A Portsmouth Catholic

AUTHORITY 3

Now having chosen a group of men to spread his Gospel, there was the question of what to do if they disagreed. When a committee of any kind is chosen in life there always has to be a chairman, a leader who can direct policy according to the rules. So Christ chose Peter. It was not that he was more saintly than the others, but he appeared to have greater insight. “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God” “Blessed art thou for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in Heaven” replied Jesus ” and I say to you Thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, so that what you loose upon earth will be loosed also in Heaven”. And so it was on the authority of the Apostles and their leader that the Church lasted and will continue to last for two thousand years. But indeed there were many challenges to the Authority Jesus had given. Right from the start we had people in the very Church in Rome there were those who refused to believe hat the bread at the memorial of Christ did not change into the Flesh of Jesus. They were called Docitists.. But the real challenge came with the Arian heresy. Most heresies were usually confined to a small region But Arianism spread throughout the Christian world and many bishops supported them. The problem was that there was an opinion that Jesus was a kind of lesser God. His divinity they argued was created by the Father at the moment of his birth. The Pope rallied the Church and at the Council of Nicea the bishops agreed that Jesus was “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten not mad, Consubstantial with the Father, and through him all things were made” Now these words are read at every Mass, but how many Catholics know where the words came from.

Now we can see how the Church set up by Christ has lasted. Whereas scripture without authority has perished and there are over 25 thousand Protestant denominations. They all broke away from one another because scripture was not a safe authority without the Catholic Church. Now let me say immediately that I am not criticising Protestants. I grew up with Protestants and my best friend was Church of Scotland. We argued the Bible for years and that brought nothing for it was argument and not discussion. But I respected him. I used to do Parish visiting where we knocked doors looking for Catholics and often had friendly discussions with Protestants of all denominations. We spoke respectfully of their Faith for they are also children of God AND GOD LOVES THEM AND IS ALSO WORKING FOR THEIR SALVATION. When I listen to Songs of Praise on the tv I am often lost in admiration at the works they do, and I feel that God will look more kindly on them than on me.

But back to Authority. There is an Essay by a writer called McAuley in which he praises the survival of the Catholic Church from the beginnings in Rome until today. He ends with this. “One day when a traveller is looking at the ruins of St Pauls, the Catholic Church will still be there” Yes it is the survival of the Catholic Church so loved and yet despised by others that is the real mystery.