential. I. Election of the Disciples: This was one of the preparatory acts for the institution of the Church: the vocation of the disciples and the election by Jesus. II. Election of the Apostles and the Institution of the Apostolic College: From the many who followed Him, Jesus chose twelve: (Mk 3:13-15). This initiative of Jesus to elect a permanent group is indeed the historical foundation of the College of Apostles. The number twelve, too, has a deep significance: it corresponds to the twelve Patriarchs of Israel. The Apostles therefore represent the new people of God, the Church founded by Jesus. In this way, Jesus manifested the continuity between the OT and the NT. III. Jesus instituted the Primacy of Peter: “…I, for my part declare it to you, you are rock, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:17-19). Jesus declares that Peter will be an indispensable element in the essential structure of the Church. IV. Institution of the Eucharist: With Jesus’ command to celebrate it in His memory, the institution of the Eucharist has a relevant place in the institution of the Church. The Eucharist recalls other acts important in the foundation of the Church. For connected with the Eucharist, is the institution of the sacrament of Holy Orders. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is renewed and becomes the spiritual food of the new covenant. The Eucharist therefore, realizes the work of our redemption and represents the accomplishments of the unity of the Church. V. The Death on the Cross: Although the whole life of Jesus was ordained to the institution of the Church, the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium have seen the birth of the Church especially at the cross. Her foundation and growth were symbolized in the water and blood that flowed from the wounded side of Christ (Jn 19:34) and were prophesied in the words of Jesus: “I, once I am lifted up from earth, will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). Through His death, therefore, Christ established the New Covenant: Water and Blood---Baptism and Eucharist, were two of the sacraments which became the signs of the Church. VI. Pentecost: The coming of the Holy Spirit completes the institution of the Church. On the day of Pentecost, the Church was completed, and manifested to men as a means of salvation. Jesus prepared the essential elements (doctrines, sacraments, apostolic college, primacy of Peter). It was the Holy Spirit that manifested her to men to sanctify her indefinitely. The Church was born by a divine decision: the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit in the community of believers to sanctify them and increase their number throughout the whole world.  Jesus Bestowed Sacred Powers Jesus bestowed sacred powers to the Apostles and their legitimate successors. “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (Lk 10:16). In order to carry out that saving mission, Jesus bestowed on the Apostles sacred powers: – to baptize (Mt 28:19) – to forgive sins (Mt 18:18) – to celebrate the Eucharist (Lk 22:19)  Jesus identifies Himself with them. “He who hears you, hears me. He who rejects you, rejects me. And he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me.” (Lk 10:16). It was to the Church therefore that Jesus most emphatically commanded to continue His divine mission. “All power 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 all days, even unto the consummation of the world.” (Mt 28:18-20).