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Ephesians 5 Catechism
5:21-262204 "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domesticchurch." It is a community of faith, hope, and charity; it assumes singular importancein the Church, as is evident in the New Testament.5:211269 Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. From now on, he is called to besubject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church, and to "obey andsubmit" to the Church's leaders, holding them in respect and affection. Just asBaptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoysrights within the Church: to receive the sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of God and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church.1642 Christ is the source of this grace. "Just as of old God encountered his peoplewith a covenant of love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the Church, nowencounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of Matrimony." Christ dwellswith them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to riseagain after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to"be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," and to love one another withsupernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he givesthem here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb:How can I ever express the happiness of a marriage joined by theChurch, strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced byangels, and ratified by the Father? . . . How wonderful the bond betweentwo believers, now one in hope, one in desire, one in discipline, one inthe same service! They are both children of one Father and servants of the same Master, undivided in spirit and flesh, truly two in one flesh.Where the flesh is one, one also is the spirit.5:25-27772 It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purposeof God's plan: "to unite all things in him." St. Paul calls the nuptial union of Christ andthe Church "a great mystery." Because she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom,she becomes a mystery in her turn. Contemplating this mystery in her, Paul exclaims:"Christ in you, the hope of glory."5:25-26757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is shewhom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly'nourishes and cherishes.'"1617 The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and theChurch. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it isso to speak the nuptial bath. which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist.Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of thecovenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace,marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant..5:25616 It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemptionand reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when heoffered his life. Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced thatone has died for all; therefore all have died." No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. Theexistence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses andembraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind,makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.
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1659 St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church. . . . Thisis a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (Eph 5:25, 32).5:26-27757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is shewhom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly'nourishes and cherishes.'"1617 The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and theChurch. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it isso to speak the nuptial bath. which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist.Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of thecovenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace,marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant..5:26628 Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifiesthe descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live anew life. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christwas raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also impliesthe distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of theChurch was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. TheLord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the wholeChurch and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" toChrist the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, thathe might sanctify her." He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant andnever stops caring for her as for his own body:
This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head ormembers speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex personacapitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? "The twowill become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and theChurch." And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but oneflesh." They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . .. as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself "bride."
1228 Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Wordof God produces its life-giving effect. St. Augustine says of Baptism: "The word is brought to the material element, and it becomes a sacrament."5:27773 In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends,"is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied tothis passing world. "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in whichthe Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom." Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle." This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine."796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also impliesthe distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of theChurch was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. TheLord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the wholeChurch and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" toChrist the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless
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 bride of the spotless Lamb. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, thathe might sanctify her." He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant andnever stops caring for her as for his own body:
This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head ormembers speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex personacapitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? "The twowill become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and theChurch." And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but oneflesh." They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . .. as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself "bride."
1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit andthe Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolishedthe frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition callsconcupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggleof conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceasesto call us.5:29757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is shewhom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly'nourishes and cherishes.'"796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also impliesthe distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of theChurch was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. TheLord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the wholeChurch and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" toChrist the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, thathe might sanctify her." He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant andnever stops caring for her as for his own body:
This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head ormembers speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex personacapitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? "The twowill become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and theChurch." And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but oneflesh." They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . .. as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself "bride."
5:31-32796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also impliesthe distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of theChurch was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. TheLord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the wholeChurch and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" toChrist the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, thathe might sanctify her." He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant andnever stops caring for her as for his own body:
This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head or
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Alberto L. Esmeralda

For use in the BEC Advanced Training

reply08 / 03 / 2009
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