THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH

 

THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH

            The Church is the Body of Christ, with Christ the Head and we the members (cf. Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22 & 5:23). Every human body needs a soul.  Its members are useless without the soul.  The Holy Spirit gives life and vigor to the Church, as the human soul animates a body.  By him, all of the members are united to the Head and work together for the same purpose.  Ipse armonia es.  St. Basil the Great boldly states that “He is harmony.”  The Holy Spirit makes the Church one in faith, in mission, in worship, in destiny, and in charity.  Because of his abiding presence the Church’s unity is assured by what the Catechism calls “the visible bonds of communion”: the “profession of one faith received from the Apostles”; the “common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments”; and the “apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family” (paragraph #815).

            In his homily at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul in 2014, Pope Francis marveled at the ability of the Holy Spirit to bring unity from diversity.  He said, “It is true that the Holy Spirit brings forth different charisms in the Church, which at first glance, may seem to create disorder.  Under his guidance, however, they constitute an immense richness, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which is not the same thing as uniformity.  Only the Holy Spirit is able to kindle diversity, multiplicity and, at the same time, bring about unity.  When we try to create diversity, but are closed within our own particular and exclusive ways of seeing things, we create division. When we try to create unity through our own human designs, we end up with uniformity and homogenization.  If we let ourselves be led by the Spirit, however, richness, variety and diversity will never create conflict, because the Spirit spurs us to experience variety in the communion of the Church.”         

            Catholicism was “HCE” to the famous Irish writer James Joyce (“here comes everyone.”)  Within the Church there is not only a great diversity of charismatic gifts and vocations, but a great diversity of men and women of all races, languages, tribes and nationalities who receive these gifts.  God’s intention for universality, diversity and unity in the Church was revealed in a dramatic way on Pentecost: “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?  Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?  We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:7-11).  From Day One the Holy Spirit intended the Gospel to be heard in every language and accepted by people of every race and nation.  

            Only the Holy Spirit could hold everything together and make the Church the true Family of God.  By what St. Paul refers to as “the Spirit of adoption” her members are children of the heavenly Father and brothers and sisters to one another (cf. Romans 8:15).  There is a dizzying array of diversity in the Church, but her mission remains one and the same for all: the salvation of souls.  This is the joy of Pentecost.  Christ is the eternal Head of the Church and by his Spirit makes her one, holy, catholic and apostolic.  By the Spirit of truth he guides the Church into all truth (cf. John 16:13).  He who is the soul of the Church is the one by whom the Father raised Jesus from the dead, and he assures the final victory of God’s children: “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

FATHER SCOTT