8/1/2019 10:40:18 AM
Thought Of the Day
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Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father
Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church" (Hermas). God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" (ecclesia) is the Church. the Church is the goal of all things, and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels' fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world: “Just as God's will is creation and is called "the world," so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church" (Clement of Alexandria). The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves. the gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction to the chaos provoked by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the heart of all peoples: "In every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable" to God (Acts 10,35). The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people (Gn 12,2). Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God (Ex 19,5). By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of all nations (Is 2,2).... It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent... To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. the Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery" (Vatican II, LG 3)... "The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven,” (LG 48) at the time of Christ's glorious return... Until that day, "the Church... longs for the full coming of the Kingdom... The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will "all the just from the time of Adam, 'from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,' be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father's presence" (LG 2).