CHURCH 1. What is the Church? The Church has been defined in various ways: as the Body of Christ, the People of God, the new Israel, the community of the elect, the sacrament of Christ, the congregation of saints wherein the gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly celebrated, and so forth. Although the Second Vatican Council speaks constantly of the Church, nowhere does it offer a single, hard-and-fast definition which must be accepted by all Catholics without modification. In its deepest sense, of course, the Church is a mystery. 2. What does it mean to say that the Church is a "mystery"? According to St. Augustine a mystery is a visible sign of some invisible grace. Pope Paul Vi follows that Augustinian tradition when he defines the Church as "a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God." To affirm that the Church is a mystery is to confess that God is present to his creation in and through a particular group of people who believe in and celebrate the Lordship of Jesus. 3. In what sense is the Church a sacrament? The word "sacrament" means sign. In its early theological usage (e.g., by St. Augustine), it referred not to the seven specific sacraments of the Church but to any outward expression of invisible grace. Thus. Christ himself is the fundamental sacrament. In his humanity. he is the great sign of God's invisible presence in history. The Church, too, is a sacrament. It embodies Christ's presence for mankind. It is an outward, visible sign of God's grace in history. The Church's message is this: God has won the victory over sin and death in Christ; humanity is really possible! Insofar as men and women can look to the community of the Church and see how the triumphant grace of Christ has transformed, and is transforming, people into selfless, compassionate, sensitive, free human beings, to that same extent can they have confidence in the outcome of
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