Word of the Week

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Church: ekklesia (G.): meaning “assembly” or “congregation of people”, equivalent to the Old Testament qahal (Hb.).

Church is the name designated for the people for whom God calls from the ends of the earth to worship him as individual local communities (diocese). With this understanding, we see three clear distinctions of Church and her nature that are inseparable: universal (ends of the earth), communal (diocese) and liturgical (worship). This threefold meaning of Church is made present in the Eucharistic (CCC 752). The Church “draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ’s body” (CCC 752).  The four marks of the Church which make up her identity are one (unity), holy (set apart for the glory of God), catholic (universal) and apostolic (missionary in Christ) (CCC 811).

The term Church can be found 114 times in Sacred Scripture, all in the New Testament. Although the word Church is not seen in the OT, we do read of the ‘assembly of believers’ or ‘congregation of people’ (Israelite community)in the OT that was the equivalent to the NT Church. This parallel between the OT Israel and the NT Church is rooted in their cultic sense of worship, both belonging to God as a congregation of believers who assumed their identity in covenant relationship with God through sacrifice (Deut.9:10; Josh.8:35; 1 kings 8:65). Consequently, in Christ the NT Church is the fulfillment of the OT Israel, each of them governed by twelve leaders (Mt.19:27). Consider Christ’s own usage of the term Church and its context.  Christ uses the term Church when he establishes his new covenant community of worship that he entrusted to his twelve apostles (Mt.16:18, 18:17) (Hahn and Minch, 25).“Therefore it became the normal designation for local churches (Rom.16:16; 1 Cor.1:2) and for the collective body of local communities that make up the universal Church (Acts 9:31; Eph.3:10, 5:23)” (Hahn and Minch, 25). 

The universal nature of the Church is rooted in her identity that is sacramental and in turn relational. Again, a reflection between the two testaments is necessary. Circumcision, an outward sign that signified another reality, marked the old covenant dispensation of life with God. The new covenant dispensation of life with God is marked by Baptism, an outward sign that signifies another reality. The notable difference between the two is the gift of grace and the participation of the inner life of God (cf. Col.2;11-12; 2 Pet.1:4) we receive through the power of the Holy Spirit. This sacrament of initiation (Baptism) into the life of the Church matures in Confirmation with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and ultimately is nurtured in the Eucharist, the Church’s source and summit of Truth. By living in the Eucharist, the Christian faithful are conformed to the body of Christ and communicate his life and love to the world.

“There is a word that, when a Catholic hears it, kindles all his feeling and love and bliss; that stirs the depths of his religious sensibility from dread and awe of the last Judgment to the sweetness of God’s presence; and that certainly awakens in him the feeling of home; the feeling that only a child has in relation to his mother, made up of reverence, gratitude, and devoted love…and there is a word that to Protestants has the sound of something infinitely commonplace, more or less indifferent…that does not make the heart beat faster; something which boredom often is associated…our fate is sealed if we are unable again to attach a new, or perhaps a very old, meaning to that word. Woe to us if that word does not become important to us again and soon. The word in which I refer is Church.”

--Bonhoeffer

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Acts of the Apostles RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002.

 

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