A Church with Authority

Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year C

Making decisions can be very difficult especially when everyone seems to have their own opinion. You and I know that each of us always think that our own opinion is always the most important of all. That is the reason why we have disagreements which may even lead to conflict and later to disunity.

That was also the problem of the early Christians. Some of the early Christians believed that they should still follow the Jewish customs, for example circumcision and prohibitions towards certain foods. For them, Jesus was a Jew and had also followed Jewish ways and rituals. But there was also another group of Christians who were able to recognize the newness brought about by Jesus. Jesus was not merely another Jewish teacher who wanted to reform his religion, but he was the Son of God who came to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. And within this kingdom, customs and rituals which separated one race from the other could no longer be barriers to Christian brotherhood. And so a problem was presented to the Council of Jerusalem, the assembly of Christian leaders, who came together to decide on this critical matter – whether non-Jewish (Gentiles) converts to Christianity should adopt the practices of the Jews. After long discussion a decision was made – the Gentile converts should “not be saddled with any burden beyond certain essentials.” 

Throughout all these centuries, throughout all these years of crisis and trials, the Church has continued to survive and grow, only because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and the gift of Jesus to the Church and to each of us who are believers. He is sent to as to “teach you everything and remind you of all (Jesus) have said to you.” His presence guarantees that we will experience peace in our decisions even in the midst of chaos and problems. His guidance ensures that in spite of all our personal opinions and ways of thinking, we can still come to a common decision that reflects the will of God. In other words, he is the guarantee of unity within the Church. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church and unity would not be possible.

It would be self-defeating and illogical if Christ decided to leave us with revelation but not the means to interpret it. Both Catholics and Protestants would agree that the Bible (or Sacred Scripture, as the Church prefers to call it) is authoritative and inspired. But Protestants would insist on right of private judgment and interpretation – they would claim that there is no need for an external authority apart from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which is accorded to every believer. If Christ wanted to ensure that his teachings would have the efficacy of leading humanity to salvation, he would have taken the necessary measures to ensure the same teaching would achieve this purpose, rather than become a cause for confusion and destruction. This is why Christ promised to protect the teaching of the Church by conferring this very authority of interpretation on to the Church’s Magisterium: "He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects your rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me" (Luke 10. 16).

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide His Church into all truth. Jesus in today’s gospel promises his disciples that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit “will teach (the Church) everything and remind (her) of all” he had first taught His apostles (cf. Jn. 14:26).  Jesus did not leave His people vulnerable to the doctrinal whims of competing leaders. Rather, He built the Church on the solid foundation of the apostles. He gave the Church His Holy Spirit, the Advocate (Parakletos), to enable her to be “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Despite the cultural winds that have blown through the ages, the faithful have always had a visible, easily identifiable magisterial “rock” on which they could safely stand in all seasons. When the Magisterium pronounces definitively on a matter of faith or morals, the Holy Spirit ensures that the Church will not teach erroneously.

We must therefore always remember that our decisions must always be made with reference to the Church and the community as a whole. It is that same Spirit which will inspire each of us. There is always the temptation to think that my opinion is the best and the most important of all. But what matters most is not this or that opinion or even the opinion of the majority, but it is the will of God that we must always search for with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us continue to treasure the gift of the Holy Spirit and give thanks to God because the Holy Spirit is the sure hope and promise that God has not and will never abandon us.

The crisis that has afflicted the Catholic Church since the middle of the 1960s has been a crisis of both faith and morals, that is, a crisis that has made many Catholics no longer know what to believe or what kind of conduct God expects of us. What is needed as a remedy for this is a firm standard, a reliable guide or teacher who can tell us both what we must believe and what we must do. Therefore, the importance of the Magisterium is in fact the importance of our life as Christians. We need a Church who can ensure that the light of Christ’s saving Gospel will shine on every generation. We need a Church that does not only provide us with good ideas and opinions but who teaches authoritatively, who is able to give us great light & clarity in a world that seems often enveloped in the darkness of sin; in a world enamoured and confused by the fallacious philosophy of relativism which provides so many competing false lights. We need a Church who has authority to convey to us the very means of salvation and guide us to a safe landing. And as G.K. Chesterton, one of the most famous converts to Catholicism of recent times, said, “I don’t need a church to tell me I’m wrong where I already know that I’m wrong; I need a Church to tell me I’m wrong where I think I’m right.”