June 8, 2025 - Pastor Message
June 7, 2025JUBILEE 2025 LUMEN GENTIUM (conclusion)
JUBILEE 2025
LUMEN GENTIUM (conclusion)
“When the Lord will come in glory, and all his angels with him (Mt. 25:31), death will be no more and all things will be subject to him (1 Cor. 15:26-27). But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth, others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating ‘in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is.’ All of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the same love of God and our neighbor, and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All, indeed, who are of Christ and who have his Spirit form one Church and in Christ are joined together (Eph. 4:16). So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brothers and sisters who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted; but, on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods” (Lumen Gentium 49).
We conclude our jubilee year reflection on Vatican Council II’s Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, by reflecting on the mystical union of the Church among all the faithful, past, present, and future, in what we call the communion of the saints. As I discussed in my first column on Lumen Gentium, the mission of the Church is the communion of all people with God and one another in Christ. That communion does not end in death but reaches its peak as we enter into the eternal, risen life of Christ and eagerly await the consummation of all things in the “new heaven and new earth” (Rev. 21:1-4) Christ came to establish.
The universal mission of the Church is carried out by Christ’s disciples in different ways, according to their state in life and their particular vocations. For those of us who remain in this life, it is an active, daily witness of faith, hope, and, above all, Christlike charity, by word and example, in the face of the constant temptations and wiles of the Enemy, who seeks to lead all of God’s flock astray. It means exercising our baptismal anointing as priests, prophets, and kings in communion with the Church: exercising our universal priesthood by fully and actively participating, individually and in our faith communities, in the prayer and worship of the Church; exercising our prophetic office by witnessing to the truth of the Gospel, taught and faithfully proclaimed by the Church, whether in season or out of season; and exercising our kingly office of servant leadership by daily engaging in self-giving acts of charity and by participating in and supporting the Church’s broader charitable works.
For Christ’s disciples who have passed from this life to the life that is to come, their mission is only changed, not ended. Those who die in a perfect state of grace are spiritually joined to Christ immediately in heaven, where they intercede for the members of Christ’s Body who have not yet attained that goal (Rev. 6:9-11), sharing the overflowing riches of the grace they themselves received. For those who die in a state of grace but still labor under the weight of unhealthy worldly attachments and in need of penance, their task is the work of purification in purgatory, through which they are supported by the spiritual sacrifices of their faithful brothers and sisters in this life and the prayers of those already in heaven. By this they strive in certain hope to reach the glory of the saints, whose communion they share even in purgatory, just as they did in earthly life.
Among all the saints, Lumen Gentium urges us to rely most ardently on the witness and intercession of our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary. She serves as our perfect model of discipleship, as a living model for the Church, and as a most powerful intermediary between us and Christ, her Son. Christ can never deny his mother whatever she asks (John 2:5), and, since he entrusted her to the Church as our mother (John 19:25-27), we confidently place before her our needs as we walk on our pilgrimage through this life to the life that is to come, serving the mission of the Church that all may one day be one (John 17:21), hoping in the grace of God so generously poured out in the communion of saints.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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