Our call to holiness, I truly believe, also includes a call to be church. So what does it mean to be church.
The Church has been defined as a holy mystery because of her origin in the Holy Trinity and her mission to be the Sacrament of Salvation, that is the sign and instrument of God’s plan to unite all under Christ. We believe that the Holy Trinity brought the church into being. The Father called the Church into existence. The Son established the Church. The Holy Spirit filled the Church with power and wisdom. The Holy Trinity abides with the Church always, creatively and providentially. The Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, brings Christ’s
Salvation to the world. She is the instrument of God’s universal call to holiness. At the same time, the Church is made up of a sinful people. Yet despite the personal sinfulness of her members, the Church remains holy by the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit who permeates her.
As I have shared with my readers, we are sinful because we do not clearly see the meaning and purpose of this present life and are only growing in our awareness of who God is and who we are. This presently earthly existence is meant to help us grow in our awareness and understanding of life.
The word Church is a translation of biblical words: the Hebrew word qahal, and the Greek word ekklesia, both of which mean gathering of people or community for worship.
The word church means the people gathered by God into one faith community. There are two essential words in this definition: community and faith. This immediately raises the question: What constitutes a community?
The word community means: a group of people sharing common interests and working together to achieve common goals and/or objectives. People join in community, typically, in order to receive help and support as they face the challenges of life. To be a true member of any community, a person must be willing to reciprocate – must likewise be willing to help and support others in accord with their abilities.
In thinking about the message of Jesus, we realize that God revealed through Jesus, that living in community is absolutely essential for learning the Jesus Way of Living. The Church, the gathering of believers, becomes one of two essential schools of learning how to live as a human, as a child of God.