LESSON 19
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS AUTHORITY
"And if he will not hear the church: let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." (Matthew 18:17)
DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT It is the authority of the Church that will help you to follow Christ when everything else seems to fail. Temptations will come, your prayers will seem useless; your past training in Christian living will seem inadequate. If there is question of doubt, of serious doubt about your religion, the teaching authority of the Church will keep you close to Christ. If a problem of Christian morality arises, the authority of the Church to govern you will keep you from throwing away your life on sin. Or if the difficulty is human weakness, the Church's authority to give you God's grace will ultimately conquer, and bring you to Almighty God. You must understand this lesson on the authority of the Church. Study it slowly and carefully.
A. AUTHORITY
From our experience we are all familiar with authority. Authority is the power one person has over another, so that he can give commands, which the other must obey.
We have always lived under authority. From our earliest memories we can recall being under the authority of our mother and father. As we grew old~r we came to know and obey the authority of the federal and state government, the courts and the police.
B. IN ANY GROUP LACK OF AUTHORITY MEANS CHAOS
Authority is not only good, it is necessary! Without authority you can have no order, no decent living, no happiness. lust imagine what Chicago would be like without the authority of a police force. Think of the United States without a President If by chance there were no President, no government, no authority in the United States, the people themselves would choose some man or group of men who would have authority to rule, otherwise we would live in constant fear of being attacked, robbed, murdered. We would be at the mercy of wicked men.
All authority comes ultimately from God for the good of those who are governed, not for the honor of those in authority. For example, we don't elect a President to make him great and respected, but to make ourselves happy and secure, for it is the President's job to enforce the laws which have been made for the happiness and security of all.
Freedom from authority is bad. If you free yourself from the laws of health and hygiene, you will become diseased and ill. When you liberated yourself from the authority of the Ten Commandments you became evil and, as a result, unhappy. Freedom from the authority of Christ does not bring happiness and well-being-it leads only to misery .
C. DO YOU WANT A CHURCH WITH OR WITHOUT AUTHORITY?
How many times have you heard a non-Catholic friend say, " At our church they teach us this, but I do what I want?" In so many words this person says that he recognizes no religious authority over himself. Unfortunately many non-Catholic religions teach that you should free yourself from all religious authority; and thus by their own teaching they are destroying themselves and all religion.
Just suppose that your child came home from school and told you that there was no authority, no punishment for wrong doing in the school, that there was no principal, no teachers whom the child would have to obey. What would you do? You would take your child out of that school immediately. Now, religion is just as important as school. As a matter of fact, religion is more important. Religion with no authority, no discipline, no head, is a weak religion. You need religion to teach you, to give you grace, to govern you, and thus to help you win heaven. But a weak religion cannot do this for you.
A weak religion without proper authority is also a scandal and keeps people from wishing to practice religion. Without proper authority, the head of each sect makes up his own rules as he goes along. The life style of the adherents to this sect becomes anything but the balanced way of life that the Catholic Church presents to people. When many around see and hear what is preached by the followers of such "religions", they choose not to be religious themselves.
Christ was not weak, Christ's Church is not weak. The Church rules the Catholic people with authority; and that authority is from God.
The Catholic Church teaches us what Christ taught. It teaches with authority, and therefore we must receive and obey these teachings. The Catholic Church does not depend upon public opinion to determine what Christ did or did not teach or to decide what is right and wrong. The Church has God ' s truth and it teaches this truth to the people -God determines what the Church will teach, not the people.
Moreover, the Catholic Church gives God's grace to men; it has received the means to give this grace from God Himself. The Catholic Church governs its people with authority. Catholics must and do obey the Church.
Do you want a religion with no authority? Then don't become a Catholic. But note this well: the Catholic Church will influence your life only if you accept the Church as God's representative with authority from God Himself.
D. JESUS CHRIST HAS SUPREME AUTHORITY OVER OUR SOULS
Jesus Christ has supreme authority over us. "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18)
He proved His authority by proving to us that He is God. A Christian worthy of the name accepts Christ the Man-God as his Lord and Master Who has supreme authority over him. This means that the Christian must believe what Christ teaches, get grace the way Christ tells him to get grace, and obey Christ in all things.
E. JESUS CHRIST GA YE HIS AUTHORITY TO THE APOSTLES
Christ knew He would leave the world. So He gave His authority to teach, to give grace (to sanctify), and to govern souls (to rule) to the twelve Apostles.
THE AUTHORITY TO TEACH: "Going therefore. teach ye all nations. ..T eaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days. even to the consummation of the world." (Matthew 28:19-20)
THE AUTHORITY TO GIVE GRACE: "This is my body. which is given for you.Do this fo ra commemoration of me. ..This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood which shall be shed for you." (Luke 22:1.9-20 ) "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:23 )(In along series of lessons on the Sacraments we will teach you the other ways of giving grace which the Church has received from Christ.)
THE AUTHORITY TO GOVERN : " AmenI say to you, whatsoeveryou shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven." (Matthew 18:18)
Christ did not give His authority to everyone who heard and believed His teachings. Not to every Tom, Dick and Harry , but only to the twelve Apostles and to their successors did Christ give this authority to teach, to give grace and to govern.
F. THE APOSTLES GA VE CHRIST'S AUTHORITY TO OTHER BISHOPS AND PRIESTS
The Apostles were the fIrst bishops. After Judas left the Church, the Apostles chose Matthias to take his place. To spread the Church the Apostles ordained bishops and priests.
St. Paul was a bishop; he received his powers from the Apostles.
The Bible tells that the Apostles ordained priests: " And when they had ordained to them priests in every church. ..they commended them to the Lord. .." (Acts 14:22)
G. HOW THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH IS EXERCISED
The Pope watches over the world and points out in authoritative letters and decrees the teachings of Christ. Under the Pope are bishops and priests who teach the doctrines of Christ in thousands of churches and schools throughout the world.
THE AUTHORITY TO SANCTIFY : The Church gives grace to people through the Sacraments. The Catholic Church makes us share in God's life in Baptism. It feeds us with the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion and fortifies us with strength of soul in ConfIrmation. It grants forgiveness of sins in Confession, grace to the sick in Extreme Unction, marriage strength in the Sacrament ofMatrimony , priestly grace in the Sacrament ofHoly Orders. We shall study all these Sacraments in later lessons.
THE AUTHORITY TO RULE: From the very beginning of the Catholic Church the Apostles used their power to make laws which would help men lead a good Christian life. (See: I Cor 7:12-13; I Cor 5:3) Thus the Church makes many laws that are not found in the Bible. For example, the Church forbids eating meat on Friday as a serious sin -it binds us with laws of fast and abstinence during Lent, it enforces the laws of Sunday worship with the penalty of serious sin. For catholics, it commands marriage before a priest.
In serious matters, the Church punishes us for disoebience. The Bishops, the real successors of the Apostles use this authority which Christ gave His Church to punish notorious sinners.
A few recent examples will make this clear. Those who adhere to the theories of atheistic Communism are excommunicated from the Church. This is not an economic theory of government; it is a diabolical attempt to wipe out religion from the face of the earth. No Catholic can belong to such an organization in good conscience.
A priest of Boston was forbidden by the bishop to use his priestly powers and was later excommunicated by the Pope because he taught error in religion. ( The priest insisted on teaching the error that all Protestants necessarily go to hell.)
The Church is not offensive or domineering in her exercise of authority. The greater the authority a man has in the Church, the more Christ-like and kind you will usually find him to be. The Pope, the bishops and priests share in Christ's love for sinners; they use their authority only for the benefit of souls.
Seldom do Catholics complain about their treatment by the Church. Many try to live a more perfect life than the bare commandments of the Church require.
H. CHRIST GAVE PETER SUPREME AUTHORITY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
When Christ established His Church, He made Peter, one of the Apostles, the head of the whole Church.
"And I say to thee: That thou art 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. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth. it shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)
