Topic:  What is the Mystical Body?

Source of this posting: Moderator response

Date originally posted: March 10, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source: Mary Pat Fourqurean

Question:   I am helping with a Catholic retreat here at Emporia State University. I'm needing to give a 20 minute talk over the Mystical Body of Christ. I have a general understanding of it, but all I really need to know is where I can find good material to research it. The questions I am answering in my speech are:1)What is the Mystical Body?2)What is it through the Eucharist?3)How does the actions of one affect the whole?4)Who belongs to it? Is anyone not a part of it?5)What is the Communion of Saints and what does it have to do with the Mystical Body?6)What are our responsibilities as being part of the Mystical Body. If you could give me a little information on the Mystical Body and some ideas of good material to research it I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for all of your help. In Christ, Michael Lies

Answer: 

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your question about such an important topic. I like to begin at the simplest but most authoritative source for things Catholic, and that is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and I like the Catechism because it is not one theologian's opinion (although I have great respect for many theologians) but it is the view of the Church herself. And the Catechism (there's now a second edition) has some fine comments on the Mystical Body of Christ, and specifically in regard to your questions:

1)What is the Mystical Body? See Catechism #779 and 791, but actually the whole section between #770-810 discusses it very well.

2)What is the Mystical Body through the Eucharist? See esp. #1396: "The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church."

3) How does one affect the whole? See the context of #1396, namely, the whole wonderful section from #1322-1419 addresses that issue.

4) The Mystical Body of Christ is the Church, and the Church is the "baptized faithful", so not every human being belongs to it, although solidarity with the whole human race through the first Adam is quite real too, especially for Pope John Paul II. But Christ as the Second Adam is definitive for the Mystical Body: see esp. #836-856.

5)and 6) will have been answered within the contexts you just researched in 1) through 4). Although for the Communion of Saints in particular, see esp. #954-962

I hope this helps Michael. All the best - Mary Pat Fourqurean.