Today on Deep in Scripture radio, Marcus Grodi and Ken Howell discuss a fine email concerning the relationship between the Mystical Body of Christ and the Catholic Church, and what it means to live in the Sacramental life of the Church. What does it mean to be a Christian and abide in Christ?
They go on to examine Romans 8:1-11. In chapter 6, Paul emphasized that anyone in Christ through baptism has been freed from death and slavery to sin. Then in chapter 7, Paul gives a candid personal testimony of his own struggle against temptation and sin—even though he has been united with Christ through baptism. He ends chapter 7 with a testimony that the only answer to the continuing struggle is Jesus. Then in chapter 8, he picks up again what he had summarized in chapter 6: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (through baptism), and who remain in Christ by walking / living by the Spirit who dwells within them—by setting our minds on the Spirit.
Listener Email: If the Church is the mystical Body of Christ, made up of believers, and the Catholic Church is the Church built by Christ, then how are the two connected, and is there a difference between them. — Benjamin
Scripture verses: Romans 8:1-11
Resources mentioned:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (more specifically, paragraphs 790-791)
- De catholicae ecclesiae unitate (On the Unity of the Catholic Church), by St. Cyprian
- Lumen Gentium (On the Church), by Pope Paul VI (see especially: section 14)
