The Third Mark: Catholic

The Church is catholic. Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Smyrnaens, which my classmates and I had to read earlier this year, used the word catholic, meaning universal, to describe the Church. The Church is catholic because Christ is universally present in the Church. Christ told His Apostles to spread his message to "Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Christ told his Apostles to evangelize the world by saying "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). These quotes show the universality of the Church because Christ is telling his Apostles to spread the word of God to everybody all the way to the ends of the earth, so that everybody could hear the Good News of the word of Christ.
The picture shown in this post is the symbol of the Pope. I chose this picture to symbolize the third mark of the Church, Catholic, because the Pope, the successor of Peter, is the head of the Catholic Church. He continues the mission of the the Apostles, along with the Bishops, to evangelize and to spread the word of Christ to the ends of the earth. With Papal infallibility, the belief that God protects the Pope from error when teaching on matters of faith and morals, the Pope is able to spread the message of Christ message throughout the world as Christs intended it.

The Second Mark: Holy

The Church is holy. Our Lord Himself is the source of all holiness: "The one Christ is mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in His body which is the Church" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #14). Christ sanctifies the Church, and, through Him, the Church is His tool that he uses for sanctification. Through the Church and the power of the Holy Spirit, our Lord gives us abundant graces, especially through the sacraments. Therefore, through its teaching, prayer and worship, and good works, the Church is a visible sign of holiness. Each member of the Church has been called to holiness. Through baptism, we have been freed from original sin, filled with sanctifying grace, immersed into the mystery of our Lord's passion, death, and resurrection, and incorporated into the Church. A visible sign of the Church's holiness is all of the Saints that the Church has produced for centuries. These Saints have done many holy things to help the Church spread the word of God. 

The First Mark: One

The Church is one. The Catechism notes that the Church is one for three reasons: first, because of its source, which is the Holy Trinity, a perfect unity of three divine persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; second, because of its founder, Jesus Christ, who came to reconcile all mankind through the blood of the cross; and third, because of its "soul," the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the souls of the faithful, who unites all of the faithful into one communion of believers, and who guides the Church (#813). The "oneness" of the Church is also visible. Catholics are united in the Creed and the other teachings, the celebration of the sacraments, and the hierarchical structure based on the apostolic succession preserved and handed on through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. For example, no matter where a Catholic celebrates Mass, the Mass is the same — the same readings, structure, and prayers. Another place the oneness of the Church is present is the diversity of the Church. Lots of different people in lots of different cultures and traditions celebrate Catholicism. Although there is lots of diversity in the Catholic Church, all the members in the Church are united. The oneness of the Church has allowed the members of the Catholic Church to stay united for centuries. 

The Four Marks of the Catholic Church - The Basics

The Four marks of the Catholic Church set the Catholic Church apart from other religions such as Judaism, other types of Christianity such as Protestantism, and heresies such as Arianism. The Four marks of the Catholic Church are marks that the Catholic Church has inherently. The marks were not made up by the Church or the Pope. These marks were given to the Church by Christ, who founded the Church, to set it apart from others. The Church is able to maintain these four marks because it is guided by the Holy Spirit who descended upon the earth after the ascension of Christ into Heaven. One of the times that we see the four marks visible during mass is during the profession of the Nicene Creed. During mass we say "We believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." Although some other Christian churches may have one, two, or three of the four marks, only the Catholic Church contains all four marks which sets it apart as the true Church of Christ.

Holiness and the Church

For about two weeks now Porter and I have been posting about holiness and where it can be found, or where it is lacking in real life. We have been finding real world examples of holiness and explaining how it can connect to Christ and the Church. Now we are going to start talking about holiness inside the Church. We are starting to talk about this because we are trying to help the people that aren't active in their religion learn  about the Catholic Church and understand it better. We think that the more the viewers of this blog know and understand about the Catholic Church the more likely they will want to participate in the Church.

We just started to talk about the four marks of the Church today in theology class. For the next couple of weeks we will be talking about the four marks of the Church. For those of you who didn't know, the four marks of the Church are One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.  I will be doing several posts about the four marks, but specifically one mark - Holy.