you have a good hold on the fundamental outline, Mr. Jackson. The Church would be international, and hence its teaching, guidance, and divine helps would be extended to all people; on all would rest an obligation to become members and comply with her requirements, and in return they would enjoy her divine helps and be led to eternal salvation.7
Mr. J. Of course, all that does not tally with the present-day state of religion. Most people talk as if all the religious denominations are the Church. Could that possibly be?
Father S. No, Mr. Jackson; the Church of Christ today must be in nature, in power, in teaching, what it was when it served men through the twelve apostles. It is to this Church that all are obliged to belong in order to be saved.8 Those people who through their own grave fault do not know the true Church, or, knowing it, refuse to join it, cannot be saved.9
Mr. J. What about those who, through no fault of their own, remain outside the Church?
Father S. They can belong to the soul of the Church, because they can be in the state of grace and can save their souls by making use of the graces which God gives them.
Mr. J. Cannot the charter of Christ’s Church be stated clearly enough to remove all doubts about its nature, its commission, its authority and its powers?
Father S. It is stated most clearly by Christ Himself: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world” (Mt 28:18-20).
The above words were addressed to eleven men corporately, known as the apostles, whom Christ had personally instructed.10 Their names are: Peter, James the Greater, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Jude Thaddeus, Simon Zelotes.
Since one of the apostles, namely Judas Iscariot, had betrayed his Master and taken his own life, there were only eleven commissioned by Christ to go out into the world and propagate the religion of the New Law intended for all nations.
Mr. J. Wasn’t someone chosen to fill the place of Judas?
Father S. Yes, not long after Christ so addressed the eleven, these gathered together and elected one of His disciples to succeed Judas, one who had also been a close follower of His teaching from the beginning of His public life and was able to testify to His Resurrection and Ascension. His name was Matthias.
Mr. J. What other commission did Christ give to the apostles and to the apostles only?
Father S. Some very important ones. On the night before He died, after offering the first unbloody Sacrifice of the New Law, and after giving Himself in holy Communion to the apostles, He commissioned them to do what He had just done, namely, to continue that sacrifice. He empowered them to convert bread and wine into His body and blood, and then distribute it to others — “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).11
Three days later, on the day of His Resurrection, He gave the eleven (Judas was missing) power to forgive sin. Since only God can forgive sin, that power must have been delegated by God to the apostles. Hence we read: “He breathed upon them, and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained’” (Jn 20:22-23).12
The very name by which Christ was foretold, namely, the “Messiah” means “one to be sent.” He, as the “Son of Man,” was “sent” into this world first to reconcile all mankind with heaven, and secondly to found a spiritual kingdom, to which would be committed His teaching, a remedy for sin, and divine ordinances for imparting and nourishing the supernatural life, known as the sacraments.
The words of Christ: “Behold I am with you all days even unto the consummation of the world” would have no meaning unless the original corporate body of the apostles was to be perpetuated through their successors.
Saint Paul states definitely what should be clear to everyone, namely, that no one may constitute himself an apostle or a divinely commissioned teacher (Rom 10:15). After the apostles, only those are commissioned and empowered to do the things delegated to the original body, who are legitimate successors of those apostles.
Instruction 7
The relation of the Bible to the Church
Father S. We have seen, Mr. Jackson, that just as Christ was God and Man, so the institution, which He established to continue His work, consists of human members, but has a divine origin. Just as Christ “was sent” by the Father, to perform divine works through His human nature, so He in turn would “send” men, and through them continue His mission of “saving his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). By this arrangement, those who were the objects of Christ’s personal ministrations 1,900 years ago, were no better off than we of today, to whom the same divine help comes from Him through others: He was to be, and actually is, “Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and the same forever.”
I’ll have to make the instruction brief this evening, so let us get back to where we left off in our last instruction. You asked if all denominations today were in some sense the Church.
Mr. J. I was only declaring what I have often heard and wanted you to tell me on what plea they gain so many followers, and on what they base their claims.
Father S. Although Catholics are agreed that the Church is made up of all baptized persons united in the same true faith, the same sacrifice or worship, and using the same sacraments, under the authority of the successor of Saint Peter, the pope, and the bishops in communion with him, the term “Church” has a very vague meaning for most non-Catholics. A simple trust that Jesus’ merits will save them if they lead a decent life — especially, if they publicly profess that they want Jesus to be their Savior — they think, makes them Christians. Many hold that they need not affiliate with a religious denomination, though if they will, so much the better. They think that they may select the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, or any of the hundreds of other forms of religion. These denominations are all united in one thing — in directing their members to read the Bible for guidance in the development of the Christian life. They teach that the individual is responsible to God directly; that to require him to believe certain things, to impose a creed, is to restrict his liberty of thought; that to impose certain observances is to interfere with his liberty of action. They see only a twofold commission to the Church, viz., to baptize and to preach; and “to preach” means to announce Christ as the Savior and to stimulate people to lead good lives. Little attention is paid to “Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you.” They contend that Christ gave us the command to “search the Scriptures.” As a matter of fact, He was telling the Jews that they read the Scriptures wherein He was prophesied. But He was stating a fact, not issuing a command. Even if He actually told them to “search the Scriptures,” He could have meant only the Old Testament. These people never saw the New Testament, which had to do with His Church, nor did the apostles themselves ever see the whole New Testament, nor did people for four hundred years after Christ, though the Church had enjoyed her golden era — the days when people died for their faith by the thousands. And during the next one thousand years, the generality of Christians could not read the Bible, not because the Church kept it from them, but because the art of printing, by which books are now multiplied, was not invented until the year 1438. We wonder how, in “searching the Scriptures,” our separated brethren do not feel the force of such statements of our Lord, as “if he refuses to hear even the Church” (Mt 18:17);
