I don’t know if this thread goes here (please let me know where it does go if so: thanks).
I have read several writings about the Church, and I was wondering what were your thoughts about the Church’s role in our salvation?
Considering that Christ started the Church for the purpose of continuing his mission of bringing people to salvation, the Church’s role is instrumental in our salvation. It is the means by which we receive the sacraments that dispense saving grace to us. It is the means by which the Divine Revelation is taught to the next generation. It is the means by which we are the mystical Body of Christ here on earth, being Christ’s hands and feet, ministering to our fellow humans.
Here’s some reading on the “common priesthood of the baptized”, which is the mission of every baptized person to carry on Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king. You can also google “priest prophet and king” and find all sorts of information.
From “DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF THE LAITY”
vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html
“The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ.”
From the CCC
vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p2.htm
"** A priestly, prophetic, and royal people **
783 Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.208
784 On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people’s unique, *priestly *vocation: "Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men, has made this new people ‘a kingdom of priests to God, his Father.’ The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are *consecrated *to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood."209
785 “The holy People of God shares also in Christ’s *prophetic *office,” above all in the supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay and clergy, when it "unfailingly adheres to this faith . . . once for all delivered to the saints,"210 and when it deepens its understanding and becomes Christ’s witness in the midst of this world.
786 Finally, the People of God shares in the *royal *office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection.211 Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."212 For the Christian, “to reign is to serve him,” particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder."213 The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ. "
Thanks.