A CONCISE SUMMARY OF LUMEN GENTIUM BY FR REMI
Thesis Statement: For Vatican II Council, although the church is hierarchical, it is the family of God's people called in their respective states of life to strive toward holiness
Chapter I – The Mystery of the Church: 1. Christ is the light of nations. The Sacred Council gathers together in the Holy Spirit to bring the light of Christ to the nation. The Church, in Christ, like a sacrament, is a sign and instrument, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and the whole world its inner nature and universal mission. 2. God the Father offers to help us aim unto salvation as evident throughout the economy of human salvation. 3. By His obedience, Jesus brought about redemption. All men are called to this union in Christ. 4. Through the Spirit which dwells in the Church, God equips and directs and leads all faithful to perfect union with its Spouse. 5. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit by the risen Christ, the Church receives the mission to proclaim and to spread among all peoples, the kingdom of God, and to be the foreshadowing of that kingdom toward its perfection and completion. 6. The Church is a sheepfold, and is also called “our mother”. 7. Jesus Christ, by His resurrection called together all nations into His own mystical Body. In that body, the life of Christ is poured into the believers through the sacrament. The Head of this Body is Christ, the image of the invisible God. In this body, His power is working throughout the world through the Spirit within the believers. 8. Christ, the one Mediator, established a visible Church on earth. This visible Church does not have two realities but is one. This is the one Church of Christ in the creed which we profess as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, on which the pillar of truth is erected.
Chapter II – On the People of God: 9. God chose to raise His people as one body to prepare a way for the messiah which is Christ. In Christ, all the people of the world are called to live in this family by baptism. This family is brought together to live a communal life of charity and truth. 10. So all join Christ in a royal priesthood either as a ministerial/hierarchical priesthood or the common priesthood of all believers. 11. By the sacraments, the faithful are bonded to Christ, the church, and her service. 12. The body of Christ as a whole cannot err in matters of Faith. This is guaranteed by the Spirit of truth which is exercised in the Church by the Magisterium
Chapter III – On the Hierarchical Structure of the Church and in Particular on the Episcopate: 18. To grow the Church more perfectly, Jesus instituted many ministries and hierarchical positions consisting of priests, deacons, and bishops. 20. The apostles initiated successors to the episcopate to carry with them the gospel as an unbroken chain of truth from the lips of Jesus. 21. It is with the Bishops primarily that Jesus placed His trust for the care of his flock. 22. The apostolic college is made up of the successor of Peter in communion with the successors of the apostles. The apostolic college is responsible for maintaining charity, unity, and peace with the assembled Church. The Roman Pontiff, Vicar of Christ, and successor of Peter is the head of the Church, and Jesus Christ is the supreme cornerstone.23. The makeup of this body is that the Pope is at the head and the Bishops are to remain in unity with each other for their particular Churches. The unity is only possible through the successor of Peter. 25. Bishops must remain loyal and true to the Magisterium of the Church.
Chapter IV – The Laity: 30. The laity forms a special part of the church. 31. The term “laity” refers to those who are not included in holy orders or a special religious life approved by the Church. 33. The laity is called in a special way to bring the Church into the circumstances, and lives of the whole world, becoming a salt of the earth, a timeless instrument. 34. The Lord Jesus Christ also bestows upon laity a share in the priestly nature of the body of Christ, of the royal priesthood. 35. The laity must perform a work of great value in the evangelization of the world 38. They are to nourish the world with truth and proclamation of the Gospel.
Chapter V – The Universal Call to Holiness in the Church: 39. The Church is believed to be indefectibly holy. Through Christ, the Church is sanctified, and so everyone who belongs to the Church and who is cared for by the Church is called to a universal holiness.41. Holiness is one; it has no subjective qualification and is the same for every man.
Chapter VI – Religious: 43. The religious promote poverty, chastity, and obedience following the example of the Lord, also commanded by the Apostles and Fathers of the Church. The Church considers these religious states between the clerical and lay. 44. These religious orders are joined by vows or sacred bonds. 45. Therefore the Church hierarchy must regulate the practice of these religious orders. These religious orders are raised to a canonical status that they are consecrated to God. 46. Members of these religious orders should remember that they are present to the world of believers and non-believers in a striking manner as Christ.
Chapter VII – The Eschatological Nature of the Pilgrim Church and Its Union with the Church in Heaven: 48. The Church will attain its full perfection in the Glory of heaven when all things will be restored in Christ. 50. The Church has always believed that those who have died as martyrs are more closely united to Christ, and in that respect should be sought for spiritual aid by intercession. 51. The Sacred Council accepts the faith of its ancestors and proposes once again the Decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, the council of Florence, and the Council of Trent.
Chapter VIII – The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, In the Mystery of Christ and the Church: 55. The Scriptures and Tradition of the Church show Mary’s role in the economy of salvation in an ever clearer light. 56. The Father willed that the incarnation would follow her acceptance of this duty, and just as sin entered the world with a woman, life would enter the world through a woman as well. The Church Fathers were right to call Mary the Mother of God, holy and free from all stains of sin. 60 The maternal duty of Mary, in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power. 62. The maternity of Mary started with the Annunciation and will last until the eternal fulfillment of the elect. 63. By her gift of divine maternity, Mary is also intimately united with the Church, for the Church is rightly called “mother” and “virgin”, and so Mary stands out as an eminent example of virgin and mother. 64. So the Church, by receiving the word of God in faith becomes a mother to those who are born into her by baptism 65. But while Mary has already reached perfection without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin.
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