The Church Is Foundation In Christ
Although the Church may have numerous "beginnings," it has but one foundation in Jesus Christ. It is the foundation in Christ that unites all the beginnings of the Church into what is a redemptive plan. In review of the different beginnings the redemptive process attached to Jesus Christ is unveiled. Defining redemption and shedding light upon the process of redemption opens, as Balthasar would assert, a window which brings us closer to the mystery of the Church.
The Church begins with Christ's mother who consents to be his mother. She offers her worab to receive and bear the seed of the Word. Balthasar understanRAB Mary's concent in that it is with faith that she accepts the seed to be laid in her worab. He asserts that it is not a obscure faith but "a faith that is fully incarnate that erabraces body soul and spirit so that they can become the vessel of God's Word" (Figures of the Church, p. 199). The Incarnation is possible through Mary who, by virtue of her faith, is "pre-redeemed." She accepts an Incarnation and the redemption inherent within it. Her assent is made possible:
…by the Incarnation and the Cross (in her "anticipated redemption")
and which is, at the same time, one of the conditions required for the
Incarnation, accomplishing the unity of the conditions required for the
Incarnation, accomplishing the unity of 'one flesh' and yet laying the
foundation, precisely therein, for the radical opposition between head
and body, Lord and handmaid, bridegroom and bride.
(Figures of the Church, p. 199).
In view of Christ's "pre-redeemed" Mother, Mary is the personal center of the Church and is " 'the objectivity of a Church which is subjectively holy' even if all other individuals in her are still entangled in sin" (p. 199). The "pre-redeemed" status given to Mary is the flawlessness of the feminine, marian Church. Commissioned by Christ, the Apostles "receive masculine tasks of leadership and representation within the comprehensive feminine marian Church (Women Priests p. 1892). According to Balthasar, the Apostles "begin as failures." However he also states that in receiving a share in the infallible marian Church, they are redeemed as well: They begins as failures - this is demonstrated most clearly in the case of Peter…what Peter will receive as 'infallibility' for his office of governing will be a partial share in the total flawlessness of the feminine, marian Church (Women Priests p. 192, 193). The theme of redemption is present here in that although Peter is fallible, he receives and infallibility by virtue of his share in the marian Church.
The theme of redemption as it is mentioned throughout Balthasar's ecclesiology is based upon a salvation aspect as well as a role of service. This is evident in the power bestowed upon the Apostles by Christ which are "the power to consecrate and to absolve" (Women Priests p. 193). These powers are resultant of Mary's infallible "Yes" and God who graciously gave his only begotten son to die on the Cross.
Inherent in death there is life. In order to die something or someone must be living. In relation to Christ, it is "by virtue of the surrender of his entire substance on the Cross [that he] gathers the people of God into himself eucharistically and places it under the Father's great absolution (Woman Priests p. 193). We, being generated into Christ (Paul in 1Cor. 4:15; Gal. 4:19) partake in this absolution in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The cup of wine represents the blood of Christ which is equated with cleansing. The host is syrabol of Christ's body which was given up for us. Therefore, we all begin as sinners due to original sin, but this chain is broken by that of redemption which is far greater than that of sin.
Absolution is a redemptive quality. It permeates all mankind in that we are all generated into Christ. The chain, beginning with Christ, is one we are all part of by virtue of us being generated into Christ by the "redemptive" chain furthered by the first witnesses: Mary, Peter, and John. Christ, as Incarnate, offers himself to all by virtue of his surrender on the Cross where he died so that our sins could be forgiven. Thus redemption is a service inherent in the powers bestowed by Christ and by means of partaking in the Sacraments we continue the tradition which has been carried on for nearly two thousand years.
This tradition has remained "divinized" in:
the "humanity of mary, Peter, John, and the other apostles and
after their death, in the humanity of Those whose existence they had
meanwhile drawn into the divine Contagion, 'generating them in
Christ' as Paul puts it (1 Cor. 4:15;Gal. 4:19). Those who speak of
the Eucharist, of Scripture, and of Sacred institutions as reliquiae
incarnationis must never forget that Such reliquiae are in our hanRAB
as objects destined for subjects whoAre alive or who are to be given
life and that they are handed into our hanRAB as gifts to be handed on.
This is what we really mean by'tradition' (Figures of the Church p. 193).
The eyes of the first witnesses, Mary, Peter, and John, are constantly returned to by Balthasar in order to understand the Incarnation. He describes their relationship with Christ as "paradigmatic" and "efficacious." Paradigmatic in the sense that their relations would be prototypical not only of the first relations with Christ but of all those that were to belong to him due to his nature as a God made man. What Balthasar means by efficacious is that God was able to overcome the limitations of time and space in order to become human which is in itself humanly impossible (Figures, p. 193). It is this quality which lacks in Peter and the apostles and cannot be achieved no matter how hard they strive for it whereas infallibility is touched by virtue of a share in the feminine-marian Church.
Balthasar stresses that it is an efficacious quality that must be striven for by those in ministry. Commissioned in office, their role is that of service to the community and therefore a minister must " 'strive with all his power toward a coincidence between the ethos of his office and his existence…'; for without this striving he will 'stand as a hypocrite in front of the community" (Figures, p. 204).
Balthasar refers to a Chain of relations which began with Mary and those who allowed themselves be drawn into the divine contagion by surrendering themselves totally to He who surrendered himself, his "entire substance," on the Cross. Balthasar emphasizes that the Incarnation is what allowed Christ to draw himself to those who allowed themselves to be erabroiled by these human relations:
The calim which a God-made-man has upon every other human
being cannot be announced and realized other than through the
progressive demonstration, in time and space, of the 'fruitfulness'
of these human beings who give their human existence to God's
own human existence. It is believers who generate other believers
(Figures, p. 193).
Peter is used as a primary example the authoritative continued teaching of the Church. He has, without transformation, hurled out of his person ("you are Simon, the son of John") into the office ("you shall be called Cephas, rock" [John 1:42]). Peter, as mentioned above, receives his infallibility as a partial share in the flawlessness of the feminine marian Church. As Balthasar notes, "the marian dimension of the Church is antecedent to that of the Petrine, without being in any way divided from it or being less complimentary" (Figures, p. 203). Therefore, just as the apostles received powers, Mary possesses something more. Mary is the fruitful worab of mercy and her anticipated redemption is the reason why Peter can forgive sins. Since the beginning, the feminine-marian Church has grown in forgiveness. The authority with which Peter can teach stems from the feminine-marian Church and her reception of the word of salvation, laid as a seed into her worab (Figures, 203).
It is because of Mary's willingness to bear Christ that the apostles and those generated into Christ (the Church) are able to be forgiven and to remain infallible. This opportunity is made possible through Mary and is the essence by which the Church infallibly incarnates Jesus' reality. It is this vital aspect of the Church that keeps it pure. It is "a share in a fruitfulness (before the Eucharist, she gave birth to Christ) and purity (she was absolved from all eternity) belonging nonofficially to the perfect feminine Church.
Although the Church may have numerous "beginnings," it has but one foundation in Jesus Christ. It is the foundation in Christ that unites all the beginnings of the Church into what is a redemptive plan. In review of the different beginnings the redemptive process attached to Jesus Christ is unveiled. Defining redemption and shedding light upon the process of redemption opens, as Balthasar would assert, a window which brings us closer to the mystery of the Church.
The Church begins with Christ's mother who consents to be his mother. She offers her worab to receive and bear the seed of the Word. Balthasar understanRAB Mary's concent in that it is with faith that she accepts the seed to be laid in her worab. He asserts that it is not a obscure faith but "a faith that is fully incarnate that erabraces body soul and spirit so that they can become the vessel of God's Word" (Figures of the Church, p. 199). The Incarnation is possible through Mary who, by virtue of her faith, is "pre-redeemed." She accepts an Incarnation and the redemption inherent within it. Her assent is made possible:
…by the Incarnation and the Cross (in her "anticipated redemption")
and which is, at the same time, one of the conditions required for the
Incarnation, accomplishing the unity of the conditions required for the
Incarnation, accomplishing the unity of 'one flesh' and yet laying the
foundation, precisely therein, for the radical opposition between head
and body, Lord and handmaid, bridegroom and bride.
(Figures of the Church, p. 199).
In view of Christ's "pre-redeemed" Mother, Mary is the personal center of the Church and is " 'the objectivity of a Church which is subjectively holy' even if all other individuals in her are still entangled in sin" (p. 199). The "pre-redeemed" status given to Mary is the flawlessness of the feminine, marian Church. Commissioned by Christ, the Apostles "receive masculine tasks of leadership and representation within the comprehensive feminine marian Church (Women Priests p. 1892). According to Balthasar, the Apostles "begin as failures." However he also states that in receiving a share in the infallible marian Church, they are redeemed as well: They begins as failures - this is demonstrated most clearly in the case of Peter…what Peter will receive as 'infallibility' for his office of governing will be a partial share in the total flawlessness of the feminine, marian Church (Women Priests p. 192, 193). The theme of redemption is present here in that although Peter is fallible, he receives and infallibility by virtue of his share in the marian Church.
The theme of redemption as it is mentioned throughout Balthasar's ecclesiology is based upon a salvation aspect as well as a role of service. This is evident in the power bestowed upon the Apostles by Christ which are "the power to consecrate and to absolve" (Women Priests p. 193). These powers are resultant of Mary's infallible "Yes" and God who graciously gave his only begotten son to die on the Cross.
Inherent in death there is life. In order to die something or someone must be living. In relation to Christ, it is "by virtue of the surrender of his entire substance on the Cross [that he] gathers the people of God into himself eucharistically and places it under the Father's great absolution (Woman Priests p. 193). We, being generated into Christ (Paul in 1Cor. 4:15; Gal. 4:19) partake in this absolution in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The cup of wine represents the blood of Christ which is equated with cleansing. The host is syrabol of Christ's body which was given up for us. Therefore, we all begin as sinners due to original sin, but this chain is broken by that of redemption which is far greater than that of sin.
Absolution is a redemptive quality. It permeates all mankind in that we are all generated into Christ. The chain, beginning with Christ, is one we are all part of by virtue of us being generated into Christ by the "redemptive" chain furthered by the first witnesses: Mary, Peter, and John. Christ, as Incarnate, offers himself to all by virtue of his surrender on the Cross where he died so that our sins could be forgiven. Thus redemption is a service inherent in the powers bestowed by Christ and by means of partaking in the Sacraments we continue the tradition which has been carried on for nearly two thousand years.
This tradition has remained "divinized" in:
the "humanity of mary, Peter, John, and the other apostles and
after their death, in the humanity of Those whose existence they had
meanwhile drawn into the divine Contagion, 'generating them in
Christ' as Paul puts it (1 Cor. 4:15;Gal. 4:19). Those who speak of
the Eucharist, of Scripture, and of Sacred institutions as reliquiae
incarnationis must never forget that Such reliquiae are in our hanRAB
as objects destined for subjects whoAre alive or who are to be given
life and that they are handed into our hanRAB as gifts to be handed on.
This is what we really mean by'tradition' (Figures of the Church p. 193).
The eyes of the first witnesses, Mary, Peter, and John, are constantly returned to by Balthasar in order to understand the Incarnation. He describes their relationship with Christ as "paradigmatic" and "efficacious." Paradigmatic in the sense that their relations would be prototypical not only of the first relations with Christ but of all those that were to belong to him due to his nature as a God made man. What Balthasar means by efficacious is that God was able to overcome the limitations of time and space in order to become human which is in itself humanly impossible (Figures, p. 193). It is this quality which lacks in Peter and the apostles and cannot be achieved no matter how hard they strive for it whereas infallibility is touched by virtue of a share in the feminine-marian Church.
Balthasar stresses that it is an efficacious quality that must be striven for by those in ministry. Commissioned in office, their role is that of service to the community and therefore a minister must " 'strive with all his power toward a coincidence between the ethos of his office and his existence…'; for without this striving he will 'stand as a hypocrite in front of the community" (Figures, p. 204).
Balthasar refers to a Chain of relations which began with Mary and those who allowed themselves be drawn into the divine contagion by surrendering themselves totally to He who surrendered himself, his "entire substance," on the Cross. Balthasar emphasizes that the Incarnation is what allowed Christ to draw himself to those who allowed themselves to be erabroiled by these human relations:
The calim which a God-made-man has upon every other human
being cannot be announced and realized other than through the
progressive demonstration, in time and space, of the 'fruitfulness'
of these human beings who give their human existence to God's
own human existence. It is believers who generate other believers
(Figures, p. 193).
Peter is used as a primary example the authoritative continued teaching of the Church. He has, without transformation, hurled out of his person ("you are Simon, the son of John") into the office ("you shall be called Cephas, rock" [John 1:42]). Peter, as mentioned above, receives his infallibility as a partial share in the flawlessness of the feminine marian Church. As Balthasar notes, "the marian dimension of the Church is antecedent to that of the Petrine, without being in any way divided from it or being less complimentary" (Figures, p. 203). Therefore, just as the apostles received powers, Mary possesses something more. Mary is the fruitful worab of mercy and her anticipated redemption is the reason why Peter can forgive sins. Since the beginning, the feminine-marian Church has grown in forgiveness. The authority with which Peter can teach stems from the feminine-marian Church and her reception of the word of salvation, laid as a seed into her worab (Figures, 203).
It is because of Mary's willingness to bear Christ that the apostles and those generated into Christ (the Church) are able to be forgiven and to remain infallible. This opportunity is made possible through Mary and is the essence by which the Church infallibly incarnates Jesus' reality. It is this vital aspect of the Church that keeps it pure. It is "a share in a fruitfulness (before the Eucharist, she gave birth to Christ) and purity (she was absolved from all eternity) belonging nonofficially to the perfect feminine Church.