THE KINGDOM
OF GOD IN RELATION TO CHRIST AND THE CHURCH:
The
central message of Jesus was to preach the Kingdom of God and bear witness to
the Father who sent him. At the same time he referred to himself as the Kingdom
as he said “the Kingdom of God is already among you”. This is to show that, the Kingdom that Jesus
was talking about, he was talking about himself and that is what the Apostles
will continue preaching and eventually it became the mission of the whole
Church. In most cases, we tend to think of the kingdom of God as earthly thing
and secularized, but Jesus is telling us that, his Kingdom is not of this world
John 18:36.
According
to the Encyclical letter Redemptorist mission
of John Pall II, it assets that, “the Church is totally concerned with bearing
witness to and serving the Kingdom”.
This implies that, the Church is not the Kingdom; She has only the duty
of proclaiming the Kingdom. The main
mission of the Church is to proclaim the risen Christ to all people so that
they may believe and repent and finally receive the salvation.
It
is Christ himself who endowed the Church with the fullness of the benefits and
means of salvation. The Holy Spirit is also given to the Church to guide her throughout
the mission. Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit the Church is also nourished.
So there is strong and intimate relationship between the Church and Christ who
is the Kingdom.
Furthermore,
the Church is always at the service of the Kingdom. She has the work of
establishing new communities and makes them to embrace the Kingdom. The other function is to preach the Gospel -
which is the message of the Kingdom. The
message of this Kingdom is necessary for the salvation of human souls. It is
the message of redemption; it frees people from all the burdens of sin and gives
them hope. That is why the central mission of the Church is to announce the Good
News.
In
addition, one cannot speak of the Kingdom separate from the Christ and the
Church. Redemptorist mission states that
“the kingdom cannot be detached from the Christ and from the Church”. This is because Christ, not only proclaimed
the Kingdom of God, but he proclaimed himself. Now the work of the Church is to
continue preaching this Kingdom up to the ends of the earth.
Again,
in caring out her mission of proclaiming the Kingdom, the Church should open up
for dialogue with other cultures, religions, and peoples. This is because there
different understandings of the Kingdom of God in all these areas. Dialogue
will help to promote Unity and help us to journey together towards the Kingdom.
The Church again has the obligation to preach the Gospel values of this Kingdom
like peace and Justice. This was the central idea also in the Africae Munus. It calls the Church to be
in the service of promoting peace, Justice and Reconciliation.
Finally,
the Church serves the Kingdom through her intersession. We need to pray for the
Kingdom to come, as Jesus taught us, ´may your kingdom come´. This Kingdom is
God´s gift and we need to pray to God to make presence his Kingdom always
within us. We need to pray also for all who ask for our prayers so that, they
may also realize the presence of the Kingdom.
****
THE PLACE OF THE LAITY IN THE CHURCH
The
Dogmatic constitution on the Church (Lumen
Gensum) its chapter four talks about the Laity and their position in the
Church. L.G 31 defines “laity as the term that is understood to mean all the
faithful except those in Holy orders and those who belong to religious states
approved by the Church”. In other words, they are the faithful who live in the
world and they engage themselves with the secular activities.
The
lay people have a very special and important role to play in the Church. The pastors
alone cannot carry the mission of the Church; they need the lay people to
support them. The lay people therefore,
are also called to participate in caring out the salvific mission of the
Church. Through their secular daily activities, they also encounter God and bear
witness to Him. It does not mean that, since they are in the world they are not
the proper agents of Evangelization. They are also invited to participate fully
in the mission of the Church and in some circumstances, the hierarchy of the
Church can entrust to them some ecclesiastical offices.
Furthermore,
the Church leaders should create for them a concussive environment in order to
carry well their responsibilities. The pastors should help them to acquire all
the necessary skills they need for the mission. They should be instructed well
especially to the matters of the sacraments, the word of God and the magesterium.
In fact, they can carry even very difficult missions in the Church and do them
well, when they are well instructed.
Every
lay person is given special gifts. They need to share their gifts with the rest
of the entire Church. We know lay people who are doctors, teachers, nurses,
carpenters, preachers and so many other professions. It is God who endows
people with gifts. They are meant, to be shared and give praise to God. The
Church leaders should help and give these lay people an opportunity to exercise
well their gifts and nourish the Church. All these professions are needed in
order to make the Church more rich in offering her services.
Moreover,
the lay people should not be seen as the second class people in the mission of
the Church. There is already a danger of treating them as people who are not
well experienced. But that is not true because they also participate fully
through their positions in the mission of the Church. What is important is to
have mutual respect and work together for the salvation of the souls. According
to L.G 38 states “each individual lay person must be a witness before the world
to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and sign of the living God.”
Therefore, all together and in our ability must cherish the Church by keeping
her spiritual.
Finally,
I can say that, according to L.G 37, lay people have a great duty of working
for the greater spread of the work of God of salvation to all men and women.
They should also bring before God all those who asked for their prayers. And
whatever, they do, they should do it for the sake of the glory of God the
father and not for the human glory.
Again, it is good for them to know that mission is not a private affair,
it carries communal aspect. It has to be done communally together with the
ecclesiastical leaders. The lay people should not however interfere with the
ecclesiastical holy orders for example the work of the priest to celebrate the
Holy Eucharist should be respected and left only to him. Therefore, we can all
work together and respect each other when we all know our boundaries.
REFLECTION ON THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF VATICAN II
During the meetings of Vatican II council, one among
the elements that were discussed was the
way of understanding the Church. The Vatican II gave the Church a very new and
fresh picture, rather than what was understood of the Church before the Vatican
II. The Church is no longer seen as the
mere Institution, but as a living reality. The Church is viewed as the body of
Christ and we are the members of the body. Vatican II emphasized also that, as
an Institution, the Church does not exist outside the people but as something
that lives among us. In other words, we are the Church but with an Organizational
system.
The previous thinking of the Church as a mere
Institution is no longer favorable in this ecclesiology. The Church shares the
image of Christ and is guided by the Holy Spirit. One can also say that, the
Church is the product of Christ himself that was given to us through the
Apostles. The Church is not founded by
men; she has a foundation in Christ Jesus himself. She continues growing everyday because she is
a living reality and She gives birth to new members each day. This growth takes
place within, as Joseph Ratzinger states, “the church grows from within, and
this is the meaning of expression the Body of Christ”[1].
So, we are called to share the life of this Church since we are the members of
this Body of Christ. Together we can say we build the Church and that makes us
also to say that we are the Church, and not I am the Church.
The other element that nourishes the ecclesiology of
Vatican II is the Holy Eucharist. The Last Supper of Jesus is taken as the
foundation of the Church although not explicitly expressed. At the last Supper
Jesus together with the Twelve shared the meal. The sharing of meal means that
there is fellowship. This fellowship binds us together with Christ. It brings us around the table of Christ and
that is the nature of the Church. So for that reason, on can state that, the
center of the Church is the Mass as it states “the Mass is the Church´s
celebration through which She develops .relationships of Multiplicity and Unity[2].
So when we celebrate the Mass, we offer sacrifice as the Church. The
celebration of the Mass now plays a very important role of uniting us with
Christ and with one another.
Furthermore, there is also the element of the Church
as People of God that emerged in the Vatican II ecclesiology. The fundamental
question could be who the People of God are.
The expression the People of God can mean those who are baptized or the
chosen people of Israel or it could also mean the non- Catholics. According to
Ratzinger, the understanding of this ecclesiology acts as the bridge of
ecumenism. In other words, even those who are not Catholics are also the People
of God. This also conveys the unity of
God´s history with man and the internal Unity of God´s people that also
goes to the frontiers of Sacramental sharing.
In addition, the ecclesiology of Vatican II points out
the element of communion. That is, we are in the communion with God through the
Son and by the Holy Spirit. The incarnation of the Word was the main point of God´s
lowering himself to make communion with us. Our act of meeting Christ now
creates the communion with him, and therefore with the Father in the Holy
Spirit. This communion is well reflected also in the Eucharist. At the
Eucharist, there is great communion with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
In conclusion, I can say that the Ecclesiology of
Vatican II gives strength to the Image of the Church. The strong element is the
Church as the Body of Christ whereby we are the members. However, we should not
fear to criticize the Church as the Institution, especially when she fails to
walk at the paths of her Master, that is, the teachings of the Christ.
[1] Fr. George Kocholickal, The Church we believe in: Class Notes.
[2] Fr. George Kocholickal, The Chuech we believe
in: Class Notes.
****
THE CHURCH IN
AFRICA SHOULD BE THE INSTRUMENT OF PEACE, JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION:
Pope Benedict XIV in his Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Africae Munus, calls the Church
in Africa to be the pioneer of peace, justice and reconciliation. One of the biggest
tasks of the Church in Africa is to bring people together, to be the voice of
the voiceless and to proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation. This idea is given
more weight, especially when we look at the challenges that Africa is facing,
for example, civil war, violence, injustice, discrimination and many others.
All these problems appear as the challenge of the Church in Africa. The synod emphasizes that the message of God
should set people free from all these problems.
Thus “the task of the church is to bring the message of the Gospel to
the heart of Africa societies; to lead people to the vision of God”[1].
This implies that, the Church in Africa should arise and proclaim the message
of liberty.
Moreover, it is not an easy duty for the Church to proclaim
the message of hope, peace and reconciliation. She needs the guidance and
strengths of the Holy Spirit in order to fight all the iniquities in Africa.
The main work of the Holy Spirit is to lead us as the Church, and our main task
as the Church in Africa is to listen and act according to this will. The Synod
stated that, “through this word, we the faithful, learn to listen to Christ and
to let ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, who reveals, to us the
meaning of all things”. Therefore the Holy Spirit will protect us as we give our
witness to the world as the followers of Christ.
The proclamation of peace, justice and reconciliation
in Africa should be Christ-centered. Jesus Christ is the source of peace and he
is the true peace, he is just and through his death on the cross he reconciled
us with God the Father and with one another. The Synod repeated the words of Jesus on peace that he left to
his people after the resurrection. As it
stated “peace I leave with you, my peace I give you… not as the world gives do
I give to you”. So the foundation of our human peace begins with Jesus. As
Christians we should always find our peace and happiness in Christ Jesus. Again
our human peace is always accompanied with justice and reconciliation.
Furthermore, for the peace, justice and reconciliation
to prevail in our African societies, the Church needs to emphasize the
sacrament of reconciliation. People need to reconcile with God and with one
another. There is a need to have reconciliation with the past and the present
for the better future. The concrete example is what happened in Rwanda in 1994
whereby thousands of the people lost their lives. Again repeated in Kenya in
2007 in which more than one thousand people were killed. The two events and many others remind the
Church in Africa that, it still has a lot of work to do. The function of the Church
in such a situation is to work out strategies that will
bring people together and reconcile with one another. The Church should help
such kind of people to walk in the authentic paths of reconciliation and focus
only on Christ. As the Synod confirmed “the Catholic Church should assist the
faithful to walk an authentic path of metanoia
in celebrating this sacrament through which the whole person is refocused upon
the goal of encounter with Christ.”[2]
God has already reconciled with us through the death of his Son our Lord Jesus
Christ.
In conclusion, I would say that the Church in Africa
is still growing, and it needs a lot of care. It needs to address some crucial
matters that are contributing to the disappearance of the peace in many parts
of the world. The Church should speak
more loudly for the sake of many. It may be dangerous for the Church to go against
the existing corrupt political systems, but it is also possible when one trusts
and hopes for the protection of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for the Church,
especially in Africa, that She works hard
to bring Peace, Justice and Reconciliation among African societies.
[1] Pope Benedict XVI, Africa´s Comment: Post – Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Africae Munus , 21.
[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Africa´s Comment: Post – Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Africae Munus, 22.
****
THE
CHURCH THAT APOSTLES LEFT BEHIND
The
Church that Apostles left behind means the Church in which we belong now. This
Church developed gradually with its strengths and weaknesses from the apostolic
time up the present. Today we honor this Church very much as Holy and an accommodative
one. The main point in this reflection is to show the organizational structure
of our Church, how should her leaders behave and how should they show good
examples to their flocks, the idea of love and holiness and some of the
challenges that the Church is facing today.
The
Church that the Apostles left behind has an organizational structure. This
structure is very important since, when any institution is well organized, it performs
its duties and mission well in more transparent manner. Again any organized
institution has an administration and leaders. For this reason we have to consider
the aspect of authority as a very vital element in the whole organizational
structure of the church. In other words the authority that we have in our church
today is something to value and treasure and we should respect it. But also the
leaders themselves should not misuse their Authority for their own advantages
but rather they should imitate Christ who humbles himself and became the
servant of all.
Furthermore,
the Church that the apostles left behind takes her leaders, especially the
Bishops, as people who should always give example to others. These leaders are
endowed with the charismatic gifts and they should sacrifice themselves for the
service of others. They should have good qualities like “to be blameless,
upright, holy, self-controlled, not arrogant, not lover of money, besides drunkenness
is not tolerated”[1].
These qualities should also be applicable even to the other leaders of the
church today so as to show good examples to the people they are leading.
The today´s church is facing a lot of challenges, and it needs leaders who are
morally upright so as to keep the holiness of the Church.
In
addition, we are called to love our Church. The Church is the body of Christ,
and we belong to this body. To love the church in this way means to protect it
from all evil. Today we hear about many scandals in the church like sexual
abuse, misuse of money, fighting for power, drunkenness and so on. All these
are evils that can take away the holiness of the church. To love the church
could also mean to keep her holiness because “the holiness is an important
characteristic of the church as the body of Christ”.[2]
Moreover,
we should understand the church as people of God. The first letter of St. Peter
(2:9) talks about the chosen race which gives us this idea of the church as the
people of God. We are the people of God through the blood of Jesus. As people of God, we should open up and
welcome everyone who wishes to share faith of Christ. In other words, the
church as people of God is accommodative. It discriminates against no one, and
it does not regard at gender, race, rich, poor and so on. It is the Church that
has a room for all Her members. Through this understanding we belong to this Church
and we need to create the atmosphere that will continue making our church holy.
But we are warned also that, as people of God, we should not think that those
who are outside the Church are not people of God or that they don’t experience God’s love and
mercy. God has many ways of reveling himself to us, and he reveals himself to
others in different ways.
In
conclusion, I would say that the church is travelling towards her perfection
and we are called to journey with the church through praying for Her and
protecting Her from all evils. Let us preserve the holiness of the Church since
it is the body of Christ.
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