CHAPTER I

THE CHURCH AS A "NEW" PEOPLE

Not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit (LG 9)

1. The Council has emphasized the singular constitutive nature of the Church, presenting her as Mystery (cf. LG ch. 1). Indeed, from Pentecost on (cf. LG 4), there exists in the world a new People, which, vivified by the Holy Spirit, assembles in Christ in order to have access to the Father (cf. Eph 2:18). The members of this People are gathered from all nations and are merged into such an intimate unity (cf. LG 9) that its reality cannot be explained by recourse to any mere sociological formula; for real newness, transcending the human order, is inherent in it. Only in this transcendent perspective can we rightly interpret the relationships among various members of the Church. The element on which the uniqueness of this nature is based is the very presence of the Holy Spirit. He, in fact, is the life and vitality of the People of God and the principle of unity in its communion. He is the vigor of its mission, the source of its multiple gifts, the bond of its marvelous unity, the light and beauty of its creative power, the flame of its love (cf. LG 4; 7; 8; 9; 12; 18; 21).

In fact, the spiritual and pastoral awakening apparent in these recent years reveals, by virtue of the presence of the Holy Spirit -- on which some insidious abuses, though disquieting, give no evidence of having cast the slightest shadow -- a special privileged moment (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi 75) for a flourishing spousal newness of the Church as she tends towards the day of her Lord (cf. Rev 22:17).