The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 120: The Apostolic Church (2024)

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

The fourth mark of the Catholic Church is her "apostolic" nature. Fr. Mike explains the three ways the Church is apostolic and discusses how this characteristic shapes the unique structure and Tradition of the Catholic Church. He also encourages us to pray for our local bishops, who continue to shepherd us in the Faith today as the Apostles' successors. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 857-862. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home, it is day 120, we're reading paragraphs 857-862. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations

of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism and your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. You can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily notifications and updates also just you know it's day 120 thank you so much to all those who have supported the production of this podcast with your prayers thank you for oh man all the financial gifts that have kept this podcast going we could not do this without you um you know today we're

launching into the fourth mark of the church the first three the church is one holy and Catholic we talked about that last couple days today the fourth mark of the church. The first three, the church is one, holy and Catholic. We talked about that the last couple days. Today, the fourth mark is the church is apostolic. And there's a couple reasons. Well, there's a couple reasons why the church is apostolic. No, there's one reason why the church is apostolic. It's because she's founded on the apostles.

Paragraph 857 highlights. She's apostolic for that one reason, founded on the apostles. But she is apostolic in three ways and she was and remains built on the foundation of the Apostles. That's a big deal. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching of the Apostles essentially and thirdly, she continues to be taught, sanctified and guided by the Apostles in the person of their successors, right? The bishops, the College of Bishops assisted by the priests united with the successor of Peter

aka the Pope. So we're gonna talk about that today as well as the fact that the Apostles received their mission from Jesus. And they also have this sacred duty then, of course, because Jesus Christ has entrusted to them not only his mission, he's also entrusted to them his spirit. So basically when Jesus says, he who hears you, hears me. Those who accept you, accept me. he who hears you hears me those who accept you accept me those who reject you Reject me so we're talking about that today. That's that's the core from paragraph 857 to 862 In order to get it just highlight in order to highlight our hearts No, I don't want to prepare our hearts just receive this this gift of the word this gift of this good word that

The church is not only one holy Catholic, but also apostolic. Let's ask our father to give us his grace So we pray father in heaven. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing us to this day Thank you for bringing us today 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 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.

And I wanna just give us all a chance even to name our own bishop, to name our local bishop, just we pray for him now. Pray for your bishop right now in this moment we just lift him up before you father. I pray for my bishop Daniel, pray 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. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I said it is day 120. We're reading paragraphs 857 to 862. The church is apostolic. The church is apostolic because she is founded on the Apostles in three ways. First, she was and remains built on the foundation of the Apostles, the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself. Second, 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. Third, 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. As the Roman Missal states, For you, eternal shepherd, do not desert your flock, but through the blessed apostles watch over it and protect it always so that it may be governed by those who have appointed shepherds to lead it in the name of your Son. The Apostles Mission Jesus is the Father's emissary. From the beginning of his ministry

he called to him those whom he desired and he appointed twelve whom he also named apostles to be with him and to be sent out to preach. From then on they would also be his emissaries, in Greek, apostoloi. In them, Christ continues his own mission, As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. The Apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission. Jesus said to the twelve, He who receives you receives me. 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. Christ's apostles knew that they were called by God as ministers of a new covenant, servants of God, ambassadors for Christ, servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 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. But their office 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. The Bishops, Successors of the Apostles. In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death,

the apostles consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men, and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their ministry. 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. to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops. Hence, the church teaches that the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ, and whoever despises them

despises Christ and him who sent Christ." Okay, so there we are, the church is apostolic. I love, it's just so beautiful, I think it is. So powerful and beautiful and good, right? All the good things. The way in which the church is founded on the apostles. Let's go back to paragraph 857. I kind of did this in the introduction, but it's worth going back. So the church is apostolic because she's founded on the apostles in three ways.

It's not just that. I mean, this is one of the things we need to pay attention to. The church is spiritual, obviously, right? There is a spiritual reality that makes up the church that's unseen, but there's also a visible reality to the church as well. It's one of the reasons why we talk about the church being the universal sacrament of salvation. There is a spiritual reality. There is an invisible reality, but there's also a very, very, very visible reality, just like for all of us as human beings, right, there is an invisible reality, but there's also a very, very, very visible reality, just like for all of us as human beings, right? There's an invisible reality that makes up

what a human being is, our soul, but there's also a tangible and visible reality of what makes us up, our body. In a similar way, the church, yes, of course, is gonna be invisible in many ways, is gonna be spiritual in many ways. That's real. But the church also is visible. The church also is tangible.

The church has a structure. And so this is one of the things that we're recognizing in being one, holy and Catholic, but also apostolic, meaning that the call of the 12 men that Jesus gathered around him is not just historical. It's 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. And so again, we go to this paragraph 857. Church is apostolic because she's founded on the Apostles in three ways. Well,

one, she was and remains built on the foundation of the apostles. The witness chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself. So yes, she was built on the foundation of the apostles. This is historical reality. Those first 12 apostles, Matthias replaced Judas at his death and then as time went on, other men were chosen and then ordained to carry on the work of the previous bishop. Secondly, with the work of the previous bishop. Secondly, with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the church keeps and hands on the teaching,

the good deposit, the salutary words she's heard from the apostles. So this is, again, as I said, 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. And then third, she also continues to be taught,

sanctified and guided by the apostles until Christ's return through their successors in pastoral office, right? The college of bishops, assisted by priests, union with the successor of Peter. That there's this reality that the church continues to be apostolic. It wasn't just a thing of the past

that those 12 apostles then subtract Judas, add Matthias. It wasn't just a thing of the past that those twelve apostles then subtract Judas add Matthias It wasn't just them. It was that fact that the church continues to have this apostolic connection. This is so so important Now we've been talking the last couple days What are the differences between? Catholics and non-catholic Christians. What are the differences between? Catholics and non-christian religions get this is the differences between Catholics and non-Christian religions? Yeah, this is kind of sensitive, but let's dive in. Sometimes I'll have people ask, like,

you know, Father, you keep saying there's so much good in non-Catholic Christian churches. Yep, absolutely, there is. That there's holiness there, that there's good teaching in many places. Yep, there is. That there are good people. Of course, that God's grace is there.

Yes, we're acknowledging all of those things. sometimes the question is then why be Catholic? Why join the Catholic Church? Well, there's many many reasons one of the reasons is this remains the apostolic church that There is an unbroken line of succession all the way back to Jesus and that Jesus commissioned those apostles to go forth and And those apostles were able to hand on their commissioning They were able to hand on their ordination to all those who came after them and for all non-catholic Christian denominations, they don't have that there is actually a break a break in that apostolic ordination

There's a break in that apostolic ordination, there's a break in that apostolic succession. And again, and that's not meant to be a dig at anybody, it's just meant to be a pointing out, this is one of the reasons that we recognize, even historically, the Catholic Church is the one apostolic church that remains. Now, I do want to clarify that the Orthodox Church is also apostolic in the sense that they have

valid ordinations, so they are the other lung of the Church that continues to breathe. However, the Orthodox Church does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Pope, and so the Catholic Church is uniquely apostolic because only the Catholic Church recognizes and maintains the primacy and universal jurisdiction of the Pope. Hope that makes sense. So now back to apostolic succession. Why is that important? Well, paragraphs 858 to 860 highlights why that's important

because 858 says Jesus is the Father's emissary, right? Jesus kept saying, the Son kept saying, I'm coming on this mission of the Father. The Father has sent me here. And then what happens is then he sends others. He sends those apostles. And Jesus in paragraph 859 unites them, those apostles, to the mission he received from the Father. Remember, it says that the apostles can do nothing apart from Jesus. Of course, none of us can do anything apart from Jesus. It goes on to say, from

whom they received both the mandate for their mission and the power to carry it out. Again, Jesus said go and he also gave them the Holy Spirit. I mean think about Acts chapter 2, here they are. Jesus had promised the power, the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And you will be my witnesses. So important. Paragraph 860 highlights something that is vital to pay attention to. In the office of the apostles, there was one aspect that cannot be transmitted. What is that? Well, it's to be chosen witnesses of the Lord's resurrection and so the foundation stones of the church. If you remember in the book of Revelation, John sees heaven descending from the heavens, essentially. He sees the new city Jerusalem, right? And is built on

the foundation stones of the 12 apostles. And that's just those twelve. But their office has a permanent aspect, because Christ promised to remain with them always, and so 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. That's why they appointed successors, and that's who the bishops are, ultimately, are the successors of those apostles paragraph 8 62 highlights this Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone as first of the apostles right the pope is Destined to be transmitted to his successors

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 and so we just we highlight this we we we love this. In fact, we are called to love this. Why? Because as it says in this last sentence of paragraph 862, whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ. And that's from Lumen Gentium in Second Vatican Council but it's also this recognition of the truth we talked about this when it came to the church itself that if we love the church we love Christ's bride if we love the church we love the body of Christ and same kind of thing when it comes to

those whom Jesus sent he who receives you receives me Jesus's own words and he says in Matthew's gospel and he says in Luke's gospel he who receives you receives me. That means if we reject those he sent, then we're rejecting him. Does that make sense? Of course it does. Does it make sense? Of course it does.

Well, it might, but also might be a challenging teaching. I hope that all of us can recognize that 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 a point where maybe God's asking for our hearts to fall more and more in love with them. This isn't just a point of data. This is a point where maybe God's asking for our hearts to be more open. Maybe it's a part of our faith that God's asking us to even just rejoice in.

I mean, there's the gift of the apostolic nature of the church is literally that. It is literally a gift. Now tomorrow we're gonna go on. We have a little kind of semi-nugget day tomorrow when we have the in brief at the end of this section. We also look at the fact that since the church is apostolic, she has an apostolate and what is that apostolate?

What we're going to talk about that tomorrow. And we'll talk about some nuggets as well. You guys, what a gift to be able to highlight the fact that here's the church that is one holy Catholic and apostolic and to know what those words mean now, hopefully when you hear that, when you say those words in the creed, you're like, oh yeah, I know what it means to say the church is one.

I know what it means to say the church is holy, it is Catholic and is apostolic. What a gift. Oh man, okay. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless