The mystical body of christ

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Holy Spirit, grant that I may be rich with the “ fullness of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery... of Christ Jesus” (Col 2,2).

MEDITATION

1. “I am the vine; you, the branches.” On these words of Jesus, which describe our union with Him, the whole doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ is founded. Only the figure is changed: instead of the vine, we speak of the Body of which Christ is the Head and we are the members. In explaining this doctrine, St. Paul aptly paraphrases what Jesus had previously said. “As the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ.... Now you are the Body of Christ, and members of member” (1 Cor 12,12.27). The thought in both descriptions is evidently identical: as the branches are part of the vine on which they grow and from which they are nourished with one sap; as the parts of the human body form one body and have a single life; so we, being incorporated in Christ, make but one body with Him and live of His Life. ‘This is the Mystical Body of Christ “ which, ” St. Paul teaches, “is the Church” (Col 1,24). Christ is the Head of this Body. “ Christ is the Head of the Church.... He is the Savior of the Body” (Eph 5,23).

The Father “ hath made Him Head over all the Church, which is His Body...and His fullness” (cf. ibid. 1,22.23). One Body, one life which comes to each of its members from the Head. “Christ Our Lord vivifies the Church with His own supernatural life; by His divine power He permeates the whole Body and nourishes and sustains each of the members...very much as the vine nourishes and makes fruitful the branches which are joined to it” (Mystici Corporis). The fact that every Christian has life in Christ and lives of the very life of Christ is reaffirmed in these words.

2. Our union with Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body, is certainly not to be understood as being identical with the union that exists among the various members of a physical body. In fact, although we are incorporated in Him, each one of us preserves “intact his own personality” (ibid.). But neither should we understand this union to be a mere moral union, such as exists, for example, among members of the same organization. No, it is something much more profound, it is a mysterious union, and in this sense is called mystical, but it is no less real and vital. It is a union which comes from there being present in all the parts of the Body of the Church “ a distinct internal principle, which exists effectively in the whole and in each of its parts, and whose excellence is such, that of itself it is vastly superior to whatever bonds of union may be found in a physical or moral body. This principle is...not of the natural but of the supernatural order. Essentially it is something infinite, uncreated: it is the Spirit of God, who, as the Angelic Doctor says, ‘ one and the same for all, fills and unifies the whole Church’ ” (ibid.).

The Holy Spirit, “the soul of the Church” (ibid.), is the bond which intimately and really unites and vivifies all the members of Christ, diffusing grace and charity in them. He has been “ given to the Church with most copious effusion, so that its members from day to day might become always more like the Redeemer” (ibid.) Therefore, it is not a question of a symbolical, metaphorical union, but of a real union, so real that it surpasses all the others “ as grace surpasses nature, and immortal realities surpass perishable realities” (ibid.). It is a reality so great that it embraces not only our earthly life but, provided we preserve it, it continues to be the source of our happiness for all eternity. Indeed, “ grace is the seed of glory.” We are members of Christ. This is our greatness and our glory, infinitely surpassing all earthly dignity and glory.

COLLOQUY

“O my beloved Spouse and loving Word, You engender the Body of the Holy Church in a way which You alone know and understand.... By means of Your Blood, You make a well-organized, well-formed Body of which You are the Head. The angels delight in its beauty, the archangels admire it, the seraphim are enraptured by it, all the angelic spirits marvel at it, and all the souls of the blessed in heaven rejoice in it. The Blessed Trinity takes delight in it in a manner beyond our comprehension ” (St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi).

Behold at Your feet, O Lord, a very poor creature: weak, feeble, inclined to evil, and capable of every sin, a worthless creature, like the grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow is not, a wretched creature, who has nothing good in itself and is unable to do anything that is good. Yet, O Jesus, true Son of God, image of the Father, the beginning and the end of all things, Ruler of the universe, Savior of the world, You bend down to me, miserable as I am. You take me, and unite me to Yourself, so closely that I become one of Your members. Then you give me Your life, You make me live Your very life. O Lord, O infinite beauty and holiness, how can You bear to have as one of Your members such a wretched, unworthy creature? You not only do this, but You want to do so, for You have said, “Abide in Me. ”

Can I refuse to accept Your invitation and Your command, O Lord, when I know that You Yourself wish to make me an integral part of Your Mystical Body? O Lord, if I could only realize the greatness, the value of this infinite gift which You offer me, and understand the meaning of this sublime reality—to live in You and by You, as the branch lives in the vine, as the member in the body! What do I lack, O Lord, for my sanctification, for my life of union with You? You have already given me much more than I ever could have desired. O Lord, make me sense the profound reality of this great mystery which brings me into such close union with You. Let it dominate, illumine, and direct my whole life; let everything else fade before it. Grant that I may never seek or desire anything except this reality, and let the deceptive vanities of the world have no attraction for me. Make me have a deep, lively sense of the duty and sweet necessity of being a member worthy of You, and grant that my actions and my life may be such as to do honor to You.