Balthasar's Models of the Church, so to speak

Here's the latest comment on a post that demonstrated heavy use of weasel words to suggest a conclusion unwarranted by evidence to advance the author's ideology in the name of critiquing Balthasar's ideology. ...

What’s this, Halden, a “Petrine symphony” is what Balthasar’s book is all about? No, it is rather a Christological symphony, and Fred is right, it is Christ who is the conductor, not Peter. Peter is ONLY one of the several dimensions of the Church, and they are all necessary for the Church. In fact, the Petrine element is NOT even the most basic among them, it is the MARIAN dimension that is the most fundamental among these various elements. From a Catholic perspective, Balthasar’s is a corrective of every one-sided emphasis on the Petrine office among Catholics. It is ironic therefore that you should basically misrepresent his thoughts on the matter.

The comment above, from Tony, admirably formulates something which I felt but could not express well: that is, Balthasar's treatment of the Petrine, Pauline, Johanine, and Marian charisms is his version of what Avery Dulles intended for his now classic text, Models of the Church. Both are works of ecumenically aware and self-critical meditations on the form of the Church (note: that both insist on overlapping models coexisting — how Catholic!); they both also recognize the value in the Christian experience of Protestants while not shrinking from critical observations.

Ecclesia Sunday

Today's readings: 

"A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen." (NAB, from Dt 18:15-20).

"A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him" (NAB, from Mk 1:21-28).

And something that Joseph Ratzinger has written about this theme:

"because the dispersion of Israel continued on and slavery was reimposed, a qahal coming from God himself, a new gathering and foundation of the people, increasingly became the center of Jewish hope. The supplication for this gathering — for the appearance of the ecclesia — is a fixed component of late Jewish prayer.

It is thus clear what it means for the nascent Church to call herself ecclesia. By doing so, she says in effect: This petition is granted in us. Christ, who died and rose again, is the living Sinai; those who approach him are the final gathering of God's people" (Called to Communion, J. Ratzinger, Ignatius Press, 31). 

The passage above follows a section on "Jesus and the Church." Ratzinger quips that "the kingdom was promised, what came was Jesus [...] but Jesus is never alone" (23). The twelve symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel, while the 72 symbolize the nations, the gentiles — and notably, the Septuagint, translated into Greek by 72 scholars, is the form of the Hebrew scriptures which is adopted by the Christian Church.