III.  THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

"What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." - St. Augustine, Sermo 267, 4:PL.38, 1231D - "To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members." - Pius XII, Enc. Mystic Corporis: DS 3808 - The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God". - 2 Corinthians 6:16; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:21 - 

Indeed, it is to the Church herself that the "Gift of God" has been entrusted... In it is in her that communion with Christ has been deposited, that is to say: the Holy Spirit, the pledge of incorruptibility, the strengthening of our faith and the ladder of our ascent to God... For where the Church is, there also is God's Spirit; where God's Spirit is, there is the Church and every grace. - St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 24, 1:PG 7/1, 966 - CCC 797 -

The Holy Spirit is "the principal of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." - Pius XII, Enc. Mystici Corporis: DS 3808 - He works in many ways to build you up the whole Body in charity: - Cf. Ephesians 4:16 - by God's Word "which is able to build up"; - Acts 20:32 - by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; - Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13 - by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts"; - LG 7;2 - by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church." - LG 12;2; cf. AA 3 - CCC 798 -

Charisms - Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men/women and to the needs of the world. - CCC 799 -

Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them, and by all members of the Church as well. They are wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms. - Cf. 1 Corinthians 13 - CCC 800 -

It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office [is] not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good," - LG 12; cf. 30; 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 19:21; John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 24 - so that all the diverse and complimentary charisms work together "for the common good." - 1 Corinthians 12:7 - CCC 801 -

IN BRIEF - Christ Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own" (Titus 2:14). - CCC 802 - "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people." (1 Peter 2:9) - CCC 803 - One enters into the People of God by faith and Baptism. "All men are called to belong to the new People of God" (LG 13), so that, in Christ, "men may form one family and one People of God" (AG 1). - CCC 804 - The Church is the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now risen, establishes the community of believers as his own Body. - CCC 805 - In the unity of this Body, there is a diversity of members and functions. All members are linked to one another, especially to those who are suffering, to the poor and persecuted. - CCC 806 - The Church is this Body of which Christ is the head: she lives from him, in him and for him; he lives with her and in her. - CCC 807 - The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of all God's children. - CCC 808 - The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the soul, as it were, of the Mystical Body, the source of its life, of its unity in diversity, and of the riches of its gifts and charisms. - CCC 809 - "Hence the universal Church is seen to be 'a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (LG 4 citing Saint Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 23:PL 4, 553). -CCC 810 -

PARAGRAPH  3.  THE CHURCH IS ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC 

"This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic. - LG 8 - These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, - Cf. DS 2888 - indicate essential features of the Church and her mission. The Church does not posses them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities. - CCC 811 -

Only faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human reason. As the First Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvellous propagation, eminent holiness and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an irrefutable witness of her divine mission." - Vatican Council 1, Dei Fillius 3: DS 3013 - CCC 812 -

I.                 THE  CHURCH  IS  ONE

"The sacred mystery of the Church's unity" (UR 2)

The Church is one because of her source: the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is..............

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -