Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner and #6 of the Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ series “Understanding the Body of Christ”. TOS184 explains the unity of the Church and Christ as one body and the soul of this body which is the Holy Spirit. For video and audio links or the blog of the script please continue reading.
As we defined Church and Christianity in earlier episodes we used the term “Body of Christ”. Today we are going to explore that term as we continue the Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ[i]. This week’s topic, “Understanding the Body of Christ” explores accepting God’s love and how that allows us to be one with others.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host Patti Brunner. Today we are going to work towards Understanding the Body of Christ. What comes to mind when you hear the words “Body of Christ”? How you would define or describe the “Body of Christ”? Now that you have that thought in your mind, how do you see the “oneness” in Christ?
To be one in Christ there are a lot of barriers to overcome: Our sinfulness, our lack of holiness, our ignorance of God, our weaknesses, our hard-heartedness, our blindness, our selfishness, our rationalism. You get the point! These barriers can be overcome by Baptism, love, grace. We are going to look at some of the paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that will help us to understand these and some of what the Church teaches about the Body of Christ. One thing that is not overcome in the unity in Christ’s body is the diversity of its members. God did not clone us to all be as one just as He did not create five thumbs on our hand. He created each of us with various gifts, talents and personalities to function according to his great love for us.
Catechism Paragraph #790 explains that “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”.
Catechism Paragraph #796 makes the point that we are “One in love” and gives the example of the Church as the bride of Christ. “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two” [Christ and the Church] “within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets” [such as the book of Hosea] “and announced by John the Baptist .” [We find that in the Gospel of John Chapter 3:29. Importantly, in the Gospel of Mark Chapter 2:19,] “The Lord referred to himself as the “bridegroom.” The Apostle speaks
of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride “betrothed” to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.” He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body.
St. Augustine wrote, “This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many…whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks.” Let me say that again. Whether the head of the body or the members of Christ’s body speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head and in his role as body. What does this mean? “The two will become one flesh. This is the great mystery,” St. Augustine continues, “and I am applying it to Christ and the Church. And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.” There are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union … as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself ‘bride’.
The Catechism quotes St. Augustine as he taught that the Holy Spirit is the ‘soul’ of the Body. St. Augustine preached, “What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” Pope Pius the XII wrote, “To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members.” That makes me remember that whether you receive Holy Communion from the Cup or a small particle of the Host you are still receiving the whole Body & Blood of Christ. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the Holy Spirit makes the Church “the temple of the living God”.
St. Irenaeus, he wrote, “Indeed, it is to the Church herself that the “Gift of God” has been entrusted…In it is in her that communion with Christ has been deposited, that is to say: The Holy Spirit, the pledge of incorruptibility, the strengthening of our faith and the ladder of our ascent to God….For where the Church is there also is God’s Spirit; where God’s Spirit is, there is the Church and every grace.”
Catechism Paragraph #798 emphasizes that the Holy Spirit builds up the Body. “The Holy Spirit is “the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body.” Let me repeat that: “The Holy Spirit is “the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body.” He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God’s Word “which is able to build you up”; by Baptism, through which he forms Christ’s Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ’s members; by “the grace of the apostles, which hold first place among his gifts”; by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called “charisms”), by which he makes the faithful “fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church.”
If you have been a listener of the Truth of the Spirit podcasts you are quite aware of our desire to teach about the Holy Spirit and about the gifts of grace called ‘charisms’ that are used to build up the Church. St. Paul lists some of these charisms in 1st Corinthians Chapter 12: “7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance” [or word] “of wisdom, and to another the utterance” [or word] “of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” [NRSV]
Catechism Paragraph #800 explains “Grace for the holiness of the entire Body”. “Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity,” [in keeping with love] “the true measure of all charisms.”
To explain “the sacred mystery of the Church’s unity” Catechism Paragraph #813 says, “The Church is one because of her source: “the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.” The Church is one because of her founder: for “the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross…restoring the unity of all in one people and one body.” The Church is one because of her “soul”: “It is the Holy Spirit, swelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church’s unity.” Unity is of the essence of the Church. Quoting St. Clement of Alexandria the Catechism says, “What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos [or Word] of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same;” he also says, “there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her “Church.”
Now let’s take the bible and see how Sacred Scripture guides us to understanding that Christ is the Head and we are the parts.
In Ephesians Chapter 2:14 Paul explains how those of us who used to be so far off have been brought close, by the blood of Christ. He writes, 14“For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one entity and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, …by destroying in his own person the hostility, 15 that is, the Law of commandments with its decrees. His purpose in this was, by restoring peace, to create a single New Man out of the two of them, and through the cross, 16 to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own person he killed the hostility. 17 He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father.” [NJB]
This translation of this verse came from the New Jerusalem Bible that translates phrase by phrase. When it says that Jesus killed the “hostility” the Greek word means “enmity” or “hatred”. Jesus gets rid of the reason for opposition.
Let’s listen to that Ephesians Chapter 2: 14-17 as translated in the New American Bible. It says: “13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, 16and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
Now, before you question why the Lord is abolishing the law, the commandments and the ordinances, remember that when man sinned death was the punishment! And so, Jesus in his flesh makes a new man and he reconciles both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the end to hostility, bringing to end the death which is the result of the sin. He redeemed us and thus made us one.
Sometimes when I am having difficulty comprehending particular verses in scripture it is helpful to look at different bible translations or a bible concordance of the ‘troublesome’ Greek words. Sometimes the translation is exactly the same and sometimes, like this time, it is a little different.
In Romans Chapter 6:4-5 Paul speaks of sharing in the body of the Lord, taken up into communion with Him and with one another. He writes: “4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.”
1 Corinthians Chapter 12:12-18 Paul writes, “12 As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. 14 Now the body is not a single part, but many. 15 If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. 16 Or if an ear should say, “Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended.”
In Philippians Chapter 2: 1-5 Paul wrote, “1 If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. 3 Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, 4 each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others. 5 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.”
St. Paul understood unity with Christ and went far beyond average faithfulness to share that understanding with us. Through his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 4:1-6 he says,”1. I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, 3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: 4 one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
St. Paul then shares how the Church has brought us into this unity in Ephesians Chapter 4:11-16 “11 And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. 15 Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. “
As we meditate on accepting God’s love in others to be built up in love, ourselves, we can look to the Gospel of Mark Chapter 12:28-34. Jesus expands Deuteronomy 6:2-6 as he explains the ‘first’ of all the commandments. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ To love God with our all would make us one with Him. This is beyond our natural abilities. It requires the grace of the Holy Spirit to show us God’s love for others and for ourselves and to reproduce it in our hearts. St. Theresa of Avila said, “Perhaps we do not know what love is: it would not surprise me a great deal to learn this, for love consists, not in the extent of our happiness but in the firmness of our determination to try to please God in everything, and to endeavor, in all possible ways, not to offend Him, and to pray Him ever to advance the honor and glory of His Son and the growth of the Catholic Church.”
Do you see and accept God’s love in others? What insight have you gained from this lesson? What barriers can you allow God to overcome in dealing with others? What can you change to be more Christian?
We will close with a prayer for accepting God’s love in others and for Understanding the Body of Christ.
We pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with Your Presence. Help me to know You as the Soul of the Body of Christ. Let me be in You as You are in me—as You are in us. Help us to see others as You see them. We seek to understand that our love for others, including the sinner, is Your love for them manifested within us. Father, help us experience this love, have us share this love; show us how to use this love, the love You give to the Body of Christ. It will change our lives and will bring us into Your Glory. Dearest Jesus may we be one in You. Amen.
You have been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “Understanding the Body of Christ”. If you would like to read the transcript of this episode please check out PatriarchMinistries.com/184 . I hope you listened to our previous episodes of the Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ series. Our next episode will be “Focus on the Youth”. I’m Patti Brunner. We invite you to comment on our YouTube video channel. Please subscribe and click the notification bell and come back next time, because there is more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
[i] Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ Leaders Guide
