“Because Christ the Head holds such an eminent position, one must not think that he does not require the help of the Body. What Paul said of the human organism is to be applied likewise to the Mystical Body: “The head cannot say to the feet: I have no need of you.”[69] It is manifestly clear that the faithful need the help of the Divine Redeemer, for He has said: “Without me you can do nothing,”[70] and according to the teaching of the Apostle every advance of this Mystical Body towards its perfection derives from Christ the Head.[71] Yet this, also, must be held, marvelous though it may seem: Christ has need of His members… Moreover as our Savior does not rule the Church directly in a visible manner, He wills to be helped by the members of His Body in carrying out the work of redemption. That is not because He is indigent and weak, but rather because He has so willed it for the greater glory of His spotless Spouse. Dying on the Cross He left to His Church the immense treasury of the Redemption, towards which she contributed nothing. But when those graces come to be distributed, not only does He share this work of sanctification with His Church, but He wills that in some way it be due to her action. This is a deep mystery, and an inexhaustible subject of meditation, that the salvation of many depends on the prayers and voluntary penances which the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ offer for this intention and on the cooperation of pastors of souls and of the faithful, especially of fathers and mothers of families, a cooperation which they must offer to our Divine Savior as though they were His associates.”
Pope St. Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, 29 June 1943, p.44
That is such good advice, and timely. Thanks for sharing that one. A good encouragement for me. Know who you are, and live simply, faithfully, according to one’s station in life. Do no more or less than your spiritual duty and do that with all one’s heart.
After my conversion to the RC Faith, I recall with very fond memory the friendships that we had with fellow converts, discovering and appreciating the endless ocean of Sacred Tradition within the Sacred Deposit of Faith, just sitting there like an immense treasure, waiting to be tapped into by anyone with a will to dig and the grace to understand. The controversies of the past decade have diverted me from this first love, but I am getting back to it again. Similar to Galadriel’s Elven Phial, given to Frodo to be his “light in dark places”, Sacred Tradition dispels personal confusion in total darkness and, like Shelob, evildoers cannot withstand the power of divine Light.
https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Phial_of_Galadriel
Thank you for this post. As an older lady who has been married a long time but who was never blessed with children (not by choice), I appreciate hearing this. Most of the time I think of myself as useless since I did not have the privilege of raising a large family, or any family, and in the view of the few Traditionalists I know I am looked on as some kind of outsider even though I have never been “liberated” or a “feminist,” just biologically unlucky. It helps to realize Christ does not view me that way. And does anyone else’s opinion even count?
Thank you and God bless you.
I thank you for your contributions here.