What Do We Mean By "apostolic" In Our Profession? Series

Monday of 24th Week in Course

There are four marks of the Church—unity, holiness, apostolicity and catholicity. The unity is oneness in belief and practice. The holiness. Ah, we mustn't think that means that all members of the Church and even all clergy are holy. There have some real rascals among Christians and clergy, all the way to the top. Holiness in the Church means that what the Church teaches, and the means that She uses, can and will make us holy if we do not betray Christ and act like hypocrites. After all, it is critical that we do holy things and let them penetrate into our souls, our spirits. And the Church has boasted some awesomely holy people who have been examples of sanctity for us all. All the saints on the list and others, like Dorothy Day and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (Yes, even people in other Christian traditions.)

The Church is apostolic because its foundation stones are the apostles chosen by Jesus himself as his first witnesses, prophets, priests and leaders. What the Apostles did and taught continues to be done and taught today in the Church. In St. Paul's letter to his protégé and appointed overseer, Timothy, we read how Paul told Timothy how to lead and teach, basically in the same mode as all the other apostles. And he instructs Timothy's congregation to pray “without anger or quarreling.” Leave the parish politics at the church door. The most important thing is to spread the Gospel of Christ.

The Eucharist is apostolic in the same sense. The apostles continued to celebrate the Eucharist just as Jesus showed them. Moreover, it is clear from the New Testament and the earliest Christian writings that we continue to celebrate the same Eucharist that the apostles celebrated, in remembrance of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, taking communion with each other in love.

Moreover, what we teach about the Eucharist is in total conformity with the teaching of the Apostles. They believed that what we take in communion is the Body and Blood of the Lord. Now we use terms to describe what happens, and they did not, but we mean what they meant, and we teach what they taught, using slightly different words. Taking communion is a religious act. That means that the action binds us to God and to each other in Christ. Paul taught that we must examine our conscience before coming to the altar, to make certain we are not in a state of serious sin.

This is the faith that Jesus commanded us to show the world. Consider the story we find in today's Gospel. This Roman centurion, the local embodiment of the oppressive imperial rule, has endeared himself to the town's Jewish population and leaders, and probably come to believe in the God of Israel. He even used his soldiers and servants to build the synagogue, the location of which has been preserved to this day in Capernaum. So the Jews entreated Jesus to heal his sick servant—his dying servant. But when Jesus told the man He would come to lay hands on the servant, the centurion, full of faith, said words we all can make our theme, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but say the word and my servant will be healed.” Catholics use this as their prayer before communion, and how fitting it is.

Jesus marveled at the centurion's faith. The Jews were supposed to believe in the Messiah of God, but did not. It was too much of a scandal to believe that the Messiah might die as a convicted rebel, on a cross. But the Gentiles who had come to believe in the God of Israel, who understood their sinful state and need for cleansing, they believed, beginning with this soldier. How much does today's culture, the people around us, sorely need healing from the path of sin and death! Let's show them how we love them and Christ, and attract them to come and see and become the next generation of believers, cognizant of their unworthiness, but willing to believe in the boundless love of God in Christ.