Supercrafty Saturday: On the Nature of the Church

OK, so this isn't about knitting, scrapbooking or sewing... but it is definitely crafty, because in order to post it as is I had to go through the Catechism of the Catholic Church and manually graft relevant passages about the Church, as well as inserting the scripture references where the footnotes would ordinarily be. It was quite a job!
I decided to do this today instead of a knitting blog because we are discussing the nature of "the Church" in an inter-denominational Facebook group called "Union in Christ: a Dialogue." In it, we must of course examine the differing ideas about the Church and it's nature.
I like the approach I'm about to give because it gives a completely contextual scriptural portrayal of the Church alongside quotes from sermons and letters of the earliest recorded "Christian" leaders. Since Catholics are not constrained to Scripture-- or rather, since we believe that Truth can be found outside of Scripture that helps us to understand better what we read IN Scripture, we don't need to be constrained to examination the Bible for every instance of the word "Ekklesia" to get an understanding of what Church means. We can look to history, to scripture, to the writings of the saints before us, to mystical apparitions, to any number of things and gain a "WHOLE" perspective. That being said, what is written about the nature of the Church in the Catechism of the Catholic Church comes SOLELY from Scripture as explained by the early fathers. This gives the Catechism the edge over any other explanation out there-- we can say: The Bible says X, we know that X means X because a disciple of a disciple of Jesus wrote in the year 156 that X was to be interpreted as X... etc etc. In other words, we have tradition AND scripture to back up what we say "The Church" means and is. One of the number one reasons I love being a Catholic-- because no one else can accurately make that claim.

So without further ado.... who is "The Church?" If it is the body of believers, Does it include the Jews or is it only the body of believers in Christ? ie. Spiritual vs Temporal Israel? The first thing I would say is that "The Church" is composed strictly of The people of the NEW Covenant. This new covenant is in Christ-- Scripture says that Jesus came so that we could have salvation through Him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (which I will always reference in here as the CCC) says: "Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'8 On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, CHRIST BUILT HIS CHURCH." (CCC 424) (Mt 16:18)

Further, the Church was foreshadowed from the world's beginning, prepared for in the Old Covenant, instituted by Jesus Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit, and will be perfected in glory: " (CCC 751 ) The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of") means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose.139 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.140 By calling itself "Church," the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is "calling together" his people from all the ends of the earth. The equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means "what belongs to the Lord."

(CCC 752 )In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, --1 cor 11:18,14:19,28, 34, 35-- but also the local community--1 cor 1:2, 16:1-- or the whole universal community of believers.--1 cor 15:9,gal 1:13, phil 3:6-- These three meanings are inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God 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. (CCC 753) In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church. The images taken from the Old Testament are variations on a profound theme: the People of God. In the New Testament, all these images find a new center because Christ has become the head of this people, which henceforth is his Body.--Eph 1:22, col 1:18-- Around this center are grouped images taken "from the life of the shepherd or from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or from family life and marriage."

(CCC 754) "The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep.

(CCC 755) "The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain in Christ, without whom we can do nothing.

(CCC 756) "Often, too, the Church is called the building of God. The Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was made into the corner-stone. On this foundation the Church is built by the apostles and from it the Church receives solidity and unity. This edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God in which his family dwells; the household of God in the Spirit; the dwelling-place of God among men; and, especially, the holy temple. This temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone, is praised by the Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in the liturgy to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. As living stones we here on earth are built into it. It is this holy city that is seen by John as it comes down out of heaven from God when the world is made anew, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

(CCC 757) "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes.'"

The Church, we all agree, had a plan in the Father's heart from day one--- so I'll skip that portion and move on to the rest: will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time."

The Church- foreshadowed from the world's beginning

760 Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church." God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church. The Church is the goal of all things, and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels' fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world:

Just as God's will is creation and is called "the world," so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church."

The Church - prepared for in the Old Covenant

761 The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves. The gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction to the chaos provoked by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the heart of all peoples: "In every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable" to God.156

762 The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people.--Gen 12:2, 15:5-6,-- Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God. By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of All nations.--Exodus19:5-6, Deut 7:6, Isa2:2-5,Mic 4:1-4)--But the prophets accuse Israel of breaking the covenant and behaving like a prostitute. They announce a new and eternal covenant. "Christ instituted this New Covenant."Hos 1, Isa 1:2-4, Jer 2, 31:31-34, Isa 55:3---

The Church - instituted by Christ Jesus

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. "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." 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."

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

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.--Mk 3:14-15--Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem.--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.--Mk 6:7, Lk 10:1-2, Mt 10:25,Jn 15:20-- By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.

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."--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.'" 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.

The Church - revealed by the Holy Spirit

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."--Jn17:4-- Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun." 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.--Mt 28:19-20--

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." "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."

The Church - perfected in glory

769 "The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven,"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." 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."--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."

The last consideration is the relationship of the Church with the Jewish people. This is what the Catechism says: (CCC 839) "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."

The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God."The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ",---Rom 9:4-5 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."--Rom 11:29--

(CCC 840) And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.