The Church, the people of God By Fernando Diaz

The Holy Catholic Church Catholic are called the people of God, the family of believers in Jesus Christ. Today, we use the word church to refer to three interrelated realities: {1} the Christians who assemble to worship, {2} the local parish community, and {3} the universal community of believers. The Church is a unique community that the Holy Spirit calls and forms to be other Christ's. The Lord loves us as individuals and as his people by the power of the Spirit.

The Church as a Mystery of God’s love The church is a mystery of God’s love. It is both the means and goal of God’s plan. Mystery is a religious term with rich overtones. The New Testament uses the term to describe “God’s loving plan of Goodness and forgiveness”.

The Church as Sacrament of salvation The Church is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity’s communion with humankind. It is the sign and instrument of communion between God and people. It is both the means and the goals of God’s. Most importantly, Jesus the Lord is himself the first sacrament of God’s love, he is the visible sign and image of God who takes us to the father. For example, Jesus uses his Church as a way to be present in our midst.

The Church in God’s plan We believe that each person of the Holy Trinity had a role in the planning of the Church and its coming into historical reality. The Church was written from the beginning of creation when the father made the world so all people would live in union with the loving Trinity. In addition, Jesus instituted the church out of his paschal mystery of self-sacrifice.

The people of God We believe that a person enters the people of God by faith and baptism. The image of the people of God clearly expresses our faith that we belong to God having been born anew by faith and baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Church is God’s people joined to Christ Jesus. They are four mission that God made for us to follow is message, Community, service and worship.

The Body of Christ Jesus himself gave us the image of the Body of Christ. He taught that what we do for the least of our brother and sister we do to him. We believe that Christ lives in us and we live in him. By the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus and his disciple. The body and Blood of Christ, we become the body of Christ. Through this sacrament of love and unity.

The Temple of the Holy Spirit Saint Augustine taught “What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church”. The Holy Spirit uses the Church to bring about God’s saving works. He uses the Scripture, the sacrament, graces, virtues, and special gifts given to individuals. These gift are under the direction of Church leaders and are to be used for the common good.