Last week we spoke on the eighth article of the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in the Holy Ghost.”  This article introduces the third part of the creed.  The first part presents God the Father who creates the world; the second, God the Son who redeems the world; the third, God the Holy Ghost who sanctifies the world.  In this third part, the ninth article, “The holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints” describes the universal sacrament of man’s redemption viz, the Catholic Church.  This is our topic today.

The Gospels record the history of the life, death, resurrection of the God-man, Jesus Christ.  In these books, we encounter the fact that Christ established an organized religion.  He begins His public life by selecting certain men; He instructs them in His mission; He authorizes them to act in His name.  He establishes a set of laws; He upgrades old commandments and commands their adherence.  He institutes a system of sacramental grace to conduct God’s life to men.  Among His elected officials He establishes a hierarchy, picking one who will have headship over the others; this man, the first pope, receives keys of the new kingdom.  Indeed, the divine plan necessitated a visible and  organized Church for the salvation of mankind for invisibility would lead to disorder and dis-order is of the devil.

When we say “the Holy Catholic Church”...
We believe that Christ established a visible and organized Church two thousand years ago for the salvation of all the world.  St. Robert Bellarmine provides a classic definition of this Church: “The Church is a union of men who are united by the same Christian  faith, and by participation in the same Sacraments under direction of their lawful pastors, especially of the one representative of Christ on earth, the pope of Rome.”   Scripture calls this Church: “house of God,” (1 Tim 3:15); “spouse of Christ,” (2 Cor 11:2); “body of Christ,” (Eph 1:23).  Pope Pius XII calls the Church: “the Mystical Body of Christ.” (Mystici Corporis, 1943)  The Nicene-Constantinople Creed lists  four visible marks of this Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

The Church is One because Christ established only one visible Church, with one set of beliefs and one sacramental system as opposed to numerous creations of man now numbering some 28,000 individual denominations.  Such profusion of individual churches mocks the unity St. Paul calls for, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (Eph 4:5).  In 1943, Pope Pius XII repeated in Mystici Corporis Pope Leo XIII’s earlier rejection of the Church as ‘a mere spiritual reality’ which joins Christians together no matter what faith they profess.

The Church is Holy because her founder is holy, no less than the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God.  She is holy for two other reasons: first, because she contains the means of grace to make men holy through her sacraments; and two, because she produces holy people who even now reside in her bosom.    
God once revealed to the holy hermit St. Marcarius that a nearby town contained two married women more holy than himself.  Intrigued, he left the desert to find them.  The women were not remarkable for beauty or intelligence; they went unknown in the world.  And although poor in these ways, they were rich in virtue.  Humility and charity clothed their soul: cheerful in their daily duty, patient in daily upsets, generous to those in need, frequent in the practice of prayer and daily ejaculations, resigned to God’s holy will and trustful of His Providence.  Discovering all this, the holy hermit returned to his desert cell praising God that the Church contains house wives more holy than an hermit with all his austerities.

 The Church is Catholic which is to say ‘Universal’ because she spreads her holy doctrine everywhere and embraces all manner of men into her fold: rich and poor, black and white, educated or without a day of school,... “Thou hast redeemed us to God in Thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation, and hast made us to our God, a kingdom.” (Rv 5:9,10) “In this Church belong all the faithful who have existed from Adam to the present day, or who shall exist, in the profession of the true faith, to the end of time. She is also called universal because all who desire salvation must cling and embrace her as did those in Noah’s ark.  This, we are told, is a just mark to distinguish the true from a false church.” (Catechism Trent)

The Church is Apostolic which is to say, she traces her origin through a succession of popes and bishops back to the time of Peter, the first pope together with the first episcopate.  Again, a direct line of pontiffs connects St. Peter to the present (and the 264th) pope, John Paul II, who now governs the Church as the Savior’s vicar on earth.  Likewise, through the ‘laying on of hands,’ in the ordination of priests and consecration of bishops, an unbroken line of apostles (bishops) is traceable from Christ to the present day as it will continue until the end of the world as Christ promised the Church shall not be overcome, “The gates of hell shall not prevail.”

When we say, “the Communion of Saints”...
We mean to explain more the unity, holiness, and catholicity of the Church.  By professing belief in ‘the communion of saints’ we imply a communion of sacraments which sanctify man, uniting him to God which enabling this just man to communicate grace to others by his prayer, sacrifices, alms, good example.
 
The Communion of Saints is the holy Catholic Church as she is in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory.  In heaven, the Church Triumphant includes all men now enjoying the vision of God and now assisting us to heaven.  On earth, the Church Militant (following Bellarmine) is comprised of baptized Catholics with and without, sanctifying grace; of these, only the former (those alive with sanctifying grace) are able to obtain grace for others whether in purgatory or on earth.  In purgatory, the members of the Church Suffering are being purged of sin and gladly accept grace we may merit for them to quicken their final liberation.  Again, these are not three churches, but three aspects of the one Church.

These are few doctrines on the Church as related to the ninth article of the Apostle’s Creed.

At last note: the Church is also called, ‘Holy Mother Church’ and for good cause.  She labors as a mother to bring men as children into heaven; she gives spiritual life; she teaches spiritual truths; and, knowing the weakness of our nature,  she encourages her children towards perfection.

The Church, like John the Baptist, is one lonely voice crying out in the wilderness of this world, “Make straight the way of the Lord.’  During Advent she urges us to prepare for Christmas with words like,  “arise”and “come” as if to break us from daily routine; today, we are told, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Too often during Advent we think overly on self and Christmas; the Church encourages us to think not of self, nor the Messiah come, but ‘the coming Messiah.’  She says, “Prepare the way of the Lord” not “Prepare a Christmas wish list.”  Above wish lists, we should prepare for Christmas by keeping our minds fixed, not on self, but on Jesus.  Not, “what do I want?” but, “what does Jesus want?”  In these few days before Christmas: go to confession and holy Mass; practice the Ember austerities; pray extra Rosaries; deny yourself a TV show and Jingle Bells music; read the prophecies of Isaiah or the Infancy narratives in the Holy Gospels to your children. In these ways prepare for the coming Messiah and He will grant more grace for heaven, the best gift of all.