Did Christ institute One (Visible) Church? - Part IV
Verifying the claims of the Catholic Church
In the Old Temple, and even much before the Temple existed; right from the time of Moses, we read about the visible Presence of God,
And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt.
[Exodus 3:2]And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
[3 Kings (1 Kings) 8:11]Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when the were gone into it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
[Numbers 16:43]The cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory of the Lord filled it.
[Exodus 40:32]
And Christ speaking of Himself says,
“But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple.
[Matthew 12:6]
Since, Christ was speaking of His Body as being the New Temple, we know that He is greater than the Temple in Jerusalem. His mystical body - the Church is this New Temple and therefore, like His Body of flesh it has to be visible and tangible in order for us to know for sure what is true. The importance of having a visible and tangible Church is so that it can be verified as true. Only visible things can be verified, abstract things are not measurable, not verifiable, and when our eternal salvation depends on knowing the Truth, the Truth should be accessible to every one without any special skill on our part.
When people do not believe in the claims of Christ, He says to them,
Otherwise believe for the very works' sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do. [John 14:12]
God is Truth and truth is always verifiable; it is never vague or abstract. Therefore, proof and truth go together. A proof of something, by its very nature, also has to be tangible. It cannot be a belief in someone’s head, it cannot be abstract and undistinguishable from competing ideas or entities. So, for instance, how does a Catholic prove his Faith? How can a Catholic’s Faith be seen? St. James says,
But some man will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without works; and I will shew thee, by works, my faith. [James 2:18]
The work done by saintly Catholics proves their Faith. The works they did prove that their belief doesn’t originate with some vague idea, it comes from something other than themself. Their works are also unlike the works of those from other faiths. These saints could be taken to be gods themselves, because the works they did were beyond human capacity. Saints like St. Anthony, St. Vincent Ferrer, and others who lived many centuries after Christ, performed miracles like their Master. These are the saints who raised the dead.
There were also saints who multiplied food similar to how Christ multiplied bread in the Gospel; for instance St. John Marie Vianney once multiplied flour. Yet, his self opinion was such that, when people asked him for a miracle, he would say, “I do not work miracles! I am only a poor ignorant man who once tended sheep…Turn to St. Philomena. I have never asked for anything through her without receiving it.”
Besides the above, if these were not awesome enough already, there are a multitude of saints who have performed miracles of healing during their life time and continue to perform miracles through their relics. However, that is beyond the scope of this article, so I will stop here; but the point is that Catholic saints have proven beyond doubt that the miracles1 they do are not humanly possible, they have to come from some supernatural source. The saints are just intercessors, it is God, who does the miracles through them.
This may be too much for skeptics to believe, but when truth can be scientifically proven, it doesn’t matter whether people remain skeptics. Gravity doesn’t stop existing even if every human being stops believing in it.
Thus, the saints have given proof across time and place of the Truth of Christ’s Church. There is no other Church which can claim the same amount of miracles. If there are “miracles” outside the Catholic Church, they are probably like the miracle granted to the Roman centurion who was not a Jew but Christ performed the miracle because of the man’s Faith.2
Does the Church have to be a visible entity?
The visibleness of the Church is related to our salvation. that’s why Christ didn’t simply preach but performed mighty works which could be seen, heard, touched, eaten. While other spiritual gurus only talk, Christ proved beyond doubt that He is the Master, the Creator of the world. He did this to save man, who was on his way to hell.
Christ therefore, became man and worked tirelessly to preach the Truth about Who He is. For doing this He was falsely accused, spat upon, slapped, flogged, insulted, called all sorts of names, and crucified on the highway for all to see. This was the work He performed, so that everyone who believed in Him would be saved. He therefore ensured that what He taught would be faithfully handed down to all humanity, through His Church.
And we get the key to understanding the Church, in His prayer,3 in in John 17: 6-21, “I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me”. This is pretty straightforward: the men to whom Christ manifested the Gospel, were chosen and given by God the Father. Then Christ says, “the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” So it was only to these men that Christ gave His word and proved who He was. Then He goes on to pray only for these men, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me..” There’s no pastor outside the Church, who can claim to be called by God because then Christ would have prayed for him, (Christ being God would have foreseen the rift of Protestantism) but instead He stresses that He does not pray for the world, but only for these chosen men “And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me; That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”
“And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
[Mark 3:24]
The (visible) unity of Catholic believers has been under attack since the last 55 years, by those who want to destroy the Kingdom of God; but it can still be seen where Tradition is strong and where Catholics even in the New Order are sincere. Catholics of today are united with Catholics down the ages, in their doctrines, prayers, liturgy, saints, and more; when protestants can’t get along with the “church” across the road. Every time there’s a disagreement, you can find a new “denominational church” mushrooming, what kind of witness is that to the world? (Humans are the only species that fight their own species on the scale of war.) Yet, with a new heart and a new spirit given by Christ, only the Catholic Church remains united in its 22 rites all under the headship of Christ, under His vicar—the pope. Yes, there are differences but that is because of human frailty, but these differences are eased out by the working of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Thus, it is Christ who maintains the unity of His Kingdom and therefore it stands. There is no human who can take credit for the unity of the Church. It is not the work of human hands.
Can anyone build or start a church?
”The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”4 The Church, therefore, cannot simply be a group of people who claim to believe in Jesus Christ. No man can build a house for God, this is according to Sacred Scripture.
Yet the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands, as the prophet saith: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What house will you build me? saith the Lord; or what is the place of my resting? [Acts Of Apostles 7:48]
God Himself has built His house, His kingdom, which He promised to Abraham, David, and the nation of Israel. By its origin, which is Jesus Christ, it is greater than the Temple built by King Solomon; it is truly a Kingdom — where Christ is King. And just as the Temple was a very real thing, to which people came, to perform worship, and offer sacrifice - this New Temple, built by the Son of David - is real and a place for believers to come and perform worship.
Where is this Kingdom located?
Christ speaking to the woman at the well, said to her, “Woman, believe me, that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father… God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth.”
[John 4:21,24]. He also, foretold the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem: “he said: These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.” [Luke 21:5,6]. How then are people to worship God in spirit and in truth if not on the mountain in Jerusalem, and if the Temple is to be destroyed, where were they to worship?
The answer is the New Temple. Christ expects His followers to worship Him in the New Temple which corresponds to the New and Eternal Covenant. This New Temple is the Catholic Church, which is found not just in Jerusalem, but all over the world, in all the parishes and dioceses that are united to Rome. Since, they all have one visible head, they form one body, even though these parishes are separated by location. Like a living body has just one head, the Catholic Church — the mystical body of Christ has only one Head — Christ Himself. His vicar on earth is the visible head for the sake of governing His flock until He returns in glory.
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References:
https://www.miraclesofthesaints.com/
And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel [Matthew 8:5-10]
I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known, that all things which thou hast given me, are from thee: Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine: And all my things are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; that they may be one, as we also are. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept; and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled. And now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.
They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me;
That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
[1 Timothy 3:15]