The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 111: The Church as the Body of Christ (2024)

Episode Date: April 20, 2024

“The Church is communion with Jesus.” The Catechism shows us what it means for the Church to be considered the “body of Christ”. Fr. Mike explains how being part of the Church makes us “united in him, in his body”—more intimately connected with Jesus than even the Apostles were. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 787-791. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 111, it is three ones. There's something Trinitarian about that, right?

There's one, but there's three. Anyways, we're reading paragraphs 787 to 791. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for your daily updates

and daily notifications. Today is day 111, as I said, we're reading paragraph 787 to 791, as we talked about the images of the church, which include the body of Christ, the people of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday, we talked about the church as the people of God and looked at those characteristics, the people of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday we talked about the church as the people of God and looked at those characteristics of the people of God.

We noted that we are called when we're brought into that people, we are made a priestly, prophetic and royal people. Today we're taking this next step in another image of the church is the church as the body of Christ. And this comes from paragraphs 787 to 791, highlighting the fact that the church

is in communion with Jesus. You know, the last couple days, I mentioned that if Jesus is the head and the church is the body, there's gotta be some kind of unity. And also not just unity, there's also got to be some kind of love. If I love Christ the head,

I have to love his body as well. Now, what we recognize here is from the beginning paragraph 787 says this from the beginning Jesus associated his disciples with his own life and he gives him a share in his mission his joy sufferings but there was this more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him that there's this guy Jesus yes of course he shared his life with his disciples they they walked together they lived together they they had this mission that Jesus again extended to them but there was this future promise

that promise of a mysterious in paragraph 787 says a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours and that when when Jesus ascended to heaven he didn't leave his disciples orphans that he promised to remain with us until the end of time, which again brings up the reality and the role and the mission of the Holy Spirit. Remember, we keep coming back to this. The mission of the Son and the mission of the Spirit are the same mission, the joint mission. And because of this, because we've been given the Holy Spirit, we truly actually and really have communion with Jesus in an even more intense way because of the Holy Spirit, which is amazing paragraph

789 highlights it like this not only is the church gathered around Jesus We are united in him in his body and that's so so incredible And so paragraphs 790 and 791 will talk about that. This body is one body. It's got to be united It's got to be brought together in the got to be brought together in the unity of the Holy Spirit, in the unity of the Creed, and in the unity of what we profess. Now there is a diversity here. This is the last line in paragraph 791. It highlights and recalls Galatians chapter 3 where St. Paul talks about in Christ, if you've been brought into that unity, if you've been brought into that

one body in Christ, there is neither been brought into that unity, if you've been brought into that one body in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, you're all one. So there's this powerful force of the Holy Spirit that has taken all these disparate parts, these different people from all across the world. I mean, this has been the reality of history of the church.

Every nationality, every ethnicity, every race, people coming from all these different backgrounds, every different language, and they said, there's this unity that transcends all of those other things and brings us all into one because of the power of the Holy Spirit that we've been brought into one body. So that's what we're gonna talk about today.

And so let's pray. Father in heaven, Father, we give you praise. We thank you. We thank you for unity. We thank you for this true oneness. Thank you for extending us not just the teachings of your Son and not just the salvation of your Son, but thank you for extending to us this union with your Son, this communion with your son.

Thank you for the intimacy that you not only promise, but that you bring to us by the gift of your Holy Spirit into our lives. Help us not only to be united more and more fully to your son, our Lord, help us to be united even more fully with each other. Lord God, we have been made into your church. Help us to live as your church. We've been made brothers and sisters. Help us to live as brothers and sisters. We've been made into one body. Help us to actually be one body. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Day 111, we're reading paragraphs 787 to 791. The Church, Body of Christ

The Church is communion with Jesus. From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him, saying, Abide in Me and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches. And He proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between His own body and ours, saying, He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.

When His visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to remain with them until the end of time he sent them his Spirit. As a result, communion with Jesus has become, in a way, more intense. By communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation. The comparison of the church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his church. Not only is she gathered around him, she is united in him, in his body.

Three aspects of the church as the body of Christ are to be more specifically noted, the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with Christ, Christ as the head of the body, and, Christ as the head of the body, and the Church as the bride of Christ. One body. Believers who respond to God's Word and become members of Christ's body become intimately united with Him. In that body, the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in His passion and glorification.

This is especially true of baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which really sharing in the Body of the Lord, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. The Body's unity does not do away with the diversity of its members. In the building up of Christ's Body, there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the church. The unity of the mystical body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful. From this, it follows that if one member suffers

anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice. Finally, the unity of the mystical body triumphs over all human divisions, St. Paul stated, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Okay, so there we have it, paragraphs 787 to 791. Gosh, so good. Okay, let's go back to the very beginning. We talk about this, the church is communion with Jesus. Remember that God willed that he did not just want us individually, but there is the sense of, yes, there's a personal relationship that we've been invited into with the Lord. We have been made into

sons and daughters of the Father in heaven. We've made brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, but He created a people. And again, God reveals this from the very beginning. Even though He calls Abraham individually, He calls Abraham's family to belong to Him. And so from the very beginning, God calls a people in here now and he invites us to live in that kingdom. And so he calls us to share in this. Now, I love how paragraph 787, 798, and 789 highlights this fact that, you know, the disciples had a privileged place. The disciples were able to walk with Jesus. They were able to listen to his voice. They were able to, again, participate in his mission.

Jesus sent them out to heal, to cast out demons, to preach the gospel in his name. Incredible, amazing. They got to have a meal with him. I mean, that's just amazing. That's incredible. And for us, Jesus has an even more intimate relationship, which is hard to imagine.

It's hard to kind of wrap our minds around the fact that here are the disciples, the Apostles, who got to walk with Jesus and in some ways, be hugged by Him. We have a more intimate relationship with Him because His very spirit dwells inside of us, because we've actually been transformed into his body on earth. Also because he's given us his own body and blood and we get to abide in him in this unique way. 788 highlights the love of Jesus. He says, when his visible presence was taken from them,

right, the ascension, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. Which is so good. He promised to remain with them until the end of time. He sent them his spirit as a result Communion with jesus has become in a way more intense and this is again what paragraph 789 states Not only is the church gathered around jesus. Of course. He is the head right? He is the center you might say like that. He's the center of everything

So the church is gathered around him. Obviously. Yes, that's what happens You know book of revelation talks about those in heaven worshiping gathered around the throne of the lamb, right? We're at that altar at the center. Of course, we're gathered around the Lord But not only are we gathered around him. We are united in him in his body and that's so remarkable I don't know if you caught this paragraph 789 says there are three aspects of the church as the body of Christ that are more says there are three aspects of the church as the body of Christ that are more specifically noted. First is the unity of all her members with each other as a result of the union with Christ. So we belong to each other. That's really remarkable. In fact I think it was Mother Teresa who once said the reason why

there's no peace in this world is because we've forgotten that we belong to each other. And not only that, not only as human beings we forgot we belong to each other, but here as Christians, as members of the church, the unity of all the members with each other as a result of our union with Christ. Secondly, Christ as head of the body, we need to remember this. And third, the church as the bride of Christ.

So today we talked about that first piece, that one body, that here we are at the unity of all her members with each other as a result of our union with Christ. Tomorrow we'll talk about Christ as head of the body and then following that the church as the bride of Christ. But paragraph 790 and 791 highlights this unity, right? Highlights this fact that we are one body. It's important to note that paragraph 790 highlights the way in which we're incorporated or brought into this body and it says that In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believed it's it's you know communicated

sometimes we think of just someone speaking that's communication but The way in which the church uses that term communicated or theology uses that term communicated doesn't end with mere speech It's it's actually handed over and received, right? It's given and received, not merely words and ideas, but the reality. So the way in which the life of Christ is handed over to us and it's received is through the sacraments, especially through baptism.

And baptism brings us, it unites us into Christ's death and resurrection. I mean, to even think about the image of baptism as that descent into the tomb, that descent into the earth, descent into the grave is what it's meant to look like as we go into the waters of baptism and then brought out of the waters of baptism as that resurrection. So we're brought into this life of Christ. It's truly communicated to us through baptism and also through the Eucharist where we really actually share in the body of the Lord. also through the Eucharist, where we really actually share in the body of the Lord.

Paragraph 791, this is the last thing, paragraph 791 highlights that in the midst of us being one, we still have a diversity, kind of what I mentioned before we read this section. And I love this because this is from the church's document, Lumen Gentium, remember the church in the world from Second Vatican Council. Lumen Gentium states, in the building up of Christ's body,

there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There's only one spirit who according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries gives his different gifts for the welfare of the church. This recognition that every individual is still an individual. We don't become the collective like the hive mind, right? It's not the, what's the thing from Star Trek where they all become like the Borg

I think is what it is. You know, we're not Absorbed into this body of Christ and then lose our identity or lose our uniqueness or lose our giftedness Actually, we place our giftedness. We place our uniqueness We place our individuality at the service of the Lord and at the service of the church But that giftedness uniqueness and individuality remains. In fact, the Holy Spirit, which is one, has also a diversity of gifts that are offered to the church, thereby to the world. And this is so important for us to understand that when I become a member of this one body of Christ, it is not as if my individuality or myself is erased or absorbed into a nothingness or to oblivion. It's not that at all. In fact,

it's the exact opposite. One of the things I remember hearing people say about the life of sin versus the life of grace is that the life of sin ultimately all ends up looking the same. It all ends up always looking pretty much exactly the same. It's kind of boring, kind of bland. It's all... Evil is always like that. Like every villain kind of looks the same, but the beauty of the saints is every one of them looks different. Every one of the saints has this different kind of aspect

to them. Every one of the saints has different gifts that the Holy Spirit has poured out upon them and in their lives, so they become more and more unique. They reveal more and more about this one spirit that unites us all in the one body. And I think this is remarkable. Now one last note on this. Maybe I said one last note already, but

I'm saying it again. We're united. Remember, we belong to each other. We're united in one body. St. Paul says because of that, if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him. And if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice. So there is an incredible gift about belonging to the Church, an incredible gift about being part of the Body of Christ. But there's also a responsibility. And part of that responsibility is when one member suffers, we all suffer. When one member is glorified and honored,

we all are glorified and honored. Among other things, it means there's no such thing as a private sin. There's no such thing as private virtue either. We recognize that even if my sin is never ever discovered by anyone else, my sin wounds me. And since I belong to the body of Christ, my sin wounds you, even if no one

ever knows about it. You know, one of the things people often say is, well, gosh, how could that be a sin? It didn't hurt anybody. Well, they're not thinking about the body of Christ, are they? Well, the first thing is our sins hurt ourselves. So that's somebody. You're somebody. But also there's personal sin. There's no such thing as private sin. My personal sin hurts my family. It hurts the body of Christ. It hurts the church. My personal sin, my private sin that you may never know about, it hurts you. And your personal sin that I may never know about, it hurts me. It hurts all those that we love and all

those we don't even know. At the same time, concurrently, your virtue, It hurts me. It hurts all those that we love and all those we don't even know. At the same time, concurrently, your virtue, like your struggle against sin, your struggle for virtue, that strengthens me, even if I never know about it. In my struggle for virtue, my showing up for prayer, my showing up and doing what the Lord has asked of me, even if you never ever know about this,

this strengthens you as well. This is an incredible, incredible mystery. But one of the things it reminds us is, especially if you find yourself isolated and alone and say, well, because I'm isolated and alone, my life doesn't matter. And the church steps in right now and says, that is absolutely incorrect.

That is absolutely backwards. Even though you have personal sin, it's not private. It hurts your brothers and sisters, it hurts me. And even though you have personal striving, you're battling, you know, striving for the Lord and you feel like, man, I'm just slogging away. And for what? Well, for me, thank you so much for each other. When you are strengthened, it strengthens the rest of us.

Thank you so much. When you fight, you're fighting for us. Thank you so much. When you pray, you're praying for all for us. Thank you so much. When you pray, you're praying for all of us. Thank you so much. That's one of the reasons why I just ask all of us, please every single day, pray for every person who is listening to this podcast,

every person who's going through this catechism in the air. And I promise you, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.