Day 117: The Church Is Catholic

"The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in the New Testament... In them, the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated... In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present, through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is constituted." CCC 832

Today we find the Catechism speaking on the third attribute of the Church found in the Nicene Creed: it is catholic. This is the name of course by which it has been known since at least the early second century, the Catholic Church. It is catholic not only because of how wide it has spread but because Christ is our Head and He is "the universal means of salvation for the entire world" (p. 238). The Catechism Compendium summarizes this part from today's reading like this:

The Church is catholic, that is universal, insofar as Christ is present in her: “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch). The Church proclaims the fullness and the totality of the faith; she bears and administers the fullness of the means of salvation; she is sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race. (#166)

We are all sinners, both inside the Church and outside as well. Christ's Church is open to all. I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol I puts this:

There is no background, temptation, sin, or history of brokenness that excludes anyone from God's embrace. "All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God" (CCC 836). It is for everyone. (p. 238)

The Catechism Companion also gives us what it means to be a Catholic:

Being Catholic means accepting the Faith, worshipping the same way as the Church does with all the sacraments, acknowledging the role of the hierarchy and governing order in the Church, and accepting the Pope and the bishops. If we reject some things we do not like, we are not continuing in love. And if we do not continue in love, we are not saved... God longs for us to say yes to him fully in all that he has revealed about himself. (p. 238) 

This will be spoken of more in tomorrow's reading, but the unity of the Church has been wounded through schism and sin over the centuries. This has led to a scandal of great proportions in violation of the prayer of unity from our Lord in John 17:21. Perhaps most sorrowful is that of the separation between East and West in the Great Schism. The effects of this can be seen in the occasional brawling at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I have no words of wisdom when it comes to healing the wounds of our divisions, other than to humble oneself and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in seeing this accomplished someday. In the end, though, the words of Pope St. John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint are most appropriate here: "the Church must breathe with her two lungs!" Amen.