Nov 19 Tue
Why is the Church Catholic?
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
The UNITY of the Church, Christ's Mystical Body, is based on her doctrine, her means for achieving holiness, and her hierarchy. Her scope is universal, her message is meant for all humanity: people of every race and nation practice the same faith, receive the same sacraments, and are subject to the same head. This distinctive feature or note of the Church, her capacity to unite the most diverse peoples harmoniously, is called "CATHOLICITY".
This is how God wanted her.
“The Church was Catholic already at Pentecost. She 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 to distinguish her from the sects which, using the name of Christ, were betraying his doctrine in one way or another. We call her Catholic, writes Saint Cyril, not because she is spread throughout the world, from one extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and without defect she teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, both the visible and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, she draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and those who are ruled, the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because she cures us from all kinds of sins, whether of the soul or the body, possessing in addition, by whatever name they may be called, all the forms of virtue, in deeds, words, and every kind of spiritual gift.”
“The Catholicity of the Church does not depend on whether or not non-Catholics acclaim and acknowledge it. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that, in non-spiritual matters, the opinions of some people in positions of authority in the Church are taken up, and sometimes exploited, by those who fashion public opinion, when these churchmen have views similar to theirs. It will often happen that the aspect of truth 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 she is deliberately ignored by many, and even abused and persecuted, as unfortunately happens in so many places ...”
“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 she is the work of God.”
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