About the text: Drawing especially from St. Augustine’s City of God and the Second Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the current state of the Church as one of pilgrimage to the heavenly Kingdom. Just as he provided manna for the Israelites to eat on their way to the Promised Land, so does God provide the Church with the Eucharist to sustain us on our way.
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The Church – perfected in glory
769. “The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven” (Lumen Gentium 48), at the time of Christ’s glorious return. Until that day, “the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this world’s persecutions and God’s consolations” (St. Augustine, City of God XVIII.51; cf. Lumen Gentium 8). Here below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full coming of the Kingdom, when she will “be united in glory with her king” (Lumen Gentium 5; cf. 6; 2 Cor 5:6). The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will “all the just from the time of Adam, ‘from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,’ . . . be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father’s presence” (Lumen Gentium 2).
The Eucharist – “pledge of the glory to come”
1419. Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
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Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church © Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Santa Apostolica and © Libreria Editrice Vaticana – 00120 Città del Vaticano. All rights reserved. International copyright handled by Libreria Editrice Vaticana; © Concacan Inc., 1994, 1997, 2016 for the English translation in Canada. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Visit cccbpublications.ca.
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