The Church and Unity

I think this is an appropriate time to dedicate some time to understanding the complex definition of terms like “church” and “unity.” Terms that in my daily life are thrown out regularly.  After doing some personal research, the many articles (from various Catholic sources) and different point-of-views read, gave me a better understanding of my faith.  In addition, to showing me that a lot of thought goes into church writings.  Today, I would like to pay close attention to terms like “church” and “unity” and explore the various ways that they can be applied in discussions because ultimately understanding how terms are used makes for clearer dialogue.  

In setting the stage, an in-depth look into church as both in heaven and on earth (with greater focus on the earthly church) is important.  This view takes me from my little parish community to a more complete understanding of church.  After making the distinction (that church surpasses this world) and clarifying that the meaning of terrestrial church is connected to Rome and the Apostles we begin to understand that church encompasses history, having a beginning with key human players led by the Holy Spirit to aid the spread and the continuity of our faith defines church as something that transcends history.  Christ gave special authority to Saint Peter so that we would be united in one church and not little pods of Christian denominations.  Catholic Priest Tarsicius J. Van Bavel proposes that church exists from Abel onward, “from the moment people are called to holiness, there is church on earth.”  I often heard that church began with Christ on the cross so this claim surprised me.  Yet, as expressed by Van Bavel, Augustine’s way of thinking viewed the church as having started before Pentecost.  I agree with this view because when I think of who will be in heaven (the afterlife being a strong concept in my reversion) I like to think that all the holy people in the Old Testament will be there.  Thinking through Augustine lenses of church having an earlier beginning makes this point easier to understand.  

Theologian Peter De Mey states that Pauline literature understands church “as the local community of faith” and uses three metaphors to provide different meanings to church: the church as Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit, and People of God.  I found that while I have been using all terms as synonyms they actually have very specific meanings for Paul and these meanings give church a broader definition.  As the Body of Christ, we gather together in one faith (one faith in Christ) this stresses the importance of baptism to receive this new life in Christ.  There has to be an action that takes the believer to a position of receiving new life and afterward an expressed commitment to live a Christian life. Thus, belonging to the church means being initiated into it through baptism, this is great because all people can become part of the church.  Baptisms makes us temples of the Holy Spirit, which De Mey describes as a community that inspires each other to grow.  We not only gather together in one faith, but we also help one another reach heaven.  This means that the mission we receive at baptism is a mission we share with our community, we have a common goal and are part of the same team. Finally, as people of God we have a history that dates back to God’s first covenant with man, this is great for interfaith dialogue with Jews.  The good news of Christ is for everyone.

Peter De Mey’s essay, “Church as Sacrament,” offers a deeper explanation which I found the most complex, but which is a good segue into unity. The church as a Sacrament means that the assembly of all believers gather together as a visible sign of God’s love and together are an instrument of unity with our Trinitarian God; thus, the human and divine is exemplified in us, the church: “the church is believed to be sacramental in nature, because she fulfills the divine mission to take care of unity of all people among one another and with the triune God.”  This definition of church seems to be the most controversial within the Christian sphere because it leads to many questions.  One of the debates I found most interesting was in how the church can be a sacrament when it’s composed of sinners, the answer being that people are sinful not the church.  There is sin within it, but the church remains sinless.  I wasn’t really satisfied with this answer, it sounds too ambiguous or too poetic; but sometimes matters of the spiritual nature have a bit of mystery to them as do our seven Sacraments.

The goal of the church is to unify the world to the life, passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ because there is no salvation outside of Christ.  Contrary to common belief in regards to religion, Christ isn’t divisible he spoke to and for everyone.  De Mey makes many references throughout his essay to the importance of having the goal of our faith to be one that promotes and attempts to bring unity to the body of Christ and even to the secular world.  He states that for all people (no matter the differences) the church should be a place where the many parts of the body come together, remain together and grow together.  De Mey, states that the term Catholic has been attributed to express oneness or unity of the church, “I also believe that the Council fathers had the new understanding of catholicity in mind when they reminded the believers that Church of Christ is, “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.””  God’s plan has always been to unite the world to the Father through Christ.  Through baptism we come into the church, but this entrance is to some degree conditional because the choice must be made continually to remain in the church.  This is where we differ from Protestants, they see unity only in acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ and we see it as that plus offering ourselves as living sacrifices until we die.  Thus unity begins to get complicated because how can we achieve unity if our understanding of unity is different?

I think the solution through the studied materials is that unity is broken down into three parts: unity within Catholics, unity within Christianity and unity with other faiths.  De Mey expresses that diversity should be embraced because variety enriches the church as does the acceptance of various styles of worship.  This is an issue that parishes that have various groups based on the different necessities of the parish have.  Sometimes to people church can be that small group of charismatics they belong to and De Mey is saying that while charismatics are awesome so are the more orthodox groups because though our expressions of worship vary our beliefs unite us, “it is the Holy Spirit who “for all time “unites” the entire church in fellowship and in ministry, and furnishes it with different hierarchical and charismatic gifts”.”  He does make a strong warning that acceptance of different expressions of faith should not lead to a diluted Christianity.  So, though there’s room (a lot of room) into what constitutes catholicity, there’s still boundaries to keep the body united in Christ.

The articles that I read about church and unity were very enlightening, I did not realize the importance of having correct definitions for every word in our creed nor did I understand the labor of theologians in handing down the faith.  Learning the many correct meanings of terms really does help in leading discussions that promote growth and can be quite helpful in promoting proper respect and understanding in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.