Day 107: Origin of the Church

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." "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. CCC 766

In today's reading, the Catechism speaks of the origin of the Church. Put simply, the Church originates in Christ. It is His Body, meant to draw us closer and help us to become more like Him. Christians in the first few centuries believed that "the world was created for the sake of the Church," and we hold to this even today. As the Catechism Compendium summarizes:

The Church finds her origin and fulfillment in the eternal plan of God. She was prepared for in the Old Covenant with the election of Israel, the sign of the future gathering of all the nations. Founded by the words and actions of Jesus Christ, fulfilled by his redeeming death and Resurrection, the Church has been manifested as the mystery of salvation by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. She will be perfected in the glory of heaven as the assembly of all the redeemed of the earth. (#149)

We are called to preach the Good News, bringing the Gospel to every person for the salvation of souls. That is the mission of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and our calling as His witnesses. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

God will the salvation of every person who ever has lived or ever will live, and it comes to us through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit in the Church. We share in Christ's mission and his power, but we also have to share in his suffering if we are going to share in his glory... We are brought into the Church through the waters of Baptism and sustained by the blood of the Eucharist. (p. 218)