LESSON 9

Church of Jesus: Mystery &

Sacrament
 MYSTERY & SACRAMENT
The term "mystery" does not mean we do not know and understand anything about;
rather it is knowable by the human mind but we can never exhaust the totality of its reality.
THE CHURCH AS MYSTERY
The church is related to the Blessed Trinity:
FATHER
The church is related to the Father because it was:
 Prefigured from the beginning of the world.
 Manifested in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
 To be brought to completion at the end of time
SON
The church is related to the Son because:
 Christ, the one Mediator
 Body of Christ
 -We as a church be completely Christ-centered
HOLY SPIRIT
The Church is related to The Holy Spirit:
 The Holy Spirit dwells in the church and in our hearts
 The Holy Spirit guides and directs the Church into the fullness of truth
 The Holy Spirit provides a unity of communion and mission, constant renewal to lead her
to perfect unity with Christ, her Spouse

THE CHURCH AS SACRAMENT

The concept of the Church as sacrament further clarifies and develop the concept of the
Church as mystery. The second Vatican council teaches the Church is both a sacramental sign
and an instrument of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind.
The Church is an effective sign and symbol of the following:
Our relationship and deep union with our Creator.
Our communion with our fellow human beings and;
Our salvation.

Modern Sacrament Theology gives a broader nation of “sacrament” which can be illustrated in
this way:
 Jesus as Primordial Sacrament
 Church as Fundamental Sacrament
  Seven Sacraments as Traditional Sacraments
 Christians as Living Sacrament

Jesus as Primordial Sacrament

Edward Schillebeeckx- identifies Jesus in his humanity “the primordial sacrament of
God” because of the reality of Incarnation, that is Jesus taking on material form and becoming
fully human yet remaining fully God as well; God is seen most fully in and through Jesus.
John Macquarrie- suggests the term “super sacrament” to refer to Jesus as a unique
manifestation in visible form of the authentic life of God.
The human Jesus is the super sacrament because:
- He is the true minister of the seven traditional sacraments the human minister is a stand-
in for Jesus; and
- He is the content of the seven traditional sacraments.
Kenan Osborne-describes Jesus as the true minister of the sacraments. He says: “One
might hear the word ‘baptism’ and think immediately of water. One might hear the word
‘unction’, and think immediately of oil. One might hear the word ‘Eucharist’, and think
immediately of bread and wine but when one hears the word ‘baptism’, one should think of
Jesus, when one hears the word ‘unction’, one should think Jesus, when one hears the word
‘Eucharist’, one should think Jesus, and so on.”
CHURCH AS FUNDAMENTAL SACRAMENT
The Church is called to be visible presence of Christ in the world. The noted Jesuit
theologian Karl Rahner has this to say: “Now the Church is the continuance, the contemporary
presence, of that real, eschatologically triumphant and irrevocably established presence in the
world, in Christ, of God’s salvific will. By the very fact of being the enduring presence of Christ
in the world, the Church is truly the fundamental sacrament, the well-spring of the sacraments in
the strict sense.”

SEVEN SACRAMENTS
The invisible graces of Jesus in the life of the recipient can be presented in the following schema:

SACRAMENT GRACE

Baptism The Baptized One(grace of faith)

Confirmation The Confirmed One(grace perseverance)

Reconciliation The Reconciler(grace of penitence)

Eucharist The Really Present One(grace of self-

giving)

Sick The Healer(grace of wholeness)

Orders The Priest(grace of service)

Marriage The Lover(grace of love)

CHRISTIANS AS LIVING SACRAMENTS means showing complete actions in our lives the
teaching of Christ.

IMAGES OF JESUS
Church as flock of Christ, which evokes the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who lays
down his life for his sheep;
Church as Vineyard of God, which evokes the image of Jesus as the true vine who gives life
and makes us, the branches, fruitful;
Church as Temple of God, which identifies Jesus as the cornerstone with the twelve apostles
being its foundation; and
Church as Our Mother, which evokes the image of Jesus as the spotless Lamb.
To understand better the Church today and to emphasize its Trinitarian origin and
foundation, we shall single out four particular biblical metaphors or images against the
background of the above-cited images. They are:
The Church as Kingdom of God,
The Church as people of God,
The Church as Body of Christ, and
The Church as Temple of the Holy Spirit.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

The cause:
The members:
The Head:
The condition:
The law:
The mission:
The destiny:

Priestly, Prophetic and Kingly People

The Father anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit and made him priest, prophet and
king.
Three offices of Christ:
 Priestly People- configured in baptism, strengthened in Confirmation and nourished in
the Eucharist, we worship God for his greater honor and glory, and for the salvation of
human beings. Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men, has made this new
people a kingdom of priests to God, his Father.
 Prophetic People- we the people of God both lay and clergy give testimony to Christ by
our supernatural sense of faith, and the grace of speech “So that the power of the Gospel
may shine out in daily family and social life”. We become prophetic people when we
preach the word of God through our words and deed.
 Kingly People- partake in the office of Jesus Christ the King and Lord of the universe,
who exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and
resurrection. To be king is to be servant or serve.
THE CHURCH AS BODY OF CHRIST
 Body of Christ is a common metaphor employed in the New Testament to refer to the
Church.
 The Church acts as “the body of Christ”.

The Three Qualities of the Body of Christ:

 The Church is One Body
 The Church has Christ as her Head
 The Church is Christ’s Bride
THE CHURCH IS ONE BODY
This church is “not just like a body, but is the Body of Christ, really made one in him.
This ‘body’ of Christ’s means:
- Physical body
 - Eucharistic body
- Mystical body
THE CHURCH HAS CHRIST AS HER HEAD
 Jesus Christ has willed that we, the Church, be united and identified with him.
 Jesus is Head over all.
 The saints are very much aware that Christ and his Church make up the “whole Christ”:
THE CHURCH IS CHRIST’S BRIDE
The unity between Christ and his Church head and members of one Body also is often
expressed by the image of bridegroom.
Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her. He has joined
her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body.