Origin, Foundation, and Mission of the church
We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization in history.
The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life,150 to which he calls all men in his Son.
The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ. This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's plan.
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In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Advance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time.
Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church. God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the "convocation" of men in Christ, and this "convocation" is the Church.
The Church is the goal of all things,154 and God permitted such painful upheavals as the angels' fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world: Just as God's will is the creation and is called "the world," so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church.
