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Chapter 9- Mother, Teacher, Family: The Nature and Role of the Church

Posted Jul. 22, 2015 by DOM 1 comment

World Meeting of Families Catechesis Series

The USCCB is excited about the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) being held in Philadelphia in September 2015.  We are presenting a series of short articles focused on the WMOF Catechesis Love is our Mission: The Family Fully Alive and its implications for our daily lives. We will follow the timing suggested by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by exploring one theme each month leading up to the World Meeting.

Chapter Nine: Mother, Teacher, Family: The Nature and Role of the Church
Dr. Andrew Lichtenwalner
Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth

What’s in an Image?

The ninth chapter of the World Meeting of Families preparatory catechesis, “Mother, Teacher, Family: The Nature and Role of the Church,” begins in the following way: The Church has institutional forms because she must work in the world. But that does not exhaust her essence. The Church is the Bride of Christ, a “she,” not an “it.”

What do we think of when we hear the Church described as “Bride” and “Mother”? What’s our first impression? Does it have anything to do with us?

My mom and dad raised me in the Catholic faith and encouraged a love for the Church from my earliest years. I don’t recall them speaking about the Church as “Mother” at home the way they talked of God as “Father,” but I think they conveyed that sense to me very naturally and practically in the way they lived the faith—love for Christ and love for the Church go together.

I remember during grad school coming across the work of Henri de Lubac, a French Jesuit theologian who was later made a Cardinal by Pope St. John Paul II. De Lubac had a great love for the image of the Church as Mother. In seeking to perceive and grasp the nature of the Church, his personal experience led him to describe in a simple, childlike way  “the first of all words: the Church is my mother.” He said that the two words “Mother Church” (Ecclesia mater) express “the very reality of Christian life.”

How can the very reality of Christian life be conveyed by calling the Church our Mother? Because the Christian life is conceived and generated by her and lived in and through her. There is no Christian life without the Church.

To call the Church our Mother, which Pope Francis himself has done on many occasions, is not a mere pious expression or sentimentality. Christian discipleship hinges on the Church being our Mother, and the Church is only Mother because she is first the Bride of Christ. Encountering and following Jesus depends first and always on grace, which we receive from the Lord through the Church. The Church can only be fruitful in discipleship and truly a Mother if she is united to Christ, close to Him as His Bride. Without Him, we can do nothing.

The Church was loved into existence by Christ. The Fathers of the Church saw the Church being formed like the New Eve, drawn out of the pierced side of Christ on the Cross. The Church is not a haphazard byproduct or afterthought of the saving work of Christ but the intended fruit of Christ’s mission of redemption manifest with the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The world was created for the Church, the Bride of Christ, who as Mother would be the place of re-creation and regeneration in the Spirit.

In other words, Christ and the Church are inseparable. A Christian artist has expressed it well, saying that in Christ’s words: “You cannot care for Me, with no regard for her. If you love Me, you will love the Church.”

The image of the Church as the Bride of Christ, in addition to the image of the Church as the Body of Christ, powerfully conveys the mystery of the intimate union between Christ and the Church. The image of the Church as Mother conveys the fruitfulness that comes from being united in and with Christ. These images not only concern us but are about us. We are the Church in a real way. We are called to bear Christ to the world. As St. Augustine said to encourage Christians to live up to their identity: Be the bride.

As sinners, we know that we are in need of grace and do not always live up to the gift of holiness which marks the Church. The images of the Church as Bride of Christ and Mother encourage us to “press towards the mark” and to understand Christian discipleship as inseparable from loving the Church.

Even if we haven’t given the images of the Church as Bride of Christ and Mother much thought before, if we love the Church as Christ does, we are already living those images.

 

 

 

 

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Chapter Nine- Mother, Teacher, Family: The Nature and Role of the Church

Posted Jul. 15, 2015 by DOM No comments yet

World Meeting of Families Catechesis Series

The USCCB is excited about the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) being held in Philadelphia in September 2015.  We are presenting a series of short articles focused on the WMOF Catechesis Love is our Mission: The Family Fully Alive and its implications for our daily lives. We will follow the timing suggested by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by exploring one theme each month leading up to the World Meeting.

Chapter Nine: Mother, Teacher, Family: The Nature and Role of the Church
Sara Perla
Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth

We all know that moms are special. Growing up, whenever I had a question about something, whether it was as banal as “How long should I put this into the microwave for?” or as deep as, “What’s the purpose of my life?” my mom always had an answer. When I think about how I learned to read or do addition, it’s usually my mom who is prominent in those memories, even though my dad was there too.

The Church is a mother; she’s there at the very beginning of life, even before her child is conscious of her (Baptism). She feeds her children, again and again (Eucharist). She listens to them, forgives them, and tries to help them, using words that they will understand (Confession). Mom is usually the best person to have around when you’re sick (Anointing). She tells us who we are and reminds us of it when we forget. She also becomes a fierce “mama bear” when her children are being threatened—and everyone knows that you do not want to get into a scrape with a mama bear.

The catechesis reads, “The teaching authority of the Church serves the whole people of God by preserving the truth of the Gospel intact, together with all of the moral teachings revealed, explicitly and implicitly, in the Gospel, which nurture human freedom” (no. 184).  This perhaps helps to explain the delicate balance that the Church, as a mother, tries to maintain at this time of confusion about marriage and same-sex attraction. The whole truth of the Gospel, which must remain intact, is both “Let the one who is without sin throw the first stone,” and “Go and sin no more” (John 8).

Human beings don’t seem to like “both-and.” We’d rather have “either-or” because it’s easier that way. But Christ insists on “both-and,” telling us to go out to all the world and proclaim the Good News, and that the Holy Spirit will convict the world about sin (John 16).

One of the things that moms are good at is being right about what makes their children truly happy. On Halloween, for example, little Johnny might want to eat every single piece of candy right away, and mom will say no. Mom knows that Johnny will make himself sick if he gets to make that choice about the candy. She knows this because she knows human nature; she is older, wiser, and perhaps has seen the fallout from Johnny’s making the opposite choice before. In her love and mercy for Johnny, she tells him no, and even when he throws a tantrum and yells that he hates her as he storms out of the room, mom stands firm.

As the Church in America continues to grapple with what the redefinition of marriage may mean for her, she stands firm in unconditional love for all her children, including those with same-sex attraction, and tells them again and again that if they follow all of their impulses, they will make themselves sick. But through her, Christ can give everyone the power to live without being a slave to sin, whether that sin be pride, vanity, worldliness, lust, or any other. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful…

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