Quotes from OL IX Plenaries:
Bishop Nicholas Samra
“In the Trinity there is a unity—three are one. So too in the Body of Christ, the Church, there is one people, one family, and the unity of the many into one. Each person is a unique individual, a “living stone” making up the body. As one body the Church is a perfect unity of many persons into one united organism and this reflects the Trinity itself. For the Church is the unity of many distinct persons called to be one mind, one heart, one spirit, one soul and one body in one truth and love which is God himself.
The Church is more than just “being” the Body of Christ. The members that make up the body—all of us—are called to be God’s people but at the same time to “do” something. We are all called to do God’s will and his work, and through this to transform the world into the Kingdom of God. The Church exists for this transformation of mankind.
As we look toward the structure of the Church we see in the image of the Trinity, one God in three equal persons, that this Trinity has a parallel in the members of the body. All become one, each with special gifts – may I say “unity in diversity.” There is oneness and catholicity but united and equal, and the bond of this union and equality is the Eucharist—the celebration of the very body and blood of Christ himself.”
Photos:
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- The plenary speakers with Chorbishop Seely Beggiani, moderator, at the podium.
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- The OL IX East participants in the plenary session auditorium.
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- One of the prayer services held in the glass-walled rotunda entrance of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.