The Church as One

Come one, come all!

The Catholic Church spread her arm out to welcome one and all.• And you are not alone• You are call to be one of the many on the

Church that Jesus Christ Himself found it.

Today we are going to learn: “UNITY”

a) How al the baptized are one as “Mystical Body of Christ”

b) And everyone is welcome!

UNITY: Everyone is Welcome!

Let’s start with a little review of The Nicaea Creed • that we say every Sunday in Mass.

Do you remember what the CREED says about the Church?

There are 4 words that describe the Catholic Church:

• We believe in ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC & APOSTOLIC CHURCH

(In the last episode we learned about the Church as APOSTOLIC)

Nicaea Creed and Unity

ONE: How a number can possible describe the Catholic Church?

Well, by professing that the Catholic Church is ONE,• we are professing that all people in the Church are in

UNITY

“UNITY” one of the Central teaching of the Faith• Does this sound familiar?• What about the Trinity?• What do we believe about the Trinity?

UNITY also describes the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Let’s begin with the Number ONE

God has revealed to us that He is the Trinity of persons:• Father, Son, & Holy Spirit united in

ONE Divine Nature.

So the Unity of the Church is like the unity of the Trinity.

And if you don’t have enough of the Unity yet,

God wants us in unity with Him and with each other.

The Holy Trinity in Unity

let’s look an example of your own life:a) Have you ever tried to decide on a gift for your

parents with your brothers or sisters?b) Or maybe you tried to decide what would you

like to do with your friends

• Isn't hard sometimes to get everyone to want to do the same thing?

• You may want to do different things like: you may want to play video games, when your friend want to go outside and play.

c) Or may be another one may want to go to the park.

In some way, you have to Unify the group and come to one decision,

And then act as One!

Have you ever experience unity before?

At less you get all to go to the park together, you have unity have unity in your decision.

Another example of Unity:• When you and your brothers decide or sisters decide to

clean the house as gift of love for your parents, that’s an example of unity

• These 2 examples are united by a Goal or an activity,

In the Church however we are united to God and to others• By more than a common goal or share activity

We are united by something far more exciting!!!

We are united by Christ Himself; It is his life and His love that unites us• And that’s more than an activity or goal

We are United by Christ Himself

Think about the different body parts• Not the only ones that you can see like your hands, feet,

• But even the ones you can see; those crucial parts keeping you a live like: your heart, lungs, even your veins

Each of these parts of your body have a very important job:• To make Your Whole Body run well!

1) First you need your lungs to breath, and your heart to beat, just to keep you alive

2) Then you need your eyes to see, and your ears to listen

3) Then your brain has to be working to you to understand the words we say, and to remember what you have learned

Your whole body get a great work out from watching a program

Even though each part is doing something different, it is very important that they are united.

The Church as a Body

The Church is also sometimes called the body of Christ.

• Remember that all Baptized are united by far more than a common goal or some activity

• We are united by the very life of Christ!

In fact we are united to Jesus• We make up his body and He is our head

• His Divine life is constantly being communicated to us through church (through the Power of the Holy Spirit) when we receive the Grace of the Sacraments

Baptism unites us to Christ’s death & Resurrection• At Baptism we are united to the Mystical Body of Christ

• It is through the sacraments that we begin to share Christ Divine Life

By Baptism united to the Body of Christ

But there is another way in which we are united to Christ and it is through the Eucharist!

When we received to the Eucharist,1) It becomes part of your body2) And you becomes a part of Christ

body

In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus body & blood, soul & Divinity come into our body, when we receive Holy Communion.

• We’re united with Jesus in the Whole Mystical Body of Christ, in a very unique way, when we receive Holy Communion.

By the Eucharist United to the Body of Christ

• So not only we are united to Christ Mystical body, by our baptism

• but we are united to Christ Sacramentally as well, through the Eucharist.

Saint Paul had a sense of the Mystical Body of Christ. Saint Paul love to write letters;• In his letters he often remains to the early Christians that they

are part of Christ Body.

• Through the letters on the Bible, St. Paul has a lot to teach us of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Let’s read the Book of Romans:“For as in One body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we though many, are One Body in Christ and individually parts of one another”(Romans 12:4-5)

He teaches the early Church in Romans about the Unity of the Christians in Christ Body

Yet they are individual in distinctive roles which is True today as well.

Saint Paul and the Body of Christ

This time is a letter to the Corinthians; St. Paul teaches us this time about:a) The Eucharist , b) And the Unity of the Church as the Body of Christ

“The cup of Blessing that we bless is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?The bread that we brake is it not a participation in the body of Christ?Because the loaf of the bread is One, we through many, are One Body for we all participated of the One Loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

Again he tells us in a different way how although we are individuals, we are part of the ONE BODY of CHRIST

What does all of these means?

a) It means that we are all connected

b) We are all Family!

Another example of St. Paul letters

We are all Family! And this just doesn’t include those here on

earth, o But also in includes the souls on heaven and

the souls in Purgatory

We all share the Divine Life of Christ, who is our head.o This give us an amazing Power and Strength

When you pray, or you suffer, it has impact in the whole body of Christ, because our union with Him.o This can offer great challenges to us to pray for

each othero And to united our suffering with Christ, that HE

may make it transformed in something good.

We are all Connected

ST. Paul says this in the letter of Col.“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for our sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body Which is the Church” (Colossians 1:24)

So the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ

Can you see the mystical Body of Christ?• No • and Yes!

The Mystical Body of Christ is in some way, is part of invisible part of the Church

Although we believe in the bond of Charity and Love united us in Christ, we can not see it.

But there is a visible evidence of the charity which bonds all Baptize together in Christ

Bond of Charity and Love

In fact there are 3 ways that we can see the Unity that exist among the members of Christ Body:

The Visible Unity of Christ Body

Unity among Christ Body

(1) The Faith we profess

(2) Our Unity under the Pope

(3) The way we worship

The Faith We Profess

The Church mission, it is Christ Mission!• So the Faith she teaches, will be profess every Sunday on

the CREED

• It is what the Church has been teaching for 2000 years.

These teachings are source of Unity for all those in the Church.

First let’s look the 1st visible evidence of Unity in the Catholic Church• The Catholic Church is the teacher & guide, but she does

not make things up

What does she teach?• Remember, that the Church is on a Mission

• She was will by God to make all man Holy

• and if this is True,

• what she teaches you, is what makes you happy and Holy!

1) The Faith We profess

If you say: “I am Catholic”, I already know that you believe in what the Church teachesa) You follow the Churchb) You listen to what she teachesc) we all believe, what she teaches will lead us to happiness

& holiness

The Church has kept safe for 2000 yrs, the teachings that Jesus Himself has given us• These teachings are true

• In all ages, in all time, the Church has passed on what Jesus thought

The Church has existed for almost 2000 yrs. Just think of all those who have gone before in Faith• All the Saints that have thought the faith,

• The martyrs who have died for the faith—

• the same Faith with the same teachings that you believe in, and that I believe in.

Church Teachings Source of Unity

It is exciting to think that you believe and profess the same True of the Faith that martyrs died for,

• in the 1st century for the Church: St. Felicity & St. Perpetua, etc.

• and in the last century like modern Martyrs: St Maximilian, St Miguel Pro, etc.

You profess the exact same faith of missionaries have thought through the whole world• Saint Patrick brought the Faith to Ireland• St. Isaac Jogues Canada & USA

All of these converters of faith learned the True of the Faith

that has not change and continues to be thought today.

1) The Faith we Profess

The Doctrine that the Catholic Church professes has not change,

and it is visible sing of Unity the Catholics share

We all believe the same thing, • no matter when, or where we live, • no matter what race, or what language we talk

In this Unity is a sing that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus found it. • It is an Universal Church professing the same Faith

1) The Faith we Profess

Our Unity under the Pope

An Unity under an authority,

The authority that Jesus places as His representatives here on earth is the POPE

• And although who fills the office of Papacy may change over the years,

• The office of the Papacy and the authority of the offices never changes

The Pope continues to guide the Church down through the ages.

2) Our Unity under the Pope

Let see an example how authority can bring Unity into a group

In your family God put your parent in charge• They have authority over you, as your parents, which is good!

• They help you to learn & grow

• and sometimes they have to discipline you, so you will learn what is right & what is wrong.

The authority of your parents over you is given for them by God• Because God love you,

• and God wants you to be guided into becoming a great saint.

In a very similar way, The Papacy of the Church is like the parents in a family

The Pope guides the faithful to continues to grow in great holiness

And the faithful are united under the Pope.

The Pope Guides the Faithful

The Way we Worship1) The Sacraments 2) And The Liturgy

UNITY is express in the way in which we worship • Primary in the Liturgy • and the Sacraments

So lets begin with the Sacraments:• Baptism, • Confirmation, • Penance or Reconciliation, • Eucharist,• Holy Orders, Marriage, • and Anointing of the Sick.

The 7 Sacraments United us as One, because• they are the way in which we worship God,

• and we receive His Divine Life, or what is called GRACE.

Christ acts through the Sacraments by the Power of The Holy Spirit

3) The Way We Worship

Baptism is a very important sacrament,a) Not only does it wash away the Original sin

b) and makes us Children of The One Father in Heaven

c) But through Baptism you are welcome into the Church and become a member of the Body of Christ.

From the early Church, Baptism was recognize as uniting all Christians as brother and sisters.

Saint Paul in another letter remains Ephesians of their unity:

“… as you were also called to the One Hope of your call: One Lord, One Faith, One BaptismOne God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

The Sacraments Source of Unity

The others sacraments are source of unity as well

The Celebration of the Eucharist sharing in the One Body of Christ unites all members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Part of the conversion of Saint Elizabeth Ann into the Catholic Church• It was her believe in the real present of Jesus in

the Eucharist.

• She long receive Jesus in the Eucharist, knowing He was present Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity

• She had such a deep devotion to the Eucharist

The Sacraments Source of Unity

Other than the Sacraments,there are other ways, the Church is unify:

The Church is Unify through WORSHIP

The Celebration of Day, can be a sing of Unity as well

Just think, when celebrate Christmas here in USA, people are celebrating Christmas • in Australia, China, Philippines, Russia, and everywhere

you can think of• Not just Christmas, but Lent Day, The Feast of the Saints• And next day, and next day;

This is the “Liturgical Calendar”

The Liturgical Calendar is and example of Unity through the Liturgy,

Particularly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

(3) Unify trough Worship

The Mass is a Public Prayer of the Church, participating a the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross

If you enter Church in your own Parish, cross town, or cross country, or cross the world, you will experience the same Sacrifice of the Mass

There are different Rites in the Universal Church But Everyone participates in the same sacrament May be, it may express differently, in things like:

prayers, the hymns, gestures or vestments

Mass Public Prayer of the Church

Can you name some rites? We will name couple, but there are more:

a) The Latin Rite

b) The Byzantine Rite

c) Coptic Rite

This shows the beautiful diversity in the One Body of Christ.

The Diversity in the One Body of Christ

Even though the characteristic of the Church is Unity,

It doesn’t mean that everyone is the same

Sometimes it is easy to get the wrong ideas that, • that UNITY means UNIFORMITY • That you have to be same as everyone else.

In fact, being the same, is not what Unity means at all.

A part of Unity: is that the individual characteristics that God gave you (as a unique human being)

can contribute to the beauty of the whole Church.

Unity is Not Uniformity

Just think about the saints, none one of them was just like the other.

We are all individuals who God has called to holiness.• Our unique talents and gifts give the Church

something no one else can give.

Saints are obedient, and they love the Church,

but they give their unique gifts as individuals, that God crated them to be.

This builds up the whole Body of Christ.

No One Of Us is just Like the Other

Quick Review

1.Who is the head of the Mystical Body of Christ— The Church?

• Jesus is the head of the Church, and we are the members of his Body—the Church

2.What are the 3 visible sings of unity in the Church?1)Unity of Faith (what we believe)2)Unity of under the Pope (authority)3)Unity in worship

3.What Sacrament strengthens the Unity of the members of the Body of Christ?• The Eucharist• By the Power of the Holy Spirit, the

Eucharist give us Grace • The Holy Spirit make Jesus present Body,

Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.

4.What Biblical writer has lots to say about the Body of Christ, in his letters?• Saint Paul

Just like in a Human Body there are many parts that make up the One body• Each of this part is important,• and it is important that they do their job.

In the Mystical Body of Christ each person is called, through their Baptism, • to be a member of the Body of Christ• Under Christ—the head

This is our foundation of our Unity in Christ.

Member of the Body is important