380. Twenty-fourth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 342 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Unity and catholicity of the Church.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

The Church, Christ’s Mystical Body, is united through her doctrine, her means for achieving holiness, and her hierarchy. And her scope is universal, her message is meant for all humanity: people of every race and nation practise the same faith, receive the same sacraments, and are subject to the same head. This distinctive feature or note of the Church, her capacity to unite harmoniously the most diverse peoples, is called “Catholicity”.

This is how God wanted it. Jesus Christ instituted only one Church. For this reason the spouse of Christ is one and catholic: universal, for all men.

For many centuries now the Church has been spread throughout the world, and she numbers people of all races and walks of life. But the universality of the Church does not depend on its geographical distribution, even though this is a visible sign and a motive of credibility. The Church was Catholic already at Pentecost. She was born Catholic from the wounded heart of Jesus, as a fire which the Holy Spirit enkindled.

In the second century the Christians called the Church Catholic in order to distinguish her from the sects which, using the name of Christ, were betraying his doctrine in one way or another. We call her Catholic, writes Saint Cyril, not because she is spread throughout the world, from one extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and without defect she teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, both the visible and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because she draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and those who are ruled, the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because she cures us from all kinds of sins, whether of the soul or of the body, possessing in addition, by whatever name they may be called, all the forms of virtue, in deeds and in words and in every kind of spiritual gift.

The Catholicity of the Church does not depend either on whether or not non-Catholics acclaim and acknowledge it. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that, in non-spiritual matters, the opinions of some people in positions of authority in the Church are taken up, and sometimes exploited, by those who fashion public opinion, when these churchmen have views similar to theirs. It will often happen that the aspect of truth which will be defended in any human ideology will find an echo or foundation in the perennial teaching of the Church. This is, in a certain sense, a sign of the divinity of the revelation which the Magisterium safeguards. But the spouse of Christ is Catholic, even when she is deliberately ignored by many, and even abused and persecuted, as unfortunately happens in so many places …

Ask God our Lord now, along with me, that we Catholics may never forget these truths, and that we may resolve to put them into practice. The Catholic Church does not need the approval of men, for she is the work of God.

The Work’s apostolate is a service to the Church.

With how much joy, my dearest children, do we see those two notes, unity and Catholicity, shine forth harmoniously in Christ’s holy Church as a sign of her divine origin. The immense variety of individuals, races, peoples and cultures in the Church are all united in grace, doctrine and supreme government, without losing their noble distinguishing features.

The Church has both the permanence of what is universally valid and the youthfulness of everything that lives and grows. Revealed truth, although unchangeable, is made clearer by opportune doctrinal developments in the exposition of the riches of the depositum fidei, the deposit of faith, and it is constantly being studied in greater depth. The kingdom of God is always expanding and gathering new people into its fold. How wonderful is the Holy Spirit, how immense and powerful are his gifts! St Cyril exclaimed, as he preached to the people of Jerusalem. Consider for a moment the number of souls in the world: the Holy Spirit is acting in each one of them according to their needs. He is present in your midst and aware of your dispositions, he knows your mind and conscience, all that you think and say. This is wonderful, but it is still very little. Consider, you who are enlightened by his light, how many Christians there are in the whole world.

By the will of God, in words which Paul VI used in a message he wrote to our Father in 1964, the Work was born in our time as a clear expression of the Church’s perennial youthfulness. Placed as we are by divine will at the helm of Peter’s boat … we ponder with fatherly satisfaction all that Opus Dei has done and continues to do for God’s kingdom; the desire to do good which inspires it; the fervent love for the Church and for her visible Head which distinguishes it; the ardent zeal for souls which leads it to undertake the arduous and difficult paths of the apostolate of presence and witness in every sector of contemporary life.

Opus Dei, our Father wrote, constitutes a new fact in ecclesiastical history, while at the same time being as old as the Gospel itself. And although it is a path with its own features within the Church, the Work is universal, and provides Christians with a deep Catholic sense. Because of its emphasis on work as the proper material for our sanctification, our spirit is open to people of every age, race, and state in life: married and single, priests and laity, men and women, young and old. The universality of our spirit enables us to reach souls in every sphere of life. We can well say, without boasting, that the Work of God has opened up as a vocation the divine pathways of the earth.

Personal responsibility in this area.

The knowledge that our personal vocation is a sharing in the Church’s universal mission leads us to feel a greater sense of responsibility. St Augustine says: Every Christian, as a member of the Church, should be consumed with zeal for God’s house. And who has this disposition? Whoever sees a disorder and strives to correct it; whoever desires the conversion of sinners and does not rest until he sees them converted; and if he does not succeed in making them better, he endures it and suffers out of love for God.

Our Father shows us how we can tell whether we love the Church’s unity and Catholicity: We will show that we are Catholics by the fruits of sanctity which we produce, for sanctity does not admit of frontiers, nor is it the patrimony of any particular group. We will show that we are Catholics if we pray, if we strive to talk with God at all times, if always and in all things we make an effort to be just (in the broadest sense of the word “justice”, which nowadays is quite often used with a materialistic and erroneous connotation); if we love and defend the personal freedom of other men.

Like St Paul, we should feel an anxious concern for all the churches. We should see beyond the limits of our immediate circle of friends, and strive to echo the Pope’s concerns and pray often for him and his intentions. We have to understand “Catholic” as meaning truly universal, open to all noble human realities. Our “Roman sense”, our filial and obedient union with the Pope, under his supreme powers of order, jurisdiction and magisterium, is precisely what guarantees our respect for legitimate variety and freedom in all matters that are open to opinion.

While seeking to make Catholic teachings accessible to everyone, we never forget that the Faith is one and the same for all. Likewise we have to pass on the spirit of the Work in all its integrity, just as we received it; otherwise we would be betraying the mission God has entrusted to us. Our Father stressed: Through faithfulness to our own Law and the spirit God gave me, the perennial relevance and fruitfulness of the Work is assured.

Along with our unity of spirit, which is our small common denominator, we have to defend, in both the Church and the Work, a very broad numerator. The spirit of Opus Dei leads us to a healthy pluralism as a sign of good spirit, and to defend the legitimate freedom of all Catholics. But what is local (such as ideologies, customs, opinions or national groups) can never be allowed to restrict what was born universal. Among other signs of this, our Father said, we shall never allow the universal character of our Work to be diminished by local or national terminology: such terms would not please God and would cause a diminishing of what was born ecumenical, Catholic.

By practising and teaching this spirit of ours, we are showing our love for the Church. We defend her unity and Catholicity, with the help of the powerful intercession of our Lady, Mater Ecclesiae, Mother of the Church, and Mother of each one of her members.