You have heard me ask the question, “Where did Jesus go after his resurrection?” Remember the answer?
Jesus went into the Church. That is fundamental to our understanding of Church over the past 2,000 years, based upon scriptures.
Some 500 years ago there began a schism which has shattered many Christians into innumerable factions, perhaps as many as 50,000 different churches today, creating the impression in many quarters that the Catholic Church is just one more of those factions. The Reformation was a divisive schism leading to more factions, each with its own peculiar little twist or emphasis. This happened because many rejected the apostolic teaching authority of the Church.
Meanwhile the apostolic Church has survived. And Jesus lives in the Church. The teaching authority of the Church remains.
The Apostle, John, in that reading we shared from the Book of Revelation is describing the Church as the New Jerusalem.
The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.…
The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation,
on which were inscribed the twelve names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
John saw our Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, as we say in the Creed.
The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gave it light,
and its lamp was the Lamb.
Jesus is in the Church. Jesus is the Temple of the New Jerusalem.
Jesus taught the Apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit to guide the Church. We hear Jesus tell the apostles at the Last Supper,
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told the apostles,
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The Twelve Apostles could have split into schisms, but they didn’t. The sought unity and taught unity of the Church.
Look what happened as recounted in Acts of the Apostles in what we refer to as the Council of Jerusalem. Christian faith rapidly spread from Jerusalem to the whole world. However, the Christians in Jerusalem were Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah but still followed Mosaic law, including circumcision and the dietary laws.
Israel was a very small country, surrounded by a much larger world that was largely Greek-speaking and pagan. Jews called them Gentiles. Outside of Israel few spoke Hebrew. Faith in Jesus Christ was spreading well beyond Israel, into the Greek speaking areas. Jesus appeared to St. Paul and told him to go to the Gentiles.
A significant number of early Greek-speaking Christians settled in Antioch in Syria. The Apostles in Jerusalem sent Paul and Barnabas to investigate the budding Christian community at Antioch. The elders at the Church in Antioch later sent Paul and Barnabas on their evangelizing missions to the peoples and nations beyond Israel and Syria and thus, Christian faith spread well beyond Israel into the pagan, Gentile world. It was at Antioch that the term “Christian” was first used. Antioch has been called, “the cradle of Christianity”.
The problem arose, however, that the new Gentile Christians were not Jewish Christians following Mosaic laws of circumcision and diet. We read,
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”
This was strong stuff and it led to a serious schism between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. They both believed in Jesus Christ. They both were baptized into the Church. However, they could not even share a table or meal with one another. The Jewish Christians demanded that the Gentile Christians first had to become Jews and follow Mosaic law, including circumcision and diet. This became a major problem in the first generation of the church.
The elders in Antioch, including St. Paul and St. Barnabas, knew that they needed to resolve this conflict, or the Church would split in two. They recognized the need to consult the Apostles in Jerusalem, and sent Paul, Barnabas and other Gentile Christian leaders from the Church in Antioch to consult the Apostles in Jerusalem. In this manner the Church at Antioch first demonstrated the awareness that the Church must be “one, holy, catholic and Apostolic.”
The Apostles acted to send a letter to the Gentiles telling them,
‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us
not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,
namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols,
from blood, from meats of strangled animals,
and from unlawful marriage.
If you keep free of these,
you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’”
Thanks to the Council of Jerusalem today we have no dietary restrictions except to avoid meats sacrificed to pagan idols, and to avoid many of the kinds of marriages practiced among pagans, including marriage between brothers and sisters and cousins, or between older men with children. That was the limit. No more Mosaic restrictions. The Church was to be one, holy, catholic and Apostolic.
Over the centuries, consulting the Apostles, or their successors, has become normal procedure in the Church. Once every five years every Bishop on earth goes to Rome to consult with the Pope. Over the centuries the Bishops of the Church have come together to address issues that cause serious division and to strengthen Church unity. The most recent “Ecumenical Council” was Vatican II, over 50 years ago. From that great council arose common understanding for the Church in the modern world.
We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. The Church is our mother. The Holy Spirit resides in the Church and guides her. Thanks be to God.