Day 108: Revealed by the Holy Spirit

"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." 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. CCC 767

The Church, as founded by Christ and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit, has as its core mission to spread the Gospel. As the Body of Christ, it is a visible communion, not an invisible one as some Protestants err in thinking, "through which he communicates truth and grace to all men" (CCC 771). The Catechism Compendium has this to say about the Church's mission:

The mission of the Church is to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God begun by Jesus Christ among all peoples. The Church constitutes on earth the seed and beginning of this salvific Kingdom. (#150)

This does not mean that just being Catholic or in some kind of leadership position within the Church, guarantees holiness or at least a lack of sin. We live in a very broken world and that is reflected even in the Church here on earth. This should not give us despair either. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

In the Church, we are consoled by the Holy Spirit and healed and fed by the sacraments, but people in the Church sometimes fail us, just as we fail sometimes as followers of Christ... We live in a broken world, and the Church experiences wounds because of it. At the same time, we have been made for another world, and the Church is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit at every moment to lead us there. (p. 220)