Saturday, August 29, 2020 –
Are we at the last Mark of the Church already!? Well, good! That means we are at APOSTOLIC (AKA APOSTOLICITY). In my opinion, this is the easiest of the four Marks to understand and also the most important because it really contains the other three Marks. Also, it is a bit fun to point to this one when talking with protestants. #SorryNotSorry
Naturally, we will start with our Catechism:
857 The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways:
– she was and remains built on “the foundation of the Apostles,” the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;
– with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the “good deposit,” the salutary words she has heard from the apostles;
– she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, “assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor”…
869 The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: “the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf. Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.
To put it more succinctly, let’s open our Baltimore Catechism:
Q. 567. How is the Church Apostolic?
A. The Church is Apostolic because it was founded by Christ on His Apostles, and is governed by their lawful successors, and because it has never ceased, and never will cease, to teach their doctrine. (Baltimore Catechism, #3)
Bishop Morrow says the same thing:
53. The Catholic Church: Catholicity and Apostolicity
1. Why is the Catholic Church apostolic? –The Catholic Church is apostolic because it was founded by Christ on the Apostles, and, according to His divine will, has always been governed by their lawful successors.
Apostolicity is easily proved by the facts of history. If a church cannot trace back its history lawfully in an unbroken line step by step to the Apostles, it is not the True Church. (Bishop Morrow, My Catholic Faith, p. 107)…
And our breakdown? Well here you go! The Catholic Church has the Mark of APOSTOLICITY because:
- The Church was founded by Christ
- Christ chose the Apostles (“Founded on the Apostles”)
- There is an unbroken chain of lawful successors (the Pope)
- The entirety of Catholic history can be traced directly to the Apostles and Christ.
- The doctrine taught by the Church and mission to spread Christ’s teaching to the whole world is unbroken, meaning it remains intact and the same as what Christ taught the Apostles.
You may be asking how Apostolicity encompasses the other three Marks of the Church, well:
- It encompasses Unity (AKA One) because it provides an unbroken chain of worship, faith, and government handed down from Christ to the Apostles and down through the ages.
- It encompasses Sanctity (AKA Holy) because it provides an unbroken chain from Christ, our Founder who is All-Holy, down through the ages in doctrine and the means to achieve holiness, mainly the Sacraments and prayer.
- It encompasses Catholicity (AKA Catholic) because it was instituted by Christ and provides an unbroken chain of spreading the faith throughout all time and places, and because the doctrine Christ taught the Apostles is still handed down today.
Finally, on a total tangent to the whole Apostolic thing, there is a website you can trace a Priest’s Episcopal lineage. I did that once for our previous Pastor and made him a fancy framed image of his lineage. It was very cool. Anyhoo, if you want to waste a few hundred hours, check out: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/
And now for the crazy part of the tangent: did you know that there are currently two Bishops who are 38 and one who is 104!? I kind of want to get them in a room together and see what they talk about. “Well, when I was your age…”
Saint Marcellinus, pray for us!
