By Veronica A. Arntz
In his reflection on the Fourth
Sunday after Easter, Dom Prosper Guéranger
discusses man’s participation in the Church of Christ, which is made possible through
grace. He writes, “The Holy Ghost tells us, in the sacred Volume, that a threefold cord is not easily broken (Ecc
4:12).
Now we have such a one; and it
keeps us in the glorious unity of the Church: hierarchy, dogma, and sacraments,
all contribute to make us one Body” (The
Liturgical Year, Paschal Time-Book II, vol. VIII, 228). How is it that the
Church is united in these three ways? Indeed, Christ has established His Church
such that, if one of these is weakened or not present at all, then the whole
Church in her human members becomes weak (1 Cor 12:26, RSV-2CE). To understand
the unity that Christ desires for His Church, let us explore the threefold
unity of hierarchy, dogma, and sacraments.
The Church is established in a
special hierarchy, a topic that I explored here
when I looked at the first letter to Timothy. Christ has bestowed His
priesthood on all the members of the Church, yet the ordained are given a
special priesthood, which does not belong to the lay faithful. The priests are given
the grace to act in persona Christi
Capitis (in the Person of Christ the Head), meaning that they are given the
grace to confect the seven sacraments of the Church for the sake of the lay
faithful.
The bishops participate in the
fullness of the priesthood, and priests enjoy the priesthood through the
priesthood of the bishop. The lay faithful are likewise called to participate
in Christ’s priesthood, but through offering their daily activities as
sacrifices in union with Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Christ has
established this wonderful hierarchy for a reason, because it reflects His
whole created order; the entire universe is created in a hierarchy, even the
angels in Heaven (Wis 8:1; 11:20; Heb 2:5-18). If the lay faithful attempt to
be like the ordained priests, or the ordained priests try to be too much like
the lay faithful, then there is a disruption of order within the Church. As St.
Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians, each member has a
particular role to play in the Body of Christ, and all the members cannot do
the same things (1 Cor 12:12-31).
The second aspect of unity is
dogma. The Church is united through the one teaching of Christ, because He
gives Himself through His teaching, and as the Scriptures say, He is the same
“yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). There ought not to be any
division in the proclamation and preaching of the Church’s dogma—such division
is considered heresy or schism.
The whole Church, meaning the
whole hierarchy of the Church, is responsible for protecting and maintaining
the dogmas of the Church, but the bishops and priests have a special role to
play in defending the Church’s teachings. Because the bishops and priests publicly
represent Christ here on earth, they are especially responsible for upholding
His dogma. This is why it is a great scandal and shame when a bishop or priest
preaches a saying that is contrary to the tradition of the Catholic Church. We
must ask Our Lady to help us to remain faithful to Christ’s teachings,
especially if we are ever publicly proclaiming them.
As Guéranger explains, we are also united through the
sacraments, and this is the focus of his reflection. Christ has given us seven
sacraments, as he explains, because of the sacred character of the number:
seven marks the day of rest following the six days of creation; in Proverbs,
Wisdom is said that he will build a house with seven pillars; there are seven
branches on the candlestick of the tabernacle built by Moses; and in the
Apocalypse, Christ is a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, and there is a
Book next to him with seven seals (Ibid., 229).
The number seven has a particular
sacral character, and it is meant to point us heavenward. There are likewise
seven capital sins that can bring us away from God; for this reason, we stay
especially close to the seven sacraments of Christ. As Guéranger explains, “We,
therefore, who are resolved to make sure our election; who desire to possess
the grace of our Risen Jesus in this life, and to enjoy his vision in the next;
oh! let us reverence and love this merciful seven,
these admirable sacraments! Under this sacred number he has included all the
varied riches of his grace” (Ibid., 230).
The sacraments are the means given to us by Christ that we
might enter into eternal glory, and be like the “great cloud of witnesses”
before us, who remained faithful to Christ through the grace they received in
the sacraments (Heb 12:1).
The sacraments are “seven sources of regeneration and life”
(Ibid., 230). We live through the sacraments: we are brought from death to life
in Baptism and Penance; we are strengthened by Confirmation, the Eucharist, and
Extreme Unction; and the Church is secured ministry and increase through Holy
Orders and Matrimony (Ibid., 230). If one of these sacraments is taken away,
Guéranger explains, then the harmony within the Church is destroyed. Those
within the Church must receive the doctrine of the sacraments to be considered
members of that Church, and they must protect and defend these sacraments. The
sacraments are truly the seven pillars of the Church, because without them, the
members of the Church would be lost and would not be able to access God’s
grace.
As St. Paul describes in his epistles, the unity that the
members of the Church have with Christ has a sacramental character. The
faithful are united to the one Lord through one Baptism (Eph 4:4-5). Without
the grace of Baptism, which washes us clean from the stain of original sin, we
would not be able to enter into the Church or salvation, as Christ Himself
proclaims (Mark 16:16). Likewise, they are united in His Body through receiving
the Eucharist, which is why they must ensure that they are worthily prepared to
receive Him (1 Cor 11:23-34).
Those who are living in mortal sin cannot receive the
perfect Body and Blood of Christ, because they do offense to Him and to the
other members of the Body. Moreover, the Church is the Bride of Christ: she is
united to Him as a wife is united to her husband (Eph 5:21-33). These images
should remind us of the sacramental unity of the Church, which is brought to
perfection in the unity of the hierarchy, dogma, and sacraments.
In our current times, the unity of the Church is under
attack from all directions. Satan does not want the Church to be unified,
because he knows the power of her strength against his attacks and against the temptations
world. For this reason, he attacks the hierarchy: he assaults priests especially,
but also the lay faithful, by leading all into temptations and sins of pride,
lust, and greed.
He attacks the dogma of the Church by turning baptized
Catholics and members of the ordained hierarchy against the teachings of
Christ; we see this in a particular way in our own times with the issue of the
divorced and “remarried” receiving Communion. Finally, he attacks the sacred
nature of the sacraments.
He leads people who are unprepared to receive the Eucharist,
and he encourages those celebrating the Sacred Rites to use their own language
and not be truly reverent in the celebration. He attacks marriage and family
life, and he discourages people from receiving the sacrament of Penance.
What we all need to realize is that we can only withstand
the attacks of the devil through God’s grace, which is given in a particular
way through the sacraments, but also through the hierarchy and dogmas of the
Church. The unity of the Church is necessary to prevail against the devil, and
we have Christ on our side, because He has already said that the gates of Hell
shall never prevail against the Church (Matt 16:17-19).
Thus, let us enter more deeply into the unity of the Church
through her hierarchy, dogma, and sacraments. Let us strengthen ourselves
through frequent Confession and Communion, uniting ourselves to the hierarchy
of the Church and forming ourselves in Christ’s teachings. In this way, we will
remain united with Christ, and be strengthened against the snares of the devil,
so that we can enter Heaven through the narrow gate (Matt 7:13).
