NOTES for Eph 1:15-23

Paul calls the Church the body of Christ, defining it as "the fullness of the one who fills all in all." Here, as can be seen, he follows traditional Jewish ideas about the people of God as one spiritual whole, as though one body, which was sanctified as one whole through the worship services that regularly took place in the Jerusalem Temple until its destruction in AD 70.

It was precisely because of this sanctification of the people as one whole that even those believing Jews who could not get to Jerusalem for a feast, for example for Pesach or Shavuot, did not feel cut off from God or from their community. They gathered where they lived, in the synagogues of the diaspora, and celebrated together with those who were then in Jerusalem. Paul applies this view to the Church, with the difference that it is sanctified by the presence of the Messiah himself, risen from the dead and abiding at the throne of God.

Of course, the Church is the space of the Kingdom abiding in our world as it is being transformed, though it has not yet been transformed completely. But it is also the space of Christ himself, the space of his personal presence. Certainly, God's presence had been known to the Jewish people before. God revealed himself to them already when the Torah was given at Sinai, revealing himself so that he would no longer be hidden, and his presence accompanied the people throughout their history.

But now the space of those relationships that bind Christ with his heavenly Father has been added to the spiritual space of this presence. The Kingdom unfolds within these relationships; it is revealed in them and through them. Their fullness is what fills "all in all." And Christianity means being included in this fullness of relationship between the Father and the Son. This kind of inclusion can be called true incorporation into the Church in the proper sense of the word, while everything else in church life is only a means for solving this main task. That is, if we are speaking precisely about the Church with a capital C.

If we read the apostle Paul’s words attentively, we discover something strange. Paul says that the Church is not merely the Body of Christ, an image familiar to us, but His fullness! He who fills all in all, that is, the source of every fullness, willed that the Church should become necessary to Him, that it should become His fullness. In other words, the Lord loved the Church so much that without her He Himself seems to lose His fullness: out of love, He made Himself dependent on people. What does this dependence consist in? After the Ascension, the bodily presence of Jesus on earth, that is, His fullness, since He is truly Man and would be incomplete without a body, is realized only through the Church. This refers first of all to the sacrament of the Eucharist, in which He is bodily present. But the Church is also His body, and this means that every member of the Church embodies His presence in the world.

What the apostle Paul prays about? In fact that we may know God, grow in His knowledge. But for this knowledge, we have to change beforehand spiritually, accept «the spirit of wisdom and revelation", that is agree with the fact that knowing God is not of our strength, but can be the consequence of His auto-unveiling to us. Therefore, it is a prayer for our openness and humility.

It is interesting thereupon that Paul calls God the God of our Lord Jesus-Christ, recognizing that our God isn’t Someone known by our efforts, but the One, Who Christ declared (Jn. 1:18).

The two half-sentences that make up today's apostolic reading are like a bright flash of light. Rather than helping us follow the logic of the apostle Paul's reflections, they illuminate several things of the utmost importance so that we may remember them. Like a brief outline, they sum up his teaching on salvation in Christ. It is in this passage that we find Paul's words that the Church is the Body of Christ.

This definition embraces a great deal. It implies that the center around which the Church gathers is the bread of the Last Supper, which becomes the Body of Christ in the Church's prayer. This mystery is accomplished by Christ Himself, “not because of our righteousness, for we have done nothing good upon the earth,” as St. Basil the Great says. Paul's definition also implies that the Church is the continuation of the Incarnation of the Son of God, who fills all things within her. This takes place by the will of the Father and the grace of the Holy Spirit, whose coming brings the Church into being not as a gathering of people, but as the mystery of God's Presence.

Then comes a sentence broken off in the middle, in which the apostle emphasizes that this gift of salvation in Christ is given to us while we were still sinners. He says that Christ fills us in the Church, dead as we are in our sins. The predicate of this sentence is not included in the passage being read. And us, who were dead... Yet it is not difficult to anticipate, to feel in our hearts, that He who fills all in all brings the dead to life. This is the conclusion from the words about the Body of Christ that we are invited to reach for ourselves today.

These words, like a bright flash of light, do not so much help us see the logic of the apostle Paul's reflections as illuminate several most important things so that we remember them. Like a brief outline, they summarize the apostle's teaching on salvation in Christ. It is in this passage that the apostle Paul's words are given that the Church is the Body of Christ.

This definition contains a great deal. It implies that the center around which the Church is gathered is the bread of the Mystical Supper, which in the prayer of the Church becomes the Body of Christ. This sacrament is celebrated by Christ Himself, "not because of our righteousness, for we have done no good upon the earth," as St. Basil the Great says. The apostle Paul's definition also implies that the Church is the continuation of the Incarnation of the Son of God, who fills all things in Her. This takes place by the will of the Father and by the grace of the Holy Spirit, whose coming gives birth to the Church not as an assembly of people, but as the sacrament of God's Presence.

Further, at the beginning of the next chapter, the apostle stresses that this gift of salvation in Christ is given to us while we were still sinners. He says that in the Church Christ fills us, who were dead in our sins, with life. This is the meaning of the Church's existence; this is her saving power.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul says that Christ has been appointed head of the Church. Developing this thought, he explains that the Church is His Body and the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It is precisely these two related aspects that define the true, invisible essence of the Church: it is not an organization or a community of people (although it has both many members and order), but the fullness of God’s presence in everything. Moreover, the Church is not merely the presence of Christ: in it He fills everything with Himself.

What is astonishing and wonderful is that entering this presence and fullness is not only possible but even quite easy. You bring very little into the Church, whose doors are open to everyone who comes: your willingness to be baptized and to live a new life. In return, as in the multiplication of the loaves, you receive the infinite gift of God’s fullness.