THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 40, 21 October 1925, Page 61

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

That there is an intimate union between Christ and all who believe in Him and follow Him is a fundamental point in the teaching of St. Paul. In every living body there is a variety of organs and of functions and yet all co-operate in one common direction. There must be a head and also a soul from which one stream of life flows through the whole body. The essential point to remember is that while the parts and their functions are many, the body is on© and its life is. one. St. Paul tells us that this variety of members and unity of life in the human body is an exact illustration of the relations between Christ and the Faithful Who united together form One Body, i.e., the Church. In the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes: “As the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we are all baptsed, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made' to drink. For the body also is not one member but many. But God hath set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased Him ; but there are many members indeed, yet one body,” St. Paul goes, on to point out that the various members have different functions, but that all are necessary for the completeness of the whole body; and then he shows how dependent the whole body is upon the well-being of each of the parts. “If one member suffer anything, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the Body of 'Christ and members one of another.” Christ the Head. In many places St. Paul speaks of Christ as being Head of all the Faithful. For example: “He is Head of the Body, i.e,, the Church.” God hath made Him (Christ) Head over all the Church, which is His Body”; and finally a text which sums up the whole duty of the Christian Life. “Doing file truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him Who is the Head, even Christ.” (Col. j., 18; Ephesians i., 22; iv,, 15.) The Faithful as members, united together with Christ as Head, form what is known; as the Mystical Body of Christ. The Soul of this Mystical Body is the Holy Ghost. Just as in the human body there is a variety of members, yet one head and one soul; so in the Church there are many members, but One Head, Christ, and One Life, i.e., the life of Grace which comes from the Holy Ghost.

St. Paul’s aim in bringing these truths before the Pagans was to convince them „ ;! that through union with Christ their whole being would be sanctified and’ their soul’s || salvation secured. -M United with Christ, they were alive; cut off from Christ, they were dead, spiritually, - *; of course. St, Paul felt that God had laid upon him the obligation of making these C truths known to the Pagans. Then those who had good will would be saved; and if Off others refused the grace, it was not his con- ; M corn. God had given the opportunity of || salvation and Paul had faithfully carried out £ His Will. ' The case of the Pagans to-day is exactly ’ .II the same. Unless they are united with Christ their lot is “hopeless.” This is St. Paul’s own words. (Ephesians ii., 12.) Christ wills that those whom He calls go out to make known to the Pagans that their salvation de- ? pends upon their being united with Him. \ This is why missionaries go to Pagan lands. :| You may not be able to go, but you are a member of Christ’s Mystical Body, and the -.'i Will of Christ must be your will, and you can pray for and help those who can go. , — The, Vitof (Boston). ■ / | VO>