All are called
4th Sunday of Easter — May 6

“C” Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52 • Rev. 7:9, 14b-17 • John 10:27-30

Title: How Ministerial and Religious Vocations are Developed
Purpose: (1) to explain what a ministerial or religious vocation is; and (2) to encourage many more of the parish to say “yes” to such a vocation.

One way to reflect upon today’s Bible passages is in the context of Jesus’ mission to save sinners, a task to which he summons men and women especially committed to him, through either ordination, or special deputation, or vows. Because of today’s Scriptural readings, today is traditionally described as Good Shepherd Sunday. The figure of the Good Shepherd is explicitly set forth in the Gospel, as well as in the Second Reading.

Vatican Council II, in its monumental Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, reminds us that the Church “is a sheepfold whose one and necessary door is Christ (John 10:1-10). She is a flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the Shepherd (cf. Isa. 40:11; Ezek. 34:11ff.). Although guided by human shepherds, her sheep are nevertheless ceaselessly led and nourished by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and the Prince of Shepherds (cf. John 10:11; 1 Pet. 5:4), who gave his life for the sheep (cf. John 10:11-15).

The Good Shepherd metaphor is rooted in Old Testament prophetic texts. Psalm 23, for example, speaks of the Chosen People in terms of a sheep with God as Shepherd. The Prophet Jeremiah censures pastors who had allowed their charges to drift away; and in God’s name he pledges new and faithful pastors (e.g., 23:1-6). The mysterious Ezekiel foresees a unique shepherd, of David’s lineage, who will prove to be the Shepherd (Ezek. 34).

All these Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in and by Christ. Today’s Gospel is one of the Biblical witnesses to this. Others include Matthew 18:12-14 and Luke 15:4-7.

Representations of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, date from the earliest years of Christianity. The front cover of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an adaption of an image found in the Catacombs of Domitilla, in Rome, a third-century depiction of Christ the Good Shepherd safeguarding a lamb by virtue of his authority, symbolized by a staff. Christ is seen protecting the lamb under the shade of the Tree of Life, meaning his redeeming cross. Moreover, Christ is holding panpipes, suggesting the incomparable symphony of truth to which he draws all persons. All wisdom ultimately has its source in Wisdom personified: the Son of God Incarnate, who reveals himself as a Shepherd, leading, guiding, caring for his flock, and ready to give his life to redeem his flock.

The ministerial priesthood was established by Christ the Good Shepherd to continue his saving mission until the end of time. In the Gospel we hear Jesus identifying with the Father. As the Son of God incarnate, he literally invites us into the inner life of God. He does this precisely because he is the Gate of the Eternal Sheepfold. The Sheep — the persons — who listen to his voice, will be known by him, will follow him, and will be given eternal life by him. Belief in Jesus, therefore, faith in Jesus as the Son of God Incarnate, is the essential stance of the Christian — a name first used at Antioch, the scene of today’s First Reading. To preach this truth belongs to the ordained minister. By God’s own design, the multitude which no one can count, described in today’s Second Reading, is gathered through ordained ministers: bishops, priests, deacons. After the Resurrection, Jesus entrusted this mission to Peter with the words, “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15). As Pope John Paul II reaffirms in his unforgettable Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis (1992):

“. . . the Apostles, appointed by the Lord, progressively carried out their mission by calling — in various but complementary ways — other men as bishops, as priests and as deacons in order to fulfill the command of the risen Jesus who sent them forth to all people in every age.”

“The writings of the New Testament are unanimous in stressing that it is the same Spirit of Christ who introduces these men chosen from among their brethren into the ministry. Through the laying on of hands (cf. Acts 6:6; 1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22; 2 Tim. 1:6), which transmits the gift of the Spirit, they are called and empowered to continue the same ministry of reconciliation of shepherding the flock of God and of teaching (cf. Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2).

Priests are necessary. Mark Pope John Paul II’s words to the priests of Rome on 9 November 1978: “We are necessary for men, we are immensely necessary, and not part-time, not half-time like ‘employees!’ We are necessary as those who bear witness and reawaken in others the need to testify. . . .”

In reaffirming the unique and necessary role of the priest, the Holy Father recalled that the priest acts in persona Christi. This means that the priest acts “in specific sacramental identification with ‘the eternal High Priest’ who is the author and principal Subject of the Sacrifice of his, a Sacrifice in which, in truth, nobody can take his place.”

By virtue of the divine will, the work of adding to the Church is continued by sisters and nuns, brothers and monks, together with dedicated laypersons.

Just how God calls religious men and women, as well as laity, to collaborate with priests is a profound mystery. Just as no one is worthy of priesthood, or of ordained ministry in general, so no one is worthy of being especially drawn by the Lord in religious life or in lay apostolic service. Yet the Lord does call men and women to the religious state or to special lay service.

Regarding the laity, Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1989 Letter to the Priests: “. . . Pastors know how much the laity contribute to the welfare of the entire Church. Pastors also know that they themselves were not meant by Christ to shoulder alone the entire saving mission of the Church toward the world.”

As for religious — men or women in vows, the Catechism is especially eloquent: “All religious . . . take their place among the collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. From the outset of the work of evangelization, the missionary ‘planting’ and expansion of the Church require the presence of the religious life in all its forms. . .” (no. 927).

One practical question arising from all the foregoing thoughts is, clearly: What can we all do in order to increase vocations to the ordained ministry, the religious life, and to various forms of the lay apostolate?

The first and principal answer is prayer; prayer is the ultimate essential, as Jesus reminded us (see Luke 10:2, 3). In some parishes, a brief prayer for vocations, printed in the Sunday bulletin, is recited at the close of Mass, just prior to the Final Blessing. Another parish project is the “Family Chalice”; each Sunday, at the end of Mass, a chalice is presented to a family whose members volunteer to read special prayers at home for an entire week, thereby “filling the chalice,” as it were, with their petitions.

Beyond prayer, a home environment in which priestly and religious vocations are respected and encouraged is extremely helpful. An environment of high values is likewise important. In a home wherein material wealth, selfishness and secularism are dismissed in favor of spiritual values, vocations can readily be seen as privileges and appreciated accordingly. This means that priesthood, religious life, or Church service as a layperson, are all frequently rooted in the pastoral unity of the home, the “little Church” of ancient Catholic tradition.

Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 914-933.

The importance of being Catholic
5th Sunday of Easter — May 13

“C” Readings: Acts 14:21-27 • Rev. 21:1-5a • John 13:31-33a, 34-35

Title: The Meaning and Importance of the Catholic Church
Purpose: To show (1) the meaning of the Roman Catholic Church; and (2) the importance of being a practicing and witnessing Catholic.

“Paul and Barnabas”; the very phrase, in today’s First Reading, is part and parcel of our biblical tradition. Paul and Barnabas, St. Luke tells us earlier (Acts 14:14), were Apostles. Though not among the original Twelve, they were “sent” by God to preach the Good News. How seriously they accepted the Lord’s mandate is clear from today’s opening biblical passage.

St. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, probably wrote this text around 80 A.D. It describes the conclusion of St. Paul’s First Missionary Journey. Notice the deliberate speed with which the two Apostles labored in order to fulfill their privilege of being “sent” by the Lord. Regardless of the inconvenience, the sacrifice, indeed the pain, the two move from city to city. Neither is intimidated by physical suffering; no time is squandered. When they finish evangelizing a circuit of key cities, they return to Antioch in order to confirm the faith they had earlier sown there.

Thus, from Luke’s pen, we have a word-picture of the nascent Church — “the developing young Church” as Archbishop John F. Whealon wrote in his notes to The Vatican II Sunday Missal. It is unmistakably a picture of zealous, almost non-stop activity in an awesome effort to build up the Church — the foundation of the new and eternal Jerusalem, as seen by John by means of a vision recorded in today’s Second Reading.

The Church of the Apostles is still alive and dynamic. The Church of the Apostles is the Church founded on Peter, whose successor is the Roman Pontiff, and whose center is Rome, the final axis of all religious convergence. In this our Church we recognize a living link across the centuries between ourselves and the zealous, indefatigable band of disciples described in today’s First Reading.

The Church today is the same Church as the Church of Agnes and Lawrence; of Athanasius, Patrick and Cyril and Methodius; of Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and Catherine of Siena; of Francis and Clare; of Teresa and John of the Cross; of Charles Borromeo and Ignatius Loyola; of Vincent de Paul and Philip Neri. And our present Holy Father, Pope John Paul II — John Paul the Great — is in the same line as Leo the Great and Gregory the Great; likewise, St. Gregory X and St. Pius V. And Vatican Council II, convened by Blessed Pope John XXIII, was in continuity with the First Council of Nicaea (325) and Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) and Lyons (1245) and Trent (1545-63).

All of the above pertains to the one Church of Christ, almost two thousand years old, the oldest living institution in the world. We call this Church “Roman Catholic.” “Catholic” simply means “universal,” while “Roman” reminds us of its center, Rome, since the time of Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, and upon whom Jesus founded his Church. The Bishop of Rome today, we hold, is the successor of St. Peter.

This Church was established by the risen Lord, who sent his Apostles “so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:27). The Church, we believe, is the Mystical Body of Christ, whom we hear, touch, and even embrace, primarily in the seven sacraments, supremely in the Eucharist. Hence the Church — our historic Roman Catholic Church — is the final axis of all religious convergence.

Thus, there is but one Church; unity, the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms, “is of the essence of the Church” (no. 813). The bonds of unity, secured by love (See Col 265), is assured by three key visible bonds: (1) the profession of one faith, received by means of Apostolic Tradition; (2) a common celebration of divine worship, especially the Mass and the sacraments; and (3) apostolic succession through the Sacrament of Holy Orders (cf. Catechism, no. 816).

Thus Vatican II declared: “For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God” (Decree on Ecumenism, Sec. 3).

The successor of Peter, the rock-like center of the Church, is the Holy Father, currently Pope John Paul II — John Paul the Great.

If the Church rests upon Peter and the Apostles, as it unquestionably does, the Church must necessarily be “Apostolic.” This means not only that the Church was built on the Apostles, chosen by Christ personally, but also that it safeguards and hands down the deposit of faith received from the Apostles, and that it continues to be taught, guided and sanctified by the Apostles through the bishops, assisted by priests, in union with Peter’s successor, the Holy Father (cf. Catechism, no. 857). Thus the Preface of the Mass for Apostles reads in part: “You [Christ] are the eternal Shepherd / who never leaves his flock untended. / Through the apostles /you watch over us and protect us always.”

The Church of Christ is likewise “Catholic”; indeed, it must be so, since Christ came to save all persons in principle. “Catholic” means “universal.” Indeed the Church is universal before it is local; the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was accompanied by the disciples’ ability to speak in many tongues. And Christ’s command, prior to his Ascension, was to preach to all nations, baptizing them (see Matt. 28:19). Moreover, the universality of the Church’s mission is clearly stated in First Timothy 2:4.

Finally Christ’s Church must be holy. As Pope Paul VI explained:

The Church is . . . holy, though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life, her members are sanctified; if they move away from her life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses, of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Credo of the People of God, para. 19).

The meaning and the importance of the Catholic Church can be summarized in the name, Jesus Christ. To love the Church is to love Jesus Christ. “Love Christ; love the Church,” is an ancient axiom. In the words of St. Cyprian, “one cannot love Christ without loving the Church which Christ loves.”

This is the reason why each one of us must be a practicing, witnessing Catholic.

Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 830-835, 849-869, 946-960.

Face to face
6th Sunday of Easter — May 20

“C” Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 • Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23 • John 14:23-29

Title: What We Know about Heaven
Purpose: (1) to explain the Church’s teaching on heaven; (2) to encourage prayers to the saints in heaven.

A magnificent word painting of the Holy City — heaven, in other words — is provided by the Seer of the Apocalypse in today’s Second Reading. We see the Church glorified, the same Church whose early pilgrimage in faith is glimpsed in today’s First Reading, from the inspired history of the nascent Church, known as the Book of Acts, written by St. Luke.

The contrast is so instructive. Note how the early Church made progress step by step, as it were, halting in its journey to meet and ponder, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, how to apply the solid, perennial principles of faith to seemingly new situations.

In fact, the First Reading records the first council of the Church, the historic “Council of Jerusalem,” convened about 49 or 50 A.D. Note that Peter presides over it. Note, too, that it represents not simply one corner of the Church, but the whole Church. Note further that it promulgates norms that are meant to bind all Christians, and that it is conveyed to the entire Church by a written document. What happened is what happens at every ecumenical council. (See The Navarre Bible, Acts of the Apostles, p. 161; cf. the Code of Canon Law, Canons 338-341.)

The issue discussed and decided pertained to what is necessary for salvation. In other words, it relates to what we call in Biblical terms the Beatific Vision; or, in another sense, heaven. A glimpse of heaven is given us in the Second Reading, from the Book of Revelation — a magnificent metaphor of a profound reality.

The Catechism reminds us that anyone who dies in God’s grace and friendship, and is perfectly purified, lives with Christ forever (no. 1023). Pope Benedict XII, in the Constitution Benedictus Deus (January 1336), summarized the position of the Church thus:

By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ’s holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment — and since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven — have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.

Vatican Council II reaffirmed this ancient creed about heaven in its monumental Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Therein we are reminded that those who are now in glory contemplate “in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is” (no. 49. cf. Council of Florence, DS 693).

In heaven therefore we shall enjoy a perfect life with the Triune God, with the Virgin Mary, with the angels and all the blessed. This perfect life is what we call “heaven,” from an old English word designating “the sky.” Heaven is really the final and eternal fulfillment of all our yearnings, the ultimate completion of our pilgrimage, supreme fulfillment, absolute happiness. Life, after all, means to be with Christ, as St. Paul reminds us (Phil. 1:23). St. Ambrose wrote: “For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.” St. Augustine’s words are likewise memorable: “We are made for you, O Lord, and we will never rest until we rest in you” (Confessions, Book I).

In heaven we will no longer view God only dimly, as if in a mirror. There we shall see God. Theologian Frank Sheed, in his Death into Life: A Conversation, once noted three especially dramatic uses in the New Testament of the verb “to see,” in the context of heaven. First, our Lord spoke of the “angels who see the face” of his Father continuously (Matt. 18:10). Thus, their seeing God is a fundamental part of their very existence, just as breathing is of our existence here. Too, the First Epistle of John tells us that in heaven we shall see God “as he is” (3:2). Lastly St. Paul writes in 1 Cor. that, although we see God as in a mirror dimly now, tomorrow we shall see him “face to face.”

In heaven seeing means more than mere physical vision, the kind for which eyes serve as earthly instruments. Seeing in heaven will be like knowing; it means seeing with our intellects. In this life, our knowledge of God is conditioned by the ideas of God we have. In heaven, we shall be graced to see God directly, as he is. There, we shall no longer require the senses, such as physical sight. This is why our beholding God, our knowing God, in heaven, is called in Tradition “the beatific vision.”

The Catechism reads: “Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory, ‘the beatific vision’ “ (no. 1028).

Christ, by his death and Resurrection, has “opened” heaven to all; the life of heaven is literally communion with God in Christ and with one another. “Heaven,” the Catechism explains, “is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.” And he “makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will” (no. 1026).

We know for certain some of those who have already achieved the heavenly state. They are of course the saints. This especially refers to those whom the Church, in its infallible voice, has canonized, persons like our nation’s Francesca Cabrini, Elizabeth Seton, John Neumann, Katharine Drexel. Persons like these teach us that the Beatitudes can be lived in any country, in any age. Moreover the saints serve us as intercessors, to help us in our struggle to grow in virtue.

Our Christian sense also leads us to recognize that there must be scores of holy men and women whose names are not familiar, heroes and heroines of faith for every season. Yet, for reasons known alone to God, they are saints nonetheless. For an analogy, consider the Papal custom of occasionally naming cardinals secretly, in petto (“in the breast”). These cardinals may never be known, unless at some time the Holy Father chooses to identify them. (Pope John Paul II has made such nominations and disclosed them later. One was a valiant prelate consigned to a concentration camp.) The key point to ponder here is that we all have known persons in our lives who, we think, are now in possession of the beatific vision. Many, no doubt, are mothers who sacrificed youth, beauty and health for the sake of Christ’s kingdom.

Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 325-327, 946-956, 1023-29, 2683-84.

Witnesses
Ascension Thursday — May 24

Acts 1:1-11 • Hebr. 9:24-28; 10:19-23 • Luke 24:46-53

Title: Christ at the Father’s Right Hand
Purpose: to picture Jesus Christ as (1) with humanity now
glorified in heaven; (2) now helping us and interceding for us.

Today’s First Reading, from the pen of St. Luke, constitutes the most dramatic account of the mystery we celebrate today; specifically, the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. St. Luke is addressing a person named Theophilus. Was he a real person or a metaphor? The name Theophilus in Greek means “one who loves God.” Perhaps St. Luke was referring to each one of us, then and now.

In a sense the Ascension reflects the same mystery as the Resurrection. But today’s mystery focuses on the risen Lord’s final apparition in his physical body within our spatio-temporal dimension. The Catechism explains: “Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand” (no. 659). When the Father and he will send the Holy Spirit — Pentecost is but a novena of days away — the Lord will manifest himself not in his physical body but in his Mystical Body, the Church.

Being “seated” at “God’s right hand” is a metaphor referring to the inauguration of the Messiah’s Kingdom, in accordance with the prophecy: “To him [the Messiah] was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:14). After the Ascension, the disciples became witnesses of the kingdom “that will have no end” (see the Nicene Creed; cf. Catechism, no. 664).

“Being witnesses”; what a vocation is that of a disciple. “You are witnesses of these things,” St. Luke writes in today’s Gospel passage. Witnessing is one of the three fundamental responsibilities of the Christian. Along with service and solidarity, it helps form the tripod upon which the follower of Christ pilgrimages in this world toward the next.
No wonder that the angels in today’s First Reading, the Book of Acts, also written by St. Luke, demanded of Jesus’ first disciples, at the time of the Ascension: “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” (Acts 1:11). These words constitute a challenge to readiness: Christ’s disciples must always be on the watch, while keeping busy “in the service of God and of others, which is where our sanctification lies” (The Navarre Bible. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1989).

Keeping busy through witnessing: thus we must proceed in a secularistic, materialistic, neo-pagan world. The great German theologian who is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has observed that Catholics “have lost the sense that Christians cannot live just like ‘everybody else.’ “ Moreover, the concept that there is no specific Christian morality is “foolish” and “only an expression of the loss of a basic concept”; namely, “what is ‘distinctively Christian’ with respect to the models of the world.” Furthermore, there is a “spirit of nonconformity” which must be lived “with evangelical seriousness” (see The Ratzinger Report: Ignatius Press, 1985; pp. 114-115).
Cardinal Ratzinger continued his analysis with these prophetic words:

“Today more than ever the Christian must be aware that he belongs to a minority and that he is in opposition to everything that appears good, obvious, logical to the ‘spirit of the world’ . . . . Among the most urgent tasks facing Christians is that of regaining the capacity of nonconformism, i.e., the capacity to oppose many developments of the surrounding culture” (Ibid.).

This capacity is essential for the Catholic today because the world is either seriously confused or seriously mistaken about fundamental truths. One of these truths is the meaning of man. Recall the words of Pope John Paul II in his best-selling book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Alfred A. Knopf, 1994): “The principle that a person has value by the simple fact that he is a person finds very clear expression: man, it is said, ‘is the only creature on earth that God has wanted for his own sake’ “ (p. 202). (The interior citation is from Vatican Council II, Gaudium et Spes 24.)

Thus human dignity and human rights are inscribed by the Creator in the very nature of man. These rights — life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness; freedom of religion, of speech and all the rest — are not “concessions” made to man by the State. The Gospel, John Paul insists, “is the fullest confirmation of all human rights.” Or, as the Holy Father asks, “Who must this man be, if the Son of God pays the supreme price for his dignity?” (Ibid., p. 197).

This principle rules out, for a specific, gravely troubling debate, the possibility of abortion’s ever being ethically acceptable. Did not America’s own founding fathers acknowledge that life is an inalienable right? (the Declaration of Independence). By what convoluted logic can jurists attempt to justify abortion?

The brilliant Jewish existential philosopher, Martin Buber, argued that each and every human being is a “Thou,” not an “it,” because every human being is a reflection of the divine “Thou,” God. To stand up for this today means to stand up for human life both in the womb and in the convalescent home.

A radio personality once recounted the story of a woman’s walking down a beach and stopping, again and again, to collect stranded starfish on the sands, in order to return them to the sea. A passerby scornfully challenged her with, “Can that make any difference?” The woman responded by picking up yet another starfish, and gently lofting it into the sea. “It made a great difference to that one,” she said.

Of course. Each Catholic can make a substantial difference. Our rejection of abortion is qualitative, not quantitative. One human life safeguarded constitutes a good act that can never be undone. Meanwhile, Catholics take pride in being non-conformists against the moral errors and confusions of our times.

Do we as Christians take a stand and live by it with respect to abortion? Euthanasia? Contraception? Divorce and remarriage? Racism? Ethnic bias? Objectionable films and TV fare? Perjury? Dishonesty in business? What if we are in opposition to the world? Did not Jesus say that we should lead the world, not conform to it?

As the ancient (c. 200 A.D.) Epistle to Diognetus reads:

Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind by either country, speech, or customs; the fact is, they nowhere settle in cities of their own; they use no peculiar language; they cultivate no eccentric mode of life. Certainly, this creed of theirs is no discovery due to some fancy or speculation of inquisitive men; nor do they, as some do, champion a doctrine of human origin. Yet while they dwell in both Greek and non-Greek cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and conform to the customs of the country in dress, food, and mode of life in general, the whole tenor of their way of living stamps it as worthy of admiration and admittedly extraordinary. . . . They take part in everything as citizens and put up with everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their home, and every home a foreign land. They marry like all others and beget children; but they do not expose their offspring. Their board they spread for all, but not their bed. They find themselves in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their days on earth but hold citizenship in heaven. . . . They love all men, but are persecuted by all. . . . Doing good, they are penalized as evildoers. . . .”

Lord Jesus, help us value our precious calling to discipleship. Help us know that you are with us in our pilgrimage, helping us and interceding for us in your glorified humanity at the right hand of the Father.

Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 668-669, 673.

Love Christ, love the Church 
7th Sunday of the Year — May 27

“C” Readings: Acts 7:55-60 • Rev. 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 • John 17:20-26

Title: The One Church of Christ
Purpose: to explain (1) the one Catholic Church of Christ under the Successor of Peter, and (2) ecumenism as a priority of the Lord’s Church.

Today’s Gospel, excerpted from Jesus’ Last Supper sermon to his Apostles, is the Lord’s own prayer for Church unity, and for ecumenism, the search for unity in Christ. “Love Christ, love the Church,” is an ancient axiom by which we live and pray. This axiom was recently brought into sharp focus through a magnificent Declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; namely Dominus Iesus, dated 6 August 2000.

At the heart of this Declaration is the Biblical confession, “Jesus is Lord.” Since Jesus is Lord, eternal life is this: to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Read John 17:3, a text which introduces the passage assigned as today’s Gospel.

Christ our Lord therefore essentially transcends the greatest geniuses of history: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; as well as the religious leaders: Buddha, Muhammad, and all the rest. The only place where the Infinite God, the Supreme Intelligence and Will from whom the farthermost galaxies, the earth, and the smallest components of matter derive, has physically touched creation is the sacred humanity of Jesus. Upon Jesus Jacob’s Ladder rests.

Christ is Jacob’s ladder realized, the place upon which the stairway of heaven, on which the angels descend and ascend, rests. (See Gen. 28:12; cf. John 1:51.) Thus, as the Declaration states, no one can enter into communion with God “except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit” (no. 12).

This means that there is no salvation except in, through and by Jesus Christ. And since all persons are called in principle to salvation, we as Catholics unreservedly affirm the unicity and universality of the salvific mystery of Jesus Christ. “There is salvation in no one else,” St. Peter proclaimed before the Sanhedrin, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And in the First Letter of John we read: “The Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world” (1:29). St. Paul adds that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:4-6).

This is biblical doctrine, ancient and perennial, doctrine which must be firmly believed as a truth of Catholic faith.

As Christ is unique, so is his Church, our Catholic Church founded on Peter and the Apostles. “Just as there is one Christ,” Dominus Iesus reads, “so there exists a single body of Christ, a single Bride of Christ: ‘a single and apostolic Church’ “ (no. 16). As Catholics we are required to confess a historical continuity, rooted in apostolic succession, between the Church established by the Lord Jesus and today’s historic Catholic Church, “governed by the Successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him” (Ibid.).

Vatican Council II declared unreservedly that Christ’s Church “subsists in” our Catholic Church. The Council deliberately chose the phrase “subsists in” (Latin: subsistit in) to harmonize two doctrinal affirmations: (1) that (in the words of the Declaration) “the Church of Christ, despite the divisions which exist among Christians, continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church”; and (2) outside of its structure, “many elements can be found of sanctification and truth” (Ibid.).

Dominus Iesus goes on to acknowledge, as the Church has always done, that other churches, “while not existing in perfect communion” nonetheless remain “united to” the Catholic Church “by means of the closest bonds, that is by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist.” Indeed, the Church of Jesus “is present and operating in these Churches” (no. 17).

What of the ecclesial communities that have not preserved a valid episcopate and Eucharist? The answer is that those who have been baptized in these communities are, by their baptism, “incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church” (Ibid.).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reiterates that “the Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation” (no. 845).

Dominus Iesus recalls Vatican II’s words to the effect that the Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation” (no. 20). Hence the ancient axiom is always valid; specifically, “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (Catechism, no. 846). But this must be read in the manner in which the Church reads it, and has always read it; namely, “Wherever salvation occurs, there the Church necessarily is.”

Therefore, as the Declaration clearly states, the Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation” (no. 20). Yet for those who are not “formally and visibly members of the Church, ‘salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and natural situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit’; it has a relationship with the Church . . .” (Ibid.).

Of course this doctrine means that those who affirm Jesus as Lord, and who embrace his Church, will be judged according to their knowledge and advantage. Meanwhile those outside the visible boundaries of the Church can teach us all so much — persons like Gandhi, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy; Florence Nightingale, Simone Weil, Martin Buber — and on and on.
In summary, the Church is one, catholic, apostolic and holy. Because the Church is one, catholic, apostolic and holy, it is ecumenical. Its very nature calls for unity in the Lord: unity in baptism, the sacraments, the moral law; and unity in Sacred Scripture, the source of Revelation. Moreover, the Church is Christ’s principal sacrament. Hence to love Christ, one must love the Church.

Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 109-113, 119, 813-22, 815-16, 817, 834.

Monsignor David Q. Liptak, a priest of the Hartford Archdiocese, serves as Censor Librorum and pastor of St. Catherine Church in Broad Brook, Conn. The author of over 15 books in theology, canon law, homiletics and hagiography, he is also a professor of bioethics and sacramental theology at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and consulting editor of the (Hartford) Catholic Transcript. He has a M. Div. from St. Bernard’s Seminary, Rochester, N.Y., and a Ph.D. from Drew University. 

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