The texts of this Sunday's liturgy form a chain of invocations to the Lord. We tell him
that he is our support, our rock, our defence. [1] The
Collect also takes up the theme of the Introit: You never refuse your light to
those who stand fast in the firmness of your love. [2]
In the Gradual we continue to have recourse to him: In my distress I cry to the Lord
... Deliver me O Lord from wicked lips, from a deceitful tongue. O Lord in thee do I take
refuge. [3] We are moved by the insistence of God our
Father, who is determined to remind us that we ought to appeal to his mercy, always, no
matter what happens. Now as well, at a time in which confused voices are rending the
Church, many souls are going astray because they do not find good shepherds, other
Christs, who would guide them to the Lord of Love. They find, instead, thieves and
robbers who come to steal and kill and destroy . [4]
Let us not be afraid. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, must indefectibly be the
path and the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, the strong foundation and the way open to all
men. We have just read in the Gospel: Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel
people to come in, so that my house may be filled. [5]
But what is the Church? Where is the Church? Bewildered and disoriented, many
Christians do not find sure answers to these questions. And they come to believe that
perhaps the answers which the Magisterium has formulated for centuries - and which good
catechisms have proposed with the necessary precision and simplicity - have now been superseded
and must be replaced by new ones. A series of facts and difficulties seem to have come
together to darken the bright countenance of the Church. Some maintain that the valid
Church can be found only in their personal zeal to accommodate it to what they call modern
times. Others cry out: the Church is nothing more than man's desire for solidarity. We
ought to change it, they say, in accord with present circumstances.
They are wrong. The Church today is the same one Christ founded. It cannot be any
other. The Apostles and their successors are the vicars of God with regard to the rule
of the Church as instituted through faith and with regard to the sacraments of the faith.
Hence, just as it is not lawful for them to constitute any other Church, so too it is not
lawful for them either to hand down any other faith or to institute any other sacraments.
Rather, the Church is said to have been built up with the 'sacraments which flowed from
the side of Christ hanging on the Cross' [6] The Church
must be recognised by the four marks in the profession of faith of one of the first
Councils, as we pray in the Creed of the Mass: One, holy, catholic and apostolic Church
[7]
These are the essential properties of the Church, which are derived from its nature as
Christ intended it. And, being essential, they are also marks, signs, which distinguish it
from any other human gathering, even though in the others the name of Christ may be
pronounced.
A little more than a century ago, Pope Pius IX briefly summed up this traditional
teaching: The true Church of Christ is constituted and recognised, by divine authority,
in the four marks which in the creed we affirm as to be believed. And each of these marks
is so united with the others that it cannot be separated from them. For this reason, that
which truly is catholic and is called Catholic should at the same time shine forth by the
prerogatives of unity, of holiness and of apostolic succession. [8]
It is, I emphasize, the traditional teaching of the Church, which the Second Vatican
Council has repeated again, even though in recent years some may have forgotten it, led by
a false ecumenism. This is the sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to
be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted
to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it,
and which he raised up for all ages as the pillar and mainstay of the truth. [9]
That they may be one, even as we are one , [10]
Christ cries out to his Father; that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in
me and I in thee; that they also may be in us. [11]
This exhortation to unity flows in a constant stream from the lips of Jesus, for every
kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself
will stand. [12] It is a teaching which is converted
into a vehement desire: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring
them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock one shepherd. [13]
What beautiful tones Our Lord uses to express this doctrine! He multiplies words and
images so that we may understand it, so that this passion for unity may remain engraved on
our souls. I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of
mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
that it may bear more fruit . . . Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I
am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears
much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [14]
Do you not see how those who separate themselves from the Church, even though they are
full of foliage, quickly dry up, and their very fruits are converted into a living bed of
worms? Love the holy, roman, apostolic Church. One! For as Saint Cyprian writes: He who
reaps elsewhere, outside the Church, dissipates the Church of Christ. [15] And Saint John Chrysostom insists: Do not separate yourself
from the Church Nothing is stronger than the Church Your hope is the Church; your
salvation is the Church; your refuge is the Church It is higher than the heavens, and
broader than the earth; it never grows old, its vigour is eternal. [16]
To defend the unity of the Church is to live very united to Jesus Christ who is our
vine. How? By growing in fidelity to the perennial Magisterium of the Church: For the
Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not that they should manifest a new
doctrine by his revelation, but rather that with his assistance, they should religiously
safeguard and faithfully teach the revelation that was handed down through the Apostles -
the deposit of faith [17] By venerating this Mother of
ours without stain, and loving the Roman Pontiff, we will preserve unity.
Some say that few men are left in the Church. I would say that if all of us loyally
safeguarded Christ's doctrine, our numbers would grow considerably, since God wants his
house to be filled. In the Church we discover Christ, who is the Love of our loves. And we
should desire for all men our vocation, this intimate joy which intoxicates the soul, the
limpid sweetness of the merciful heart of Jesus.
One hears it said that we must be ecumenical. So be it. Nevertheless I fear that behind
some self-styled ecumenical activities there is a hidden fraud: for they are activities
which do not lead to the love of Christ, to the true vine. For that reason they lack
fruit. I ask Our Lord each day to expand my heart, that he may continue to supernaturalize
the love he has put in my soul for all men, without distinction of race, nationality,
cultural condition or wealth. I sincerely esteem all men, Catholics or not, those who do
believe in something and those who do not. I feel sorry for these unbelievers. But Christ
founded only one Church: he has only one Spouse.
The union of all Christians? Yes. Even more: the union of all those who believe in God.
But there exists only one true Church. There is no need to rebuild it out of pieces
dispersed throughout the world, and it does not need to go through any sort of
purification in order to be finally cleansed. The spouse of Christ cannot be
adulterous, for she is incorruptible and pure. Only one house knows and safeguards the
inviolability of only one bridal bed with chaste modesty. She preserves us for God, she
destines for the kingdom the children she has begotten. Anyone who separates himself from
the Church unites himself with an adulterer; he leaves behind the promises of the Church
and he who abandons the Church of Christ will not achieve the rewards of Christ. [18]
Now we can understand better how the unity of the Church leads to her holiness, and how
one of the principal aspects of her holiness is that unity centred on the mystery of the
one and triune God. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the
one hope that belongs to your call; one Lord one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of
us all, who is above all and through all and in all. [19]
Holiness means none other than union with God; a greater intimacy with the Lord, more
sanctity. The Church has been willed and founded by Christ, who carries out in this way
the will of the Father; the Spouse of the Son is assisted by the Holy Spirit. The Church
is the work of the Blessed Trinity; she is holy and our mother, our Holy Mother the
Church. We can admire in the Church one perfection which we could call original, and
another final, eschatological. Saint Paul refers to both of them in his letter to the
Ephesians. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify
her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word that he might present the
church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might
be holy and without blemish [20]
The original and constitutive holiness of the Church can be hidden - but never
destroyed since it is indefectible: The powers of death shall not prevail against it. [21] It can be veiled from human eyes, as I was saying, in certain
moments of obscurity, which can become almost universal. But Saint Peter applies to
Christians the title of gens sancta, [22] a holy
nation. And being members of a holy nation, all the faithful have received a call to
holiness, and they must strive to correspond to grace and to be personally holy.
Throughout history and now as well, there have been so many Catholics who have truly
sanctified themselves: young and old, single and married, priests and lay people, men and
women.
But it happens that the personal sanctity of so many faithful - then and now - is not
something externally apparent. Frequently we do not recognise the ordinary people, common
and holy, who work and live alongside us. From an earthly viewpoint, what stands out most
is sin and unfaithfulness: these are more conspicuous.
Gens sancta, a holy nation, composed of creatures with infirmities. This
apparent contradiction marks an aspect of the mystery of the Church. The Church, which is
divine, is also human, for it is made up of men, and men have their defects: Omnes
homines terra et cinis , [23] we men are dust and
ashes.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who founded the holy Church, expects the members of this people
to strive continually to acquire sanctity. Not all respond loyally to his call. And in the
spouse of Christ, at one and the same time, both the marvel of the way of salvation and
the miseries of those who take up that way are visible.
It was one and the same purpose - namely, that of perpetuating on this earth the
salutary work of the redemption which caused the divine Redeemer to give the community of
human beings, founded by him, the constitution of a society perfect in its own order,
provided with all the juridical and social elements ... If something is perceived in the
Church which points to the infirmity of our human condition, this is not to be attributed
to her juridical constitution, but to the lamentable tendency of individuals toward evil,
a tendency which her divine Founder suffers to exist even in the higher members of his
Mystical Body, for the testing of the virtue of both flock and pastors, and for the
greater merit of Christian faith in all. [24]
This is the reality of the Church here and now. For this reason the holiness of the
spouse of Christ is compatible with the existence in her bosom of individuals with
defects. Christ did not will sinners to be excluded from the society he had founded; if
therefore some members are spiritually infirm, this is no reason for lessening our love
toward the Church, but rather for increasing our compassion toward her members. [25]
It would be a sign of very little maturity if, in view of the defects and miseries in
any of those who belong to the Church (no matter how high they may be placed by virtue of
their function) , anyone should feel his faith in the Church and in Christ lessened. The
Church is not governed by Peter, nor by John, nor by Paul; she is governed by the Holy
Spirit, and the Lord has promised that he will remain at her side always, to the close
of the age. [26]
Listen to what Saint Thomas Aquinas says, elaborating on this point. He is speaking
about receiving the sacraments, which are the cause and sign of sanctifying grace: He
who approaches the sacraments receives the sacrament concerned from the minister of the
Church not as such-and-such an individual, but precisely as a minister of the Church.
Hence so long as the Church suffers him to remain in his ministry, one receiving a
sacrament from him does not share in his sin, but shares in the life of the Church who
publicly recognises him as minister. [27] When the Lord
permits human weakness to appear, our reaction ought to be the same as if we were to see
our mother ill or treated with disdain: to love her all the more, to bestow on her a
greater manifestation of affection, both external and internal.
If we love the Church, there will never arise in us a morbid interest in airing, as the
faults of the Mother, the weaknesses of some of her children. The Church, the spouse of
Christ, does not have to intone any mea culpa . But we do: mea culpa, mea culpa,
mea maxima culpa . The only true mea culpa is a personal one, not the one which
attacks the Church, pointing out and exaggerating the human defects which, in this holy
mother, result from the presence in her of men whose actions can go far astray, but which
can never destroy - nor even touch - that which we call the original and constitutive
holiness of the Church.
God our Lord has indeed compared the Church to the threshing floor where the straw is
piled together with the wheat from which will come bread for the table and bread for the
altar; he has compared the Church to a dragnet ex omni genere piscium congreganti, [28] which catches both good and bad fish, the bad ones of which are
later thrown away.
The mystery of the holiness of the Church - that pristine light which can become
obscured by the shadows of human baseness - rejects even the slightest thought of
suspicion, of doubt about the beauty of our mother. Nor can we tolerate, without
protesting, that others should insult her. We cannot seek out in the Church vulnerable
points in order to criticize them, as some do who show thereby neither their faith nor
their love. I cannot conceive of anyone having true affection for his mother who speaks of
her with disdain.
Our Mother is holy, because she was born pure and will continue without blemish for all
eternity. If at times we are not able to perceive her fair face, let us wipe clean our own
eyes. If we are aware that her voice does not please us, let us remove from our ears any
hardness which prevents us from hearing in her tone of voice the whistled beckoning of the
loving Shepherd. Our Mother is holy, with the holiness of Christ, to whom she is united in
body - which is all of us - and in spirit, which is the Holy Spirit, dwelling also in the
hearts of each one of us, if we remain in the grace of God.
Holy, holy, holy, we dare sing to the Church, evoking a hymn in honour of the Blessed
Trinity. You are holy, O Church, my mother, because the Son of God, who is holy, founded
you. You are holy, because the Father, source of all holiness, so ordained it. You are
holy, because the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the souls of the faithful, assists you, in
order to gather together the children of the Father, who will dwell in the Church of
heaven, the eternal Jerusalem.
God desires all men to be saved and to come to the konwledge of the truth For there
is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. [29] Jesus Christ instituted only one Church. For this reason the
spouse of Christ is one and catholic: universal, for all men.
For many centuries now the Church has been spread throughout the world, and it numbers
persons of all races and walks of life. But the universality of the Church does not depend
on its geographical distribution, even though this is a visible sign and a motive of
credibility. The Church was catholic already at Pentecost. It was born catholic from the
wounded heart of Jesus, as a fire which the Holy Spirit enkindled.
In the second century the Christians called the Church catholic in order to distinguish
it from the sects which, using the name of Christ, were betraying his doctrine in one way
or another. We call it catholic, writes Saint Cyril, not because it is spread
throughout the world, from one extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and
without defect it teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, of both the visible and
the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because it draws to true worship
all types of men, those who govern and and those who are ruled, the learned and the
ignorant. And finally, because it cures and makes healthy all lands of sins, whether of
the soul or of the body, possessing in addition - by whatever name it may be called - all
the forms of virtue, in deeds and in words and in every kind of spiritual gift. [30]
The catholicity of the Church does not depend either on whether or not non-Catholics
acclaim and acknowledge it. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that, in
nonspiritual matters the opinions of some persons in positions of authority in the Church
are taken up - and at times exploited - by those who fashion public opinion, when these
churchmen have views similar to theirs. It will often happen that the aspect of truth
which will be defended in any human ideology will find an echo or foundation in the
perennial teaching of the Church. This is, in a certain sense, a sign of the divinity of
the revelation which the Magisterium safeguards. But the spouse of Christ is catholic,
even when it is deliberately ignored by many, and even abused and persecuted, as
unfortunately happens in so many places.
The Church is not a political party, nor a social ideology, nor a worldwide
organization for harmony or material progress, even though we recognise the nobility of
these and other activities. The Church has always undertaken and undertakes today an
immense work on behalf of the needy, of those who suffer, of all those who bear in any way
the consequences of the only true evil, which is sin. And to all - to those who are in any
way deprived and to those who claim to enjoy the fulness of earthly goods - the Church
comes to confirm only one, essential, definitive truth: that our destiny is eternal and
supernatural, that only in Jesus Christ are we saved for all time, and that only in him
will we achieve in some way already in this life true peace and happiness.
Ask God our Lord now, along with me, that we Catholics may never forget these truths,
and that we may resolve to put them into practice. The Catholic Church does not need the
approval of men, for it is the work of God.
We will show ourselves to be Catholics by the fruits of sanctity which we produce, for
sanctity does not admit of any frontiers, nor is it the patrimony of any particular group.
We will show ourselves to be Catholics if we pray, if we strive to direct ourselves to God
at all times, if we make an effort always and in all things to be just - in the broadest
sense of the term justice, which is used frequently in these times with a materialistic
and erroneous connotation - if we love and defend the personal freedom of other men.
I remind you also of another sign of the catholicity of the Church: the faithful
preservation and administration of the sacraments as they were instituted by Jesus Christ,
without human deformations or evil attempts to interpret them psychologically or
sociologically. For it is not for one man to decide how another shall use what is under
the latter's power and authority. All he can decide is what is under his own power. Since,
therefore, human sanctification lies under the power of God who sanctifies, it is not for
man to decide of his own judgement which materials are to be chosen for him to be
sanctified by. This, rather, is something which should be determined by divine
institution. [31]
The attempt to take universality away from the essence of the sacraments would perhaps
be justified if it were only a matter of signs, of symbols, which are subject to
the natural laws of comprehension and understanding. But the sacraments of the New Law
are causes and signs at the same time. Hence too it is that, as the usual formula puts it,
they effect what they figuratively express. And from this it is also clear that in them
the essential characteristics of a sacrament are perfectly fulfilled, inasmuch as they are
designed for something sacred in the sense not merely of being signs of it but of being
causes of it as well. [32]
The Catholic Church is roman. I savour that word, roman! I feel completely roman, since
roman means universal, catholic. For it leads me to love tenderly the Pope, il dolce
Cristo in terra, as Saint Catherine of Siena, whom I count as a most beloved friend,
liked to repeat.
From this catholic roman centre, Paul VI emphasised in the closing stages of the
Second Vatican Council, no one is, in theory, beyond reach; all can and should be
reached. For the Catholic Church, no one is a stranger, no one is excluded, no one is to
consider himself far away. [33] I venerate with all my
strength the Rome of Peter and Paul, bathed in the blood of martyrs, the centre from which
so many have set out to propagate throughout the world the saving word of Christ. To be
roman does not entail any manifestation of provincialism, but rather of authentic
ecumenism. It presupposes the desire to enlarge the heart, to open it to all men with the
redemptive zeal of Christ, who seeks all men and takes in all men, for he has loved all
men first.
Saint Ambrose wrote a few words which comprise, as it were, a song of joy: Where
Peter is, there is the Church; and where the Church is, not death, but eternal life
reigns. [34] For where Peter and the Church are, there
Christ is; and he is salvation, the only way.
Our Lord founded the Church on the weakness - but also on the fidelity - of a few men,
the Apostles, to whom he promised the constant assistance of the Holy Spirit. Let us read
again the well-known text, which is ever new and up-todate. All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of
the age. [35]
The preaching of the Gospel does not arise in Palestine through the personal initiative
of a few fervent individuals. What could the Apostles do? They were nothing in their time.
From a human point of view they were neither rich nor learned, nor heroes. Jesus places on
the shoulders of a handful of disciples an immense, divine task: You did not
choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that
your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to
you. [36]
Through two thousand years of history, the apostolic succession has been preserved in
the Church. The bishops, declares the Council of Trent, have succeeded in the
place of the Apostles and are placed, as the Apostle (Paul) himself says, by the Holy
Spirit to rule the Church of God (Acts 20:28) . [37]
And, among the Apostles, Christ himself made Simon the object of special attention. You are
Peter and on this rock I will build my church. [38] I have
prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen
your brethren. [39]
Peter moves to Rome and there establishes the see of primacy of the Vicar of Christ.
For this reason it is in Rome that the apostolic succession is seen most clearly. And for
this reason Rome is called the apostolic see by antonomasia. The First Vatican Council
proclaimed, with the words of a prior council, that of Florence: All the faithful of
Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possess primacy over
the whole world, and that the same Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, prince
of the Apostles, and true vicar of Jesus Christ, and head of all the Church, and father
and teacher of all Christians; and that to him was given by Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
person of blessed Peter, full power to feed, rule and govern the universal Church [40]
The supreme power of the Roman Pontiff and his infallibility, when he speaks ex
cathedra, are not human inventions. They are based on the explicit foundational will
of Christ. How foolish it is, then, to confront the government of the Pope with that of
the bishops, or to reduce the validity of the pontifical Magisterium to the consent of the
faithful! Nothing is more foreign to it than a balance of powers; human moulds of thought
do not help us, no matter how attractive or functional they may be. No one in the Church
enjoys absolute power by himself, as man. In the Church there is no leader other than
Christ. And Christ constituted a vicar of his - the Roman Pontiff - for his wayfaring
spouse on earth.
The Church is apostolic by constitution. That which truly is and is called catholic,
should stand out at one and the same time by the prerogatives of unity, holiness and
apostolic succession. In that way, the Church is one, with a clear and perfect unity of
the whole world and all nations, with that unity of which the principle, root and
indefectible origin is the supreme authority and most excellent primacy of blessed Peter,
prince of the Apostles, and his successors in the Roman See. And there is no other
Catholic Church, but that one which, built on the one Peter, rises up on the unity of the
faith and on charity in one unique body, joined together and compact. [41]
We help to make that apostolic continuity more evident in the eyes of all men by
demonstrating with exquisite fidelity our union with the Pope, which is union with Peter.
Love for the Roman Pontiff must be in us a delightful passion, for in him we see Christ.
If we deal with the Lord in prayer, we will go forward with a clear gaze that will permit
us to perceive the action of the Holy Spirit, even in the face of events we do not
understand or which produce sighs or sorrow.
The Church sanctifies us after we enter into her bosom through baptism. Newly born into
natural life, we can already take refuge in sanctifying grace. The faith of one person,
even more, the faith of the whole Church, benefits the child through the action of the
Holy Spirit, which gives unity to the Church and communicates the goods of one another. [42] This supernatural maternity of the Church, which the Holy
Spirit confers, is truly marvellous. Spiritual rebirth which is brought about by
baptism is in some way similar to bodily birth. Just as children in the womb of their
mothers do not feed themselves, but rather are nourished from the sustenance of the
mother, so also the little ones who do not have the use of reason and are like children in
the womb of their mother the Church, receive salvation through the action of the Church
and not by themselves. [43]
The priestly power of the Church, which proceeds directlyfrom Christ, stands out in all
its greatness. Christ is the source of every priesthood: for the priesthood of the Old
Law was as its figure: but the priesthood of the New Law acts in the person of Christ, as
is written in 2 Cor (2:10) : What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been
for your sake in the person of Christ. [44]
The saving mediation between God and man is perpetuated in the Church through the
sacrament of Holy Orders, which gives to men the power - through sacramental character and
consequent graces - to act as ministers of Jesus Christ on behalf of all souls. That
one person can carry out an act that another cannot does not stem from a difference of
goodness or malice, but from an acquired power, which one possesses and the other does
not. Therefore, since the layman does not receive the power to consecrate, he cannot bring
about the consecration, no matter what his personal goodness may be. [45]
In the Church there is a diversity of ministries, but there is only one aim: the
sanctification of men. And in this task all Christians participate in some way, through
the character imprinted by the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. We must all feel
responsible for the mission of the Church, which is the mission of Christ. He who does not
have zeal for the salvation of souls, he who does not strive with all his strength to make
the name and doctrine of Christ known and loved, will not understand the apostolicity of
the Church.
A passive Christian has failed to understand what Christ wants from all of us. A
Christian who goes his own way, unconcerned about the salvation of others, does not
love with the heart of Jesus. Apostolate is not a mission reserved for the hierarchy,
priests and religious. The Lord calls all of us to be, with our example and word,
instruments of the stream of grace which springs up to eternal life.
Whenever we read the Acts of the Apostles, we are moved by the audacity, the confidence
in their mission, and the sacrificing joy of the disciples of Christ. They do not ask for
multitudes. Even though the multitudes come, they address themselves to each particular
soul, to each man, one by one. Philip, to the Ethiopian; [46]
Peter, to the centurion; [47] Paul, to Sergius Paulus. [48]
They have learned from the Master. Remember the parable of the labourers who awaited
work in the middle of the marketplace of the village? When the owner of the vineyard went
out, already late in the day, he found that there were still labourers standing idle. Why
do you stand here idle all day? Because no one has hired us , [49]
they answered. This should not happen in the life of a Christian. No one should be found
around him who can assert that he has not heard of Christ because no one has bothered to
tell him.
Men often think that nothing prevents them from leaving God out of their lives. They
deceive themselves. Though they may not know it, they are stretched out like the paralytic
at the pool of Bethsaida - unable to move towards the waters which save, towards the
doctrine which puts joy into the soul. So often the blame lies with Christians. The lame
and sick of soul could repeat: hominem non habeo, [50]
I do not have even one person to help me. Every Christian should be an apostle, because
God, who does not need anyone, nevertheless needs us. He counts on us to dedicate
ourselves to propagating his saving doctrine.
We are contemplating the mystery of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. It is
time to ask ourselves: Do I share with Christ his zeal for souls? Do I pray for the Church
of which I form part, in which I must carry out a specific mission which no one else can
do for me? To be in the Church is already much, but it is not enough. We must be the
Church, because our Mother must never be a stranger to us, something external, foreign to
our deepest thoughts.
Let us conclude our consideration of the marks of the Church. With the help of the Lord
they will become engraved on our souls, and we will be confirmed by this clear, sure,
divine criterion in order to love more this holy mother, who has brought us to the life of
grace and who nourishes us, day by day, with inexhaustible care.
If by chance you hear offensive words or shouts hurled against the Church, show their
loveless authors, with humanity and charity, that they cannot mistreat a mother in that
way. They attack her now with impunity, because her kingdom which is that of her Master
and Founder, is not of this world. As long as the wheat groans among the straw, as long
as the spikes of wheat sigh among the cockle, as long as the vessels of mercy lament among
those of ire, as long as the lily sobs among the thorns, there will always be enemies who
say: when will she die and her name perish? They think there will come a time in which the
Church will disappear and there will be no more Christians ... But, when they say this,
they of necessity die. And the Church remains. [51]
No matter what happens, Christ will not abandon his spouse. The Church triumphant is already with him at the right hand of the Father. And our Christian brothers beckon us to join them there, they who glorify God for this reality which we still see in the clear shadow of faith: the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
FOOTNOTES
1 cf Ps 17:19-20, 2-3. Introit of the Mass 2 Prayer, Mass of the Second Sunday after Pentecost 3 Ps 119:1,2; Ps 7:2. Gradual of the Mass 4 John 10:8,10 5 Luke 14:23 6 St Thomas, S. Th. III, q 64 a2 ad3 7 Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, Dz-Sch 150 (86) 8 Pius IX, Letter of the Holy Office to the Bishops of England, 16 September 1864, Dz-Sch 2888 (1686) 9 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen gentium, 8 10 John 17:11 11 John 17:21 12 Matt 12:25 13 John 10:16 14 John 15:1-5 15 St Cyprian, De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate, 6, PL 4, 503 16 St John Chrysostom, Homilia de capto Eutropio, 6 17 First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Dz-Sch 3070 (1836) 18 St Cyprian, op cit 19 Eph 4:4-6 20 Eph 5:25-27 21 Matt 16:18 22 1 Pet 2:9 23 Sir 17:31 24 Pius XII, Encyclical, Mystici corporis, 29 June 1943 25 ibid 26 Matt 28:20 27 St Thomas, S. Th. III, q 64 a6 ad2 28 Matt 13:47 29 1 Tim 2:4-6 30 St Cyril, Catechesis, 18, 23 31 St Thomas, S. Th. III, q 60 a5 32 ibid , q 62 a1 ad1 33 Second Vatican Council, Constitutiones, Decreta, Declarationes, Vatican 1966, p 1079 34 St Ambrose, In XII Ps enarratio, 40, 30 35 Matt 28:18-20 36 John 15:16 37 Council of Trent, Doctrine on the sacrament of Holy Orders, Dz-Sch 1768 (960) 38 Matt 16:18 39 Luke 22:32 40 First Vatican Council, op cit, Dz-Sch 3059 (1826) 41 Pius IX, op cit, Dz-Sch 2888 (1686) 42 St Thomas, S. Th. III, q 68 a9 ad2 43 ibid, ad1 44 ibid, q22 a4 45 ibid, In IV Sent, d13 q1 a1 46 cf Acts 8:26-40 47 cf Acts 10:1-48 48 cf Acts 13:6-12 49 Matt 20:6-7 50 John 5:7 51 St Augustine, Enarrationes in psalmos, 70, 2, 12
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