The Communio of the Church

As we embark on the Easter Season and anticipate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world after the Ascension and the sending forth of the Church, it seems appropriate to contemplate what we mean when we speak of "the Church".  There seem to be three distinct ways in which we can interpret the word “Church”.  Obviously there is the individual building of worship, independent of denomination and simply set aside as a gathering place so that we might give praise and thanksgiving to God; the focus here is on the individual choice of where to worship, and we typically see this use of the word in phrases like “What church do you go to?”.  

The second use of the word “Church” specifically is pointed to the particular modes of worship, organizational structure, and theological doctrine proposed and believed by members of a specific denomination.  In this sense of the word, Catholic, Presbyterian, even perhaps in a sense Islam can be thought of as individual Churches.  The focus here is on identifying something about the individual as part of a group; we see this use of the word in phrases like “What Church do you belong to?”

The third use of the word “Church” is much larger and to my belief not commonly held, at least in common nomenclature during casual conversation.  The understanding of the word “church” usually ends with the first two distinctions, but both the document Lumen Gentium and later Wojtyla in Sources of Renewal seem to use the term “church” to mean largely “the people of God,” and in addition those “related to the people of God,” who include “all who seek God although ignorant of the gospel and the Church… who… endeavor to do His will according to the dictates of their conscience.  Their attitude towards moral values expresses their aspiration towards God, in whose existence they believe although they do not know it from Revelation (pp. 130, SoR)”.  The premise here is that we have become adopted children of God, and that He draws all of us to Himself but that we nor they “cannot [arrive at Him] without the aid of divine grace”.  

In the final analysis, the Church can be understood as the People of God, though participation in the fullness of the fold can vary according to where and how closely God has drawn an individual in.  As Lumen Gentium states: “Whatever good or truth is found amongst [those people who have not heard and still seek God] is considered by the Church to be a preparation for the Gospel and given by Him who enlightens all men (PP. 131).”  God is the final and most perfect Judge in all matters, especially in the matter of where a soul is on their journey towards answering the call and responding to the loving draw of God to Himself.  The criteria for being included among the Church as the People of God is “ based on the action of God Himself in the soul: the action of God and its efficacy are, essentially and finally, the determining factor in membership of the People of God (PP. 131).”