Lumen Gentium attempts to personify the Church and its relationship with Christ. It first retells the story of Christ’s salvation of man through his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit is given the role as a mediator, a connection, between the risen Christ and mankind. Several comparisons are made to describe the Church’s foundation on and unity with Christ. Each of these reveals our dependency upon a faith in Christ and unification with him. With Christ as a perfect example, mankind is to model his actions after Him in order to fulfill the Kingdom of God. At the same time, with Christ as its head, the Church is to unify itself as the body of Christ as a community. Each of us individually, and as a community, is to act as Christ to the world.
This unique body has an intrinsic universal call to holiness. This holiness is not dependent on any other worldly status. Each of us is equally called and capable of sharing in Christ’s love. Lumen Gentium explores various sanctions in life and dictates in what ways individuals of each status can answer the call to a holy life. We are all called to show God’s love to the world through our daily actions without allowing the things of this world to side track us from a deeper connection with God. I think that this is the most important part of the selections that we read. No matter who we are or where we have come from, each and every one of us is called to holiness in our own way. By responding to this call, we respond to Christ’s love and manifest it to those around us.
Kristen Gotlund
In the reading Lumen Gentium, the Church is discussed once again. This discussion of the Church mainly revolves around the role of Jesus Christ and the Church. The Church serves as a tool and an institute for gathering all followers and believers of the Christian faith together to practice that belief. Lumen Gentium also discusses how we are to act as Christians in every aspect of our lives. We are not to separate our “holy life” from our “working life” or our “social life”. We are to treat our life as one entity where Christ rules over every part. We are to be a “whole” being where we are constantly trying to live as Christ did. We are to act in the love of Christ and try to live a holy life.
ReplyDelete- Nicole Dillon
I found Lumen Gentium to be a very beautiful explanation of the Church. Lumen Gentium translates "Light of the Nations," which I think is a good way to describe not only Christ but how the Church should be in the world, as it acts in representation of Christ. Lumen Gentium also speaks of the Church as a body with Christ as the head. Although people have different roles in the Church, all share a common call to holiness. Another idea that Lumen Gentium speaks about is the combination of the human and divine realities of the Church to make a whole: the Communion of Saints. Just as Christ is both human and divine, so is the Church.
ReplyDeleteWhile I read this encyclical, I was really struck by the Church's call to universal holiness and perfect love. They really explained these two topics well by relating them back to the example of Christ or the early Church martyrs. I also found it interesting that they included specific vocational calls to holiness as well as the use of one's gifts and talents to further holiness. Sometimes, I think that we don't really consider that God has given us unique abilities to help us along our spiritual journeys, but the Church sheds some light on it here. Making use of one's God-given strengths to accomplish universal holiness is definitely something worth spending some time with in prayer...
ReplyDeleteSophia Pileggi
This text really captured the importance of our faith. It explained how the Church is just a thing and the people that are in the Church and make up the Church are the most important. We are all holy and we have all chosen to be holy by joining the Church. But in reality God somehow shares holiness with everyone. We are all a part of the church and the Church has become a part of our life. Because of this commitment to the Church, we will always be holy.
ReplyDelete-Lindsey Ritter
The majority of this text, like Gaudium et Spes, is that the Catholic church needs to keep its traditions all the while advancing in today's society. What I found important was in part 3 it talks about the Word dropping down to earth in order for our salvation... "The Son, therefore, came, sent by the Father." Also, it talked about how the church AND the followers are a temple, meaning the Spirit dwells in both. It states that many things in the Old Testament were explained using metaphors, which is important for this time when people are trying to break tradition from the Old Testament literally, but we still need to keep it a part of our tradition and religion.
ReplyDelete-Katie Lamb
Lumen Gentium fully explains and justifies the idea of every man being called to holiness no matter what their career or relationship with Christ. My favorite line reads, "The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one-that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God, and who obey the voice of the Father and worship God the Father in spirit and in truth." This quote so fully recognizes that holiness is a Universal call and that we all take different paths to reach it. Lumen Gentium wonderfully explains holiness for not only priests and religious but also for married couples whose "proper path to holiness [is] faithful love." One of the other very important aspects of Lumen Gentium is that God has given us a gift of not only grace but also his love, and we only have to accept this gift and make it a part of our everyday lives. If we do this we can much more easily find the path to holiness.
ReplyDelete~Nicholas Shields
While The Second Vatican Council's Gaudium et Spes dealt with multiple different issues, Lumen Gentium is focused on the role of Christ in the Church. Man is told that he is supposed to model his actions after Christ. Also, Lumen Gentium talks about man's universal call to holiness. This once again, tells us that we should model our lives after Christ and live with the universal call to holiness.
ReplyDeleteLumen Gentium is one of the principle documents of the Second Vatican Council. In the reading of Lumen Gentium the Church is talked about again and the relationship it has with Christ. This reading discusses Christ’s Salvation, and the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit holds the role of being a third party. In the fifth chapter of Lumen Gentium it discusses the theme of “The Universal Call to Holiness”, it says that all of us are called and able to share in Christ’s love. We must live our lives and within our daily actions show God’s love.
ReplyDelete-Carolyn Spero
Lumen Gentium shares with us the church and christ, and how those two relate to each other. Its tells us Christ’s salvation of man through his death and resurrection. Also the Holy Spirit is mentioned as it is connected between the risen Christ and mankind. In the end it is known that God gives us many things in life. Being given these gifts we have to incorporate them in out daily lives.
ReplyDelete-mary vogt
Lumen Gentium establishes that each human life has worth to God. Additionally, God promises salvation to all that are faithful. Similar to Gaudium et Spes, Christ serves as the unifying force for all these teachings. He is our model for redemption in this era. We derive our strength to lead holy lives from Christ. As followers of Christ, we desire to promotes the redemption of all. To this end, the Catholic Church's oneness is essential.
ReplyDelete-Caleb Capozella
To me, this text was important because it was working so hard to relate to readers. The universal call to holiness is clearly discussed in this piece as it lays out our duties as Christ’s followers and our role within the Church and to the world. What I found interesting were the references to marriage in the text: “He renews it and leads it to perfect union with its Spouse,” “this holy city coming down from heaven at the renewal of the world as a bride,” and “Christ…loved the Church as His bride” (197, 199, 205). These references stood out to me as a unique way to describe the relationships being talked about. A good marriage comes with qualities such as loyalty, respect, and happiness. These ideas are all involved in the universal call to holiness as it is presented as a responsibility for all of Christ’s followers. The references that are about Christ show that he has those attributes, so to follow in his footsteps means to also pick up those attributes in our relationship with the Church and God. In this way the references expanded upon what it means to listen to this call being made.
ReplyDelete-Tori McAllister
I found Lumen Gentium to be an explanation of the inner workings of the Church and its role in the world. The encyclical then relates these explanations back to us, showing us how we factor into the broader picture of life in the Church and our greater calling. In the interest of doing this, the document explains vocations, the Sacraments, and the Church's mission, ultimately relating the individual concepts back to the bigger picture in the course of the writing. Overall, the writing points back to the goal of everything being the coming of God's kingdom, "While helping the world and receiving many benefits from it, the Church has a single intention: that God's kingdom may come, and that the salvation of the human race may come to pass."
ReplyDeleteChelsey Sterling
Lumen Gentium is a document that was meant to define the role of the Church and its members druing modern times. It oulines the Church's mysteries and core beliefs, and defines the outline of what Catholics beleive in. The Council used a large amount of Bible verses to relate to the Church's history, but it also used modern explainations to appeal to the modern christian. The second half of the passage outlined the role of Catholics as they follow the Church. Each member of the Church has an important role and calling, and this chapter outlines what that role is. Overall, I saw this document as a way for the Church to define itself and its people in modern times.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Lumen Gentium, I found a new understanding of how Christ makes the physical and literal church into a lifelike and human church. I've always been told that the church acts like the literal body of Christ. we go into the the world and spread the word of God while Jesus acts as the literal ruler of the church; however, Christ acting as a metaphorical head shows how he rules man from heaven and how he controls the body of the church by filling "the whole body with the riches of His glory" (201). As well as being a head of the church, he acts as the foundation as well. "Often the church has also ben called the building of God," where individuals go to worship him (199). Yet, Jesus creates the church, and is therefore, the metaphorical foundation, or "the cornerstone" of the physical church (199). Without his metaphorical foundation, there would be no literal church to worship in.
ReplyDelete-Jay garrick
Lumen Gentium focuses on Christ's role in the church and in our life. We should live our whole life dedicated to Christ. Christ created the church of which we are a part of.
ReplyDeleteLumen Gentium also tells us how we should act and believe as Catholics. It states that everyone has a call to holliness in the church.
Tom May
A hierarchal nature within the Church is abolished when talking about universal holiness. In Lumen Gentium, "the classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one" (206). This call to holiness seems to be rooted within the Church in both a physical and metaphorical sense. This seems validated when the piece says that "This practice [holiness]...undertaken...either privately or in a Church-approved condition...gives and must give in the world an outstanding witness and example of this same holiness" (205). It is easy to discern that the Church, as a unit, calls Christians to cultivate their own church. This is all made possible by Christ, who "established and continually sustains here on earth His hold Church, the community of faith" (202).
ReplyDeleteOne of the thing adressed by the Second Vatican Council in Lumen Gentium is the understanding of the structure of the Church. The Gospel explains how the whole Church is like a body, all formed in unity with God; there are many different parts to this body, all working for different purposes. Lumen Gentium elaborates more to justify the hierarchy that exists in the Church: "They form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element." (202) In this aspect, it also explains how this is similar to the Incarnate Word, God made flesh, both fully human and fully divine.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Lumen Gentium speaks of how all the members of the church have the same goal: to serve God by loving Him and their neighbors. "All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity." (206). The text elaborates on how Christ gave us the gift of stregnth so we may serve others. Every part of the Church is equally important, and all have purposes to serve God, while all united in Love.
-Elisabeth O'Toole
Lumen Gentium focuses on Jesus Christ and how the Church is centralized on his teachings and his lifestyle. It explains aspects of who He is as God and as man. Christ is the head of the Church and the Church brings you closer to Christ. It's a heaven on earth. Lumen Gentium also states that everything in the Old Testament was done in preparation for the fulfillment of the new covenant which is the Messiah or Jesus Christ. In order to become closer to this messiah, one must participate in the sacraments since they are considered stepping stones in the Catholic faith. A major aspect of Lumen Gentium is the calling of all people to be holy. Here it is stated more or less that everyone is important in spreading the faith; everyone just has different roles in their call to holiness. Some may be called to a vocational life and other are called to a lay person's role.
ReplyDeleteEmma Leary
Lumen Gentium depicts the Church's platform for which Catholics must follow and believe. It is an illsutartion of the importance of the individual within the church and their value to a life under and for God's will. It was an explanation for which the church could find meaning in its purpose and people. It defines itself by its followers becoming one and under a commmunity obeying the faith in which the church so clearly states and respects.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Smedley
Lumen Gentium outlines beautifully the structure of the Church and the boundaries to which it extends. The truth of the matter is, there are none. All men and women throughout the world are called to holiness, no matter their ethnicity, gender, or vocation. "The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one" (p. 206). This part especially stood out to me because it observes correctly the great variety to be seen among the inhabitants of the world, but still asserts strongly the common goal of all, which is holiness, or union with God. Furthermore, this document observes with a certain awe the beauty and love of the God's plan, which has sought to bring this goal to fruition since the beginning of time. Through Christ and His sacrifice, the possiblility of this dream is realized, and the gates of heaven are opened to all, made known by the Church, which is the lumen gentium, the light of the nations.
ReplyDeleteLumen Gentium seems to capture the entire essence of what the Church is. There are certain parts that are beautiful, some seem unbelievable, some goals appear unattainable, but in the end its main part is instruction. Lumen Gentium tells us exactly who we ought to be; although, leaving us to our own individuality with free will, of course. I have always found Lumen Gentium to be one of the best documents of Vatican II.
ReplyDelete~Caitlin Gorecki
When reading Lumen Gentium I came to a realization of how much he explained what the Church is. He went in to detail on specific parts of the Church, and also specified the Christian faith.
ReplyDeleteElise Ariens
I really liked today's reading because it expressed quite nicely the purpose of our faith and what we, as Christians, should strive for. While we'll probably never quite live up to the level of perfection and holiness exemplified by Jesus Christ, it is still crucial that we have this concept of our duties and responsibilities so we can do our best to live up to them.
ReplyDelete--Kat Hermanson
After reading Lumen Gentium, I recieved a better connection between the mystery's of the Church and relation to Christ. This text is mainly about Jesus Christ and his role in the Church. He left a lasting mold on people which has been passed down for generations. We have a role as Catholics to take what Jesus taught and live by his example, we are called to be holy. We all have important roles in the Church and this text exemplifies the importance of our faith.
ReplyDelete-Katelyn Bockin