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  The Church as the Body of Christ

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From: Handbook for today's Catholic
Copyright 1994 Liguori Publications. Used with permission.

The image of the Church as the Body of Christ is found in the New Testament writings of Saint Paul. In chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, Paul says that our communion with Christ comes from “the cup of blessing” which unites us in his blood and from “the bread which we break” which unites us to his body.  Because the bread is one, all of us, though many, are one body.  The Eucharistic body of Christ and the Church are, together, the (mystical) Body of Christ. In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians (and in chapter 12 of Romans), Paul emphasizes the mutual dependence and concern we have as members of one another. In the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians, the emphasis is on Christ as our head. God gave Christ to the Church as its head.  Through Christ, God is unfolding his plan, “the mystery hidden for ages,” to unite all things and to reconcile us to himself.  Because this mystery is being unfolded in the Church, Ephesians calls the Church the mystery of Christ.

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.Now the body is not a single part, but many.
If a foot should say, "Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body," it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. Or if an ear should say, "Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body," it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I do not need you," nor again the head to the feet, "I do not need you." Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety,whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it.

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