The Church as One

The first mark of the Church is one. In One, the Church expresses its unity, uniqueness, and the fact that it is the ONE Church that God intended for. I know, all of the non-Catholics get offended or touchy when we say this, but its true: God intended only for the Catholic Church, the One Church that God wanted people to be part of so that they could come back into communion with Him.

First, when we say in the Nicene Creed at Mass and we say that the Church is One, we state our belief that the Church is unique and that it is a singular Church, not multiple Churches, with its source as the one God. Jesus says in John's Gospel that through Him is the only way to salvation: "I am the way, the truth, the light; no one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14: 6). By establishing this One Church, Jesus gave us the opportunity to believe in God and come into communion with him at the end.

Next, by saying that the Church is One, we agree that the Church is fully and completely organized and united under the Holy Spirit. The three ways that we can see that the Church is united are unity in faith, worship, and leadership. The creeds are the way that we express the Church's unity in faith under the Holy Spirit. The seven Sacraments are ways that we as Catholics celebrate unity in worship. And finally, the unity of leadership is shown through Holy Orders. The three wounds to unity in the Church are apostasy, schism, and heresy. Apostasy is the total rejection of God by a baptized Christian. Schism is the rejection of unity of the pope with someone that is already baptized. Schism is often the worst of these wounds because it typically breaks more than just yourself from unity with the Church. And Heresy is the deliberate and persistent rejection of some Doctrine of Faith or morals in the Church.