One of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, articulates the origin, identity, nature, and mission of the Catholic Church.
Issued on November 21, 1964, Lumen Gentium was the fruit of much prayer, conversation, and reflection on the part of the Council Fathers.
Given that the ardent desire of St. John XXIII was the renewal of the Church for the sake of evangelizing the modern world, this document is of central importance for it seeks to teach anew the wonder and gift of the Church, as the Body and Bride of Christ, as the People of the New Covenant, as the saving presence of Christ in the world.
Christ and the Church
In His mission of salvation, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom of God; called people to conversion; and through His ministry, death, and resurrection, accomplished the great work of our redemption — the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
The Church, as the assembly of the Baptized, washed clean in the Blood of Christ, is born from the pierced side of the Crucified, and is given the fullness of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as the spiritual breath of Her inner life.
As the People of God, the Body of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Church becomes an outward expression and an inward participation in the very life of the Triune God, the sacrament of Christ through time and space until the end of the world.
Many people today would say yes to spirituality, but no to religion, or yes to Jesus, but no to the Church.
Religion and the Church have too much baggage, they would say, and carry the burden of a long history, including the moral failures of some of its leaders and members.
But for us, as Catholics, this question of the connection between Christ and the Church is a “both-and” proposition.
We cannot have the Church without Jesus, obviously, but we cannot have the fullness of Christ without the Church.
Through Her, we hear God’s saving Word, receive the sacraments, and are given the grace of faith and holiness.
The Church is our Mother, who brings us into union with Christ by making us adopted children of the Father.
Called to holiness
All of the Baptized, as the People of God, are called to a life of holiness by virtue of their incorporation into the priesthood of Jesus Christ. (Chapter 5, #40)
The ordained priesthood of the hierarchy only exists to sanctify, serve, and animate the priesthood of the laity.
This rediscovery of the baptismal dignity and evangelizing mission of the laity is certainly a foundational element of Lumen Gentium.
While the Church never officially taught this, many Catholics believed that holiness was only reserved for the priests and Religious, while those who could not aspire to such a life were relegated to living a secondary spirituality in the world.
This type of dualistic thinking needed profound correction, and so the Church now seeks to inculcate in every Catholic the need for a personal relationship with the Lord, rooted in the sacraments and prayer, the call for everyone to become a saint and to embrace missionary discipleship.
The laity are called to sanctify the world and to proclaim the Gospel with their words and actions, so that those who may never approach the Church of their own accord, may still come to hear the Good News and to know Christ, because of the witness of a friend, a relative or a coworker. (Chapter 4, #31)
Through their faith, prayer, action, and testimony, the laity will transform and sanctify the world of work, culture, politics, and economy and thus contribute to the common good and the proper ordering of society in justice, peace, and mercy. (Chapter 4, #36)
Ecumenical awareness
Lumen Gentium expresses an increased ecumenical awareness.
The Council Fathers acknowledge a common faith in Christ with the Orthodox churches and members of Protestant denominations, affirm the Church’s esteem for Judaism and our spiritual links to the People of the original Covenant, name the Muslim faith as belief in the Creator, and assert that the Lord is not remote from those who seek the unknown God, as Paul expressed in his Athens speech in Acts 17. (Chapter 2, #15 and 16)
God’s grace working in the hearts of people not yet in communion with the Church is preparation for the reception of the Gospel.
This ecumenical affirmation is not a declaration that all people are saved, regardless of their particular faith or lack thereof, nor should it be a disincentive to evangelize and share the salvation of Christ with the world.
The final chapter of Lumen Gentium is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church and the Mother of God, whose fiat and discipleship made possible our salvation in Christ.
She prays for and walks with the Church in Her pilgrimage to the Father’s house and stands for us as the radiant example of faith, holiness, and love.
Lumen Gentium affirms the absolute necessity of the Church, founded by the Lord Himself, as the means of our salvation in Christ.
Without the Church, we do not have the New Testament, the sacraments, sanctifying grace, the magisterium, the saints and their intercession, and the salvific efficacy of the Holy Mass.
The Church is our Mother who births, feeds, forgives, heals, and blesses us in Christ, uniting us to the Most Holy Trinity and showing us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.