The Grace of Christ as Head of the Church

In the human body, the head holds the first place of dignity, perfection, and control. So, in the body of the Church, Christ as man, by reason of the union with God, holds the highest place, and is rightly called “The Head of the Church.”

The whole humanity of Christ, body and soul, influences other human beings in body and soul. Therefore, Christ is the Head of men, not merely the Head of souls.

Christ is the Head of all mankind. St. Paul says (ITim. 4:10) that Christ “is the Savior of all men.” And we read (I John 2:2) that Christ is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Christ is the Head of all men, and principally of all who are united to him by grace or glory.

Christ as man is Head of the angels. Men and angels are made for the one purpose: the glory of God, and the enjoyment of heaven. Hence, figuratively speaking, men and angels form one body;for the mystical body which is the Church consists not only of men but of angels. And of this body Christ is the Head.

The grace of Christ as Head of the Church, called capital grace, is in reality the same sanctifying or habitual grace which is in him as a human individual (that is,personal grace), and which constitutes that fullness of grace of which “we have all received.”

Christ alone is the Head of the Church. On earth, the pope is his vicar, and the bishops as heads of their respectivedioceses are, as St. Paul says (II Cor. 5:20), “ambassadors for Christ.”

As prince or prelate is head of the group that constitutes his realm or charge, so the devil is the head of allthe wicked. In Job (41:25) we read that the devil “is king over all the children of pride.”

Antichrist too is the head of the wicked, but not inthe same way as the devil is their head. The devil precedes Antichrist in time, and also exceeds him in the power of influencing men to evil. Antichrist is head of the wicked in the sense that he is the worst of all who are influenced by the devil.