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It’s Day 120!!
Today we are launching into the fourth MARK of the Church
THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC
There is ONE reason why the Church is APOSTOLIC
SHE WAS FOUNDED ON THE APOSTLES!!
Paragraph 857 says, “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: -she was and remains build on ‘the foundation of the Apostles,’ the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself; -with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the ‘good deposit,’ the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; -she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, ‘assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor.’”
The apostles received their mission from Jesus and they also have this sacred duty
Jesus has also entrusted to them not only His mission
He has also entrusted to them His Spirit
When Jesus says, “He who hears you, hears me.”
THOSE WHO ACCEPT YOU ACCEPT ME
THOSE WHO REJECT YOU REJECT ME
To prepare our hearts to receive this gift of this GOOD WORD that the Church is not only ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC
BUT ALSO APOSTOLIC!!
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, thank you so much. Thank you for bringing us to this day. Thank you for bringing us to Day 120. We thank you for continuing to guide the Church that you built on the foundation stones of the Apostles. Thank you for giving us their successors. Thank you for continuing to sanctify your Church. Thank you for continuing to guide your Church. Thank you for continuing to guard your Church. We ask that you please, those who are our bishops right now, we ask you to protect them. We ask you to inspire them. We ask you to purify their hearts, so that they can be men after your own heart, so that they can lead well, they can shepherd well, they can govern well. Lord God, we pray in this moment for any shepherd in your Church who stands in particular need of your Grace, who stands in particular need of your help in this moment. (Name your local Bishop and pray for him now). We lift him up before you, Father. Fr. Mike prays for his Bishop Daniel. He prays that you continue to guide and guard, to lead him so that he can guide and guard and lead all of us. Make them all great Fathers. We ask you this, Father, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”
So there we are!!
THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC
It is so powerful, beautifull, and good the way in which the Church is founded on the Apostles
Paragraph 857 says, “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: -she was and remains build on ‘the foundation of the Apostles,’ the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself; -with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the ‘good deposit,’ the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; -she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, ‘assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor.’”
It’s not just that…
(SQUIRREL!! 😉)
This is one of the things we NEED to pay attention to
The Church is SPIRITUAL obviously
There is a SPIRITUAL REALITY that makes up the Church that is unseen
BUT…
There is also a VISIBLE REALITY to the Church as well
That’s one of the reasons we talk about the Church being the UNIVERSAL SACRAMENT OF SALVATION
There is a SPIRITUAL REALITY
There is an INVISIBLE REALITY
BUT…
There is also a VERY VERY VERY VISIBLE REALITY
Just like for all of us as human beings
There is an INVISIBLE REALITY that makes up what a human being is
OUR SOUL!!
BUT…
There is also a TANGIBLE AND VISIBLE REALITY of what makes us up
OUR BODY!!
In a similar way, the Church is invisible and spiritual in many ways
That is real
BUT…
The Church also is VISIBLE
The Church also is TANGIBLE
The Church has a STRUCTURE
This is one of the things in being ONE HOLY CATHOLIC
But also APOSTOLIC
The call of the 12 men that Jesus gathered around Him is not just historical
It is not just a thing of the past
BUT…
Jesus continues to, in their successors, give them that same AUTHORITY
That same COMMISSION
That same BEING SENT FORTH AS EMISSARIES
Paragraph 857 says, “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: -she was and remains build on ‘the foundation of the Apostles,’ the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself; -with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the ‘good deposit,’ the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; -she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, ‘assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor.’”
This is a historical reality
Matthias replaced Judas upon his death
As time went on, other men were chosen and ordained to carry on the work of the previous bishop
This is not just a thing of the past
But with the help of the Holy Spirit the Church continues to hand on the teaching
THIS IS SO GOOD!!
The Church CONTINUES to be Apostolic
It wasn’t just a thing of the past
It wasn’t just the 12 original apostles
It was that the Church CONTINUES to have this APOSTOLIC CONNECTION
THIS IS SO SO IMPORTANT!!
What are the differences between Catholic Christians and non-Catholic Christians?
What are the differences between Catholic Christians and non-Christians?
This is kind of sensitive but let’s dive in
People ask Fr. Mike why he keeps saying there is so much good in non-Catholic churches
Yes there absolutely is
There is holiness there
There is some good teaching in many places
There are good people
God’s grace is there
We acknowledge all of those things
So why be Catholic?
There are MANY MANY reasons
One reason is THIS REMAINS THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH
There is an UNBROKEN LINE OF SUCCESSION ALL THE WAY BACK TO JESUS!! (Want to try a fun experiment? Ask Alexa, Siri, or Google who founded all the different Christian churches….and THEN ask who founded the Catholic Church 😀 Alexa, who founded the ... Church? )
Jesus commissioned THOSE APOSTLES to go forth
THOSE APOSTLES were able to hand on their commissioning and ordination to ALL THOSE WHO CAME AFTER THEM
For ALL non-Catholic Christian denominations, THEY DO NOT HAVE THAT!!
There is a BREAK in that Apostolic ordination and Apostolic Succession
That is not meant to be a dig at anybody
This is one of the reasons we recognize even HISTORICALLY the Catholic Church is the ONE APOSTOLIC CHURCH that remains
Fr. Mike wants to emphasize that the Orthodox Church is ALSO Apostolic because they also have ORDINATIONS
The Orthodox Church is the OTHER LUNG of the Church that continues to breathe
HOWEVER…
The Orthodox Church does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Pope
The Catholic Church is UNIQUELY APOSTOLIC because ONLY the Catholic Church recognizes and maintains the PRIMACY and UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION of the Pope
Why is Apostolic Succession important?
Paragraph 858 says, “Jesus is the Father’s Emissary.”
Jesus kept saying, “I’m coming on this mission of the Father. The Father has sent me here.”
And then what happens?
Jesus sends THOSE APOSTLES
Paragraph 859 says, “Jesus unites them to the mission he received from the Father. As ‘the Son can do nothing of his own accord,’ but receives everything from the Father who sent him, so those whom Jesus sends can do nothing apart from him, from whom they received both the mandate for their mission and the power to carry it out.”
Jesus told them to go out and He also gave them the Holy Spirit
Think about Acts Ch 2
Jesus had promised “The power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be my witnesses.”
SO IMPORTANT!!
Paragraph 860 says, “In the office of the apostles there is one aspect that cannot be transmitted: to be the chosen witnesses of the Lord’s Resurrection and so the foundation stones of the Church.”
If you remember the Book of Revelation, John sees Heaven and the New Jerusalem
It is built on the FOUNDATION STONES of the 12 Apostles
JUST THOSE 12!!
Paragraph 860 continues, “But their office also has a permanent aspect. Christ promised to remain with them always. The divine mission entrusted by Jesus to them ‘will continue to the end of time, since the Gospel they handed on is the lasting source of all life for the Church. Therefore,...the apostles took care to appoint successors.’”
That is who the bishops are
THE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES!!
Paragraph 862 says, “‘Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops.’”
We highlight this
We LOVE this
IN FACT…
We are CALLED TO LOVE THIS
Why?
Paragraph 862 continues, “...whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ.”
We talked about this when it came to the Church itself
If we love the Church then we love Christ’s BRIDE
If we love the Church then we love THE BODY OF CHRIST
Same kind of thing when it comes to THOSE WHOM JESUS SENT
Jesus’ own words in The Gospel of Matthew and The Gospel of Luke: “He who receives you receives me.”
If we REJECT those He sent then we are REJECTING JESUS
Does that make sense?
It might be a challenging teaching
In this, the Lord is calling us to fall MORE AND MORE IN LOVE WITH HIM
This isn’t just a point of data
This is where God is asking for our hearts to be more OPEN
It’s a part of our Faith that God is asking us to REJOICE IN
The Apostolic Nature of the Church IS LITERALLY A GIFT
WHAT A GIFT!!
Tomorrow is MCNUGGET DAY sort of
We will also look at since the Church is APOSTOLIC then She has an APOSTOLATE
What is that APOSTOLATE??
We will talk about that tomorrow
WHAT A GIFT (There he said it again!! 😀) to be able to highlight the Church is ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH
And to know what those words mean
When we say those words in the Creed we now KNOW what it means to say the Church is ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH!!
WHAT A GIFT!! (Wooohooooo third time is the charm!!!! 😂)
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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