The Mystical Body of Christ

Yesterday we celebrated the Glorious Feast of the Body of Christ - no greater day is there for our Catholic Faith than that which makes us Catholic. However, in light of this day it reminds me of the teaching of Pope Pius XII on the Mystical Body of Christ. We, those who belong to the Catholic Church, are enveloped into the Church established by Jesus Christ upon the rock of St. Peter. And yet, in the history of the world there have been many divisions amongst the one Holy Catholic Church.

How to explain such divisions? Is Christ powerless to keep us together? Did Christ establish a useless Church? Are we merely wasting our time each Sunday? Or perhaps the reality is far more mysterious. The teaching of Holy Mother Church tells us that Christ, in all humility, has entered into the world and allows us to either accept or reject the gift of the Church. For centuries, people understood this reality. In fact, there was a great article in Latin Mass Magazine a few months ago (Winter 2007 edition) about the realities which transpired when certain Catholic rejected the authority and divine inception of the Catholic Church. Essentially the author, James Bemis, points out that there was essentially a civil war which took place in Europe since the Reformation. The Catholic Church had upheld and defended the unity of Europe, even to the point of the Pope negotiating peace on numerous occasions between nations within Europe. However, when the wholesale rejection of the Authority of the Church came into being, one finds a slow descent culturally, philosophically, theologically, and practically into a disunified mess. This is ultimately the heritage of the Reformation, so implies the author. What had been known as Christendom was effectively divided into two kingdoms: those who were faithful to the Vicar of Christ and those who rejected Christ and His Vicar.

Even today we find this unfortunate reality persisting. Many Catholics don't realize the great gift we have in the Catholic Faith. That Christ gave to St. Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven is proposed to us each time we come to Mass and see the Vatican flag in the back of St. Jude. We are reminded in the symbol of this flag that we both belong in this world and in the next world, in heaven. But if we are to make it to heaven, we must live according to the teachings of Holy Mother Church - which are only the teachings of Christ himself. As I had placed in the bulletin a few weeks ago, St. Joan of Arc reportedly once said, "About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."

If we desire to serve Christ, then we must first accept all that He desires to give us in the Catholic Church - namely, her teachings and doctrines. May each of us accept this great gift, for only in doing so will we come to unify with one another more closely in the service of Jesus Christ.