Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Luke 6: 12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Jesus traveled with a crowd of students. From this group he chose twelve. Twelve is a number in the bible that signifies government. Jesus chose the Twelve to be the leadership of his Church. To them he would give special teaching and later pass all of his authority on to them. This is the beginning of Apostolic Succession.

The Catholic Church teaches with the authority of Jesus because he gave that Church the ability to do so. There are many who call themselves Catholic but don’t accept this simple concept. They believe the leadership has gone astray and is now being controlled by Satan himself. These catholics have forgotten that Jesus promised to always be with his Church and that even the gates of hell would not prevail against it. They believe Jesus no longer stands with his Church and that she has been infiltrated by Satan and his demons.

I choose to take Jesus at his word and believe that he himself still guides the Church and the leadership currently at the helm. He guides them to lead us where we need to be at this time. It is sad that others who claim to believe the Catholic faith seem to think differently. They are in good company throughout the ages.

What would be easier for the devil to do; defy Jesus and take over the Church Jesus began and continues to guide or persuade mere men to believe that the Church has gone astray and they are the only ones who have this truth? What convinces a man like Martin Luther that his opinion trumps official Church teaching that has been taught for 1500 years? Surely he can’t be guided by Jesus, who promised to guide the Church.

I have come to learn the hard way that where there is something I disagree with the Church on I am always the person who is wrong. I thank God for guiding me back to the source of faith and authority he gave us. I pray for those foolish enough to believe they have unlocked the secrets and have appointed themselves more an authority than those God put in place.