Vigils Reading

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CHARACTER

OF THE PILGRIM CHURCH

From the encyclical Lumen Gentium1

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The Church, to which we are called in Christ Jesus, and in which by the

grace of God we acquire holiness, will receive its perfection only in the glory of

heaven, when the time comes for the renewal of all things, and the whole

universe, as well as the human race, is completely united in Christ. For the

universe has an intimate connection with us, and through us it reaches its

destined end.

Lifted up from the earth, Christ has drawn all to himself; rising from the

dead, he has sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples; through the Spirit he

has established his Body, which is the Church, as the universal sacrament of

salvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, he is unceasingly at work in

the world to bring men and women to the Church, to join them more closely to

himself through her, and to give them a share in his glorious life by feeding them

on his own Body and Blood.

The promised restoration to which we look forward has already had its

beginning in Christ. It receives impetus from the sending of the Holy Spirit and

through him continues in the Church, where we also receive instruction, by

faith, in the significance of our earthly life. Meanwhile, in expectation of a good

future, we are bringing to completion the work in the world entrusted to us by

the Father, and are working out our salvation.

The end of the ages has already reached us, and the world is irrevocably

set on the renewal which is anticipated in a real way in this life. Already the

Church is marked on earth by a genuine, if imperfect, holiness. The Church is11

on pilgrimage until the coming of the new heavens and the new earth in which

righteousness dwells. In her sacraments and organization, which belong to this

life, she carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her

place among the creatures who groan in travail as they wait for the revealing of

the children of God.