ANTHONY SAMUEL AGBOVI SMA 11080T
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH THERE IS NO
SALVATION.
The above quotation has been an
ancient teaching of the church fathers. This phrase or ideology was brought
about by Cyprian. However this has been interpreted in different ways; for some
people it is that outside the Roman
Catholic church there is no salvation; while today many would advocate that it
implies that outside the universal church there is no salvation. Whichever
position one takes one is not completely wrong. This is because when one says
outside the catholic church there is no salvation, it could imply the
understanding of the catholic having the fullness of the instrument of salvation
which is explicit through the sacraments of which other churches and ecclesial
communities have only part or none. Also the Catholic has kept the integrity of
the faith of the apostles and the ecclesial government experienced through
apostolic succession. However one is not wrong to affirm that outside the
boundaries of the universal church there is no salvation, this is because LG 8
maintains that there are elements of salvation outside the visible boundaries
of the Roman Catholic church. This is to say that other churches are still
instruments or channels of salvation to the world; because Christ is the source
of our salvation and therefore since other churches just like the catholic
church have faith in Christ and have the Scripture they also can offer
salvation.
What is the relevance of this
position in our time? It calls us to reflect on the fate of people who are not born within the
circumference of the church. Are they candidates of salvation or they are
eternally doomed? The teaching of the church is that, those who through no
fault of their own do not know Christ and his church. We believe that their goodness
can lead to Christ, those who through no faults of their own are ignorant of
the gospel in ways known to himself (that is, Christ). But those who leave the
church and embrace heretical sects and groups are certainly risking their
eternal salvation.
In conclusion what should be our
attitude to people of other religion? Our attitude should be that of less
condemnation or to make the centre message of Christ that of damnation to those
who are not within the church. Also it is not a vain hope for us to expect that the grace of salvation
present with their religion will one day lead some to be part of the people of
God through baptism.
ANTHONY SAMUEL AGBOVI SMA 11080T
THE
CHURCH IS ALWAYS IN NEED OF REFORMATION. LG8
Over the years the growth of the
church has been in an upward and downward movements. A lot of issues have been
the bed rocks of reformation both within and outside the church. These issues
were the centre piece of most conciliar documents.
Again at the dawn of the twelfth to
nineteenth century there was a rise in the numbers of reformers who tried to
bring the reformers who tried to bring the church to its roots. Example of such
persons are, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Luther, Zwinglin among others.
These people served as watch dogs over the churches movement; in order to help
it remember its mission and duties to the world.
For us today, the church of our day
faces its own challenges, such as gay
rights, sexual scandals, women ordination,
the threat of individualism born out of rise of technologies which
encourages that. The question it leaves
us with is; what kind of reformation do we need? Reformation as it is, could
either go to the positive direction or negative as seen in the protestant
reformation in which theological reformation done by Luther brought a
distortion in theology in the Eucharist
or the spiritual reformation which led to different spirituality like Pietist, Anabaptist
in the protestant world and the birth of certain apostolate in the church like
the Carmelites e.tc. today we must remember that the church has been
guided by tradition, or sensus fidei
and Scripture consequently whatever kind of reformation the church will
experience cannot be detached from this roots.
A new hope of internal reformation in our present day is
the Pope Francis, his life and attitude is not a new ecclesiology but an
affirmation of ecclesiology found in Matthew
which is a call to the church to be self sufficient, but to follow the spirit
of Christ by his teaching and his commandments. And what is the spirit of Christ?
The whole of the New Testament shows us how the spirit of Christ is shown in the images presented to us. These
are the church as the bride of Christ, body of Christ, people of God e.t.c
consequently when we keep this image close to our heart or see ourselves in
terms of these images of the church and its people towards Christ; then we are
sure of one thing that it will guide us in our actions and the entire life of the
church. Therefore since he is lord of the living his spirit keeps the church
under constant renewal.
ANTHONY SAMUEL AGBOVI SMA 11080T
THE CHURCH OF ACTS AND ITS
RELEVANCE TO THE CHURCH OF OUR TIME
‘But we will devote ourselves to
prayer and to the ministry of the word’ Acts 6:4
The early church was known to be a
church of communion, bonded in unity. They were hospitable and had a sharing
spirit, which resulted to no one having a need. They were committed to the Mission
of Christ which was to preach salvation to all men however as the mission and
people increase there was a demand to shift from the mission of the salvation
of souls to take care of its members almost to the detriment of the former
(which is the mission of Christ); until persecution dispatched them to
different places and the work of mission continued.
The implication of this present time,
is that we find in our present time an increase of NGO’s who try to carryout
social work in different parts of the world. This is part and parcel of the church’s work. That is, building schools,
hospital and other health care. In as much as this is wonderful it does not
define what the church is or its mission. What defines the church is communion
amongst them born at the table of the Eucharist. Consequently as the church
tries to identify with the poor it must guard
against becoming an NGO; and be ministers of the word. As Pope Francis
asserts in his homily on the 15th of March
‘If we don't proclaim Jesus Christ, something is wrong. We would become
a pious NGO and not a Church which is the bride of Christ’. Also we must
remember that the last words of the code of canon law states that the salvation
of souls must be the supreme law of the church (Can. 1752). Consequently all
humanitarian work which the church carried out must have the badge of Christ
and his aim and missions. For he himself carried out good works but geared
towards revealing God.
In conclusion one may say that
today, the whole church community will not gather at the Vatican for the breaking of bread just
as the early church did. However what the nature of the early church teaches us
to follow is this; at whatever point or place the church is been established, the celebration of the
Eucharist which is a centre piece of our
unity must be held high and seriously. Also
at the end of the mass we are sent forth with the words ‘go in peace
glorifying the lord by your life. This is the missionary dimension that points
to the fact, our work is not NGO oriented but Christ . In other words the church must guide against
self-sufficiency and move outside it boundaries.
THE CHURCH AS A FAMILY OF CHRIST; REAWAKENING OF THE
ROLE OF THE LAITY
BEFORE I BLESS YOU, I ASK YOU TO PRAY FOR ME. (POPE
FRANCIS)
Gaudium et Spes 43, emphasized on
the role of the laity since they are citizen of two cities. that is heavenly
and earthly. their participation in the liturgy is being encouraged, their
witnessing as Catholics in their places of work and family is highly needed.
since they from part of the Apostolic community which is geared towards
witnessing the reality of Christ.
Today
among such roles for the laity which is desperately needed by the church is the
fervent prayer of the laity about the challenges the church faces during these
periods. That is, the loss of trust, for clergy, scandals, lack of vocation
e.t.c. praying for the elect in church was an apostolic characteristic.
whenever anyone was elected he was prayed for by the people. for example this
is what is said of Paul and Barnabas, "while they were worshiping the Lord
and Fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'set apart Saul and Barnabas for the work to which I have
called them." 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on
them and set them off. Act 13: 2-3. Also in 2 Timothy Paul says, 'Hence I
remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on
of my hands. 2Timothy 1:6. In another scripture text St. Paul says , "Continue
steadfastly in Prayer. being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 and pray for us also, that God, may open to us a
door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am
in prison" Colossian 4: 2-3. All this point to one fact that just as St.
Paul rejoices to announce his commitment in praying for the people of God there
is an ongoing demand also that the people of God commit themselves to praying
for the church leaders. This was the kind of church the apostles left behind
and this is the only way that the church
can come alive in the world especially in places where the faith has been
shattered by disappointments and modernization of different belief systems.
Finally
stretching further the words of pope Francis, we can say that if the leaders
of the church must be able to be a blessing to the people of God, the people
of God must rise up and be a blessing. for every church leader came from a
family. if the family affirms her role as members then we are sure of getting
a good number of worthy church leaders.
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ANTHONY SAMUEL AGBOVI 11080T
THE CHURCH AS AN IMPORTANT
VEHICLE OF RECONCILIATION
To
help African societies heal the wounds of division and hatred the synod father
urged the church to remember that she bears within herself the same wounds and
pain. hence she too needs the Lord's healing, so that she can credibly bear
witness that the sacrament of reconciliation binds up and heals wounded hearts.
this sacrament mends the broking bonds within society. it also trains our
hearts and our spirits to live in "unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one
another, a tender heart and a humble mind" (Africae Munus no. 155)
The
world is being called a global village in this contemporary time. Meaning the
gap between that is felt by the people of the ancient world among different
continents and countries is been shortened. However in parallel with this
reality is the presence of war, hunger instabilities in politics, religious
crisis and all sought of disorder in the world. This has not brought us to a
better global village but has created little factions that serve as foxes which
spoils the vine.
In
the early life of Jesus he was popular
due to his ability to mix with different people. these are, the prostitutes Pharisees
and scribes, tax collectors and others in as much as we see this as an
achievement, we must remember that the underlying factor was to reconcile the
different factions of society together through himself and to God. The church
having Christ as the head cannot deviate from this mission. we find as her
members people of different tribes and nations, colors and race, rich and poor,
saints and sinners. therefore with the different happenings in the
socio-political zone of different African countries like Kenya and ivory-coast
and other places in the world. we must affirm that if the sacrament of
reconciliation is not enforce with greater love and practice by the church
there is bound to be chaos in society.
Finally
the church as a sacrament of union with God and with men must be a place of
reconciliation and efficient instrument of reconciliation in the whole society.
This reconciliation comes from two pillars which is the word of God and the
sacraments. Among these sacraments are two crucial ones to reconciliation; that
is, the Eucharist and sacrament of reconciliation. We must remember that the
Eucharist institutes a new brotherhood (sisterhood) which exceeds language
cultures, ethnic groups, tribalism racism and ethnocentrism. Therefore in the
work of reconciliation the church must engage in the educating her children
through catechesis and the word which should lead to conversion and real
commitment to the Gospel values. It is then our ultimate desire for a society
sensitive to justice peace and reconciliation can be establish.
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