67 — THE CHURCH

Presence of God. — O Jesus, who gave me the Church as mother, grant that I may love her with a true child’s heart.

Meditation

1 — Jesus loved us so much that He wanted to remain among us until the end of the ages; He has remained with us in the Eucharist to be the companion of our pilgrimage, the food of our souls; He has remained with us in His Church to be our guide, our shepherd and teacher. Jesus prepared the first nucleus of the Church by His preaching, by choosing and forming the Apostles, and finally gave her life by dying for her on the Cross. “The Church,” observe the Fathers, “was born on the Cross from the Savior’s pierced side as a new Eve, mother of all the living” (Myst. Corp.). Jesus, by pouring out His Blood for her, sanctified her, communicated to her His powers, constituted her His bride, collaborator and continuatrix of His work of sanctifying and governing souls. Today Jesus no longer lives with us in His physical Body, which sits glorious in heaven at the Father’s right hand, but He lives with us in His Mystical Body, the Church, His bride and our mother. Jesus lives in the Church as Head, because it is always He who invisibly governs her through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit; He lives in the Church as sustainer and life-giver, because it is always He who communicates life to her, who obtains from the Eternal Father, chooses and dispenses to each of her members graces “according to the measure of His gift” (Eph. 4, 7). The Church lives solely by the life Christ communicates to her, is holy by the holiness He imparts to her, is mother of souls by the powers and fruitfulness derived from her union with Him. Christ’s union with His Church is so intimate and vital that she can be considered as a prolongation of Him: “He,” teaches Pius XII, “so sustains the Church and so lives, in a certain way, in the Church, that she subsists almost as a second person of Christ” (Myst. Corp.). Therefore, just as we go to seek Jesus in the Eucharist to unite ourselves to Him and feed on His immaculate Flesh, so must we go to seek Jesus in the Church to be guided and governed by Him, to be vivified by His grace and nourished by His doctrine. And just as here on earth we cannot be more closely united to Jesus than by approaching the Eucharist, so we cannot have greater security of living according to His spirit, of being directed and taught by Him, than by attaching ourselves to the Church and following her directives.

2 — To be a “child of the Church”: this is the most glorious title for a Christian, after that of “child of God”; these two titles cannot be separated, but one derives from the other because, as St. Cyprian says, “he cannot have God as Father who does not have the Church as mother.” Jesus wants to save and sanctify us, but He wants to do so through the Church. He gave His life for us, poured out His Blood for us, placed at our disposal His most precious merits, gave us the Eucharist, left us the patrimony of His doctrine, but He willed that the Church be the sole depositary and dispenser of these infinite goods, so that all who want to benefit from them must have recourse to her. Let us go, then, to the Church with full filial confidence, sure to find in her Jesus who sanctifies, nourishes, instructs, governs, and directs us through His representatives. If the thought of the Church does not make our hearts vibrate, if our love for the Church is weak, if our recourse to her is not trusting, this depends on lack of spirit of faith: we have not understood enough that the Church is Jesus continuing to live among us to sanctify us, sustain us, and lead us to eternal beatitude. “Nothing,” exclaims Pius XII, “can be imagined more glorious, nothing more noble, nothing, certainly, more honorable than belonging to the holy, catholic, and Roman Church, by which we become members of one sole and so venerable Body [the Mystical Body of Christ], are guided by one sole and so exalted Head [Jesus Christ], are filled with one sole divine Spirit [the Holy Spirit], are nourished in this earthly exile by one sole doctrine and by the same angelic Bread, until we all come to enjoy one sole and everlasting beatitude in heaven” (Myst. Corp.). Let us love the Church, “most perfect image of Christ” (ibid.); let us love the Church, Christ’s beloved bride and our mother; and as He loved her to the point of “purchasing her with His own Blood” (Acts 20, 28), so let us love her with obedience and filial devotion, with full dedication to her service for her glory and her defense.

Colloquy

“O Christ, our Lord, You transmitted to Your Church the power You had received. By virtue of Your dignity, You constituted her queen and bride. To her sovereign power You subjected the whole universe. In heaven You ordained that men acknowledge the Church’s judgment. She is the mother of all the living, still more worthy by the multitude of her children.

“Every day she generates for You in the Spirit new children. The whole universe is covered by the tendrils of her vine. The branches, supported by the wood of the cross, rise up to the kingdom of heaven.

“Your Church, O Christ, is the strong city built on the mountain, visible to every gaze and illuminating everyone. Her founder and at the same time her first citizen are You, O Son of God and our Lord.

“We pray You, eternal King of spirits, Christ the Lord, stretch out Your mighty hands over Your Church and over the holy people that is always Yours: defend it, guard it, guide it; subdue all its enemies, both those who fight visibly and those invisible, just as You have already conquered our enemies.

“Grant Your Church to be alive and to have the holy angels at her service, so that she may praise You with her chants in purity. We pray for all members of this Church; grant all reconciliation, pardon, and remission of all sins: grant that they sin no more; be their rampart; drive away every temptation; have mercy on men, women, and children; reveal Yourself to all: may knowledge of You be written in their hearts” (from ancient liturgy).