Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Church IS the Body of Christ

When St. Paul says the Church is the Body of Christ he is not being metaphorical. The phrase, "the Church is the Body of Christ," cannot be exchanged with the phrase, "The Church is like the Body of Christ."

The Church is in an organic, mystical union with the risen and ascended Christ. Just read Ephesians 1.

Sacraments only make sense if this is true.

2 comments:

Matt Purmort said...

This is also why the "imitatio christi" is I believe central to Christian Discipleship. Also (this might be a tangent) we can understand the dual nature of Christ (fully God, fully man) in terms of his vocation. Christ revealed the true nature of God, and simultaneously revealed God's truest intention for humanity, which the church is supposed to embody.

Anonymous said...

Peter,

I've been thinking about this lately, and have come to the conclusion that we (me) don't really understand the weight of meaning in this statement. We are his physical body, containing His Spirit, and the implications are staggering. Any thoughts on where to read more about this, and how to sort it out?