BODY OF CHRIST
- Mar 23
- 1 min read
Pope Leo XIV is an Augustinian. Is it any surprise he likes to quote St. Augustine?
The pope recently visited the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Ponte Mammolo (Rome), and naturally enough he cited the saint:
Saint Augustine, speaking about the face of God, of which we are called to be a mirror in the world, said to the Christians of his time:
‘What sort of face has love? What form has it? What stature? What feet? What hands has it?’
‘It has feet, for these carry men to church. It has hands, for these reach forth to the poor. It has eyes, so that we consider the needy’ (In Epistolam Joannis, ad Parthos, 7, 10).
The Catholic Church is the ‘universal’ Church, because we embrace all peoples and cultures.
The Church is often referred to as the People of God, less often as the Bride of Christ.
The Body of Christ is the most popular term, found in the preaching of St. Paul (Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians).
Why?
Christ is the head. We, his body, are called to love as Christ loves.
Augustine continued:
‘Take it, clasp it. There is nothing sweeter.’
AMEN.
