| Meditation Twenty-One, Fifth Week of July 2003 The Holy Catholic Church Readings: Matt 16: 13-20; 1 Tim. 3: 1-13; 1 Tim 4: 14-16; 1 Tim 5: 17-25; Titus 1: 5-9 A thoughtful reading of the Gospels will reveal several distinct groups of people who were part of the life of Our Lord. It is clear that He assigned them various roles that they were to play in His work of salvation. This divine work, which He Himself identified when He said I have come "to save the world" (John 12:47). Obviously these are His closest followers to whom He entrusted a task of "feeding the lambs and sheep" and of bringing the good news to the end of the world. He entrusted to them the works of salvation on His behalf. Among these are the baptism of the nations, the offering of the Eucharist "in His memory" (or prayer of thanksgiving with the mysterious designation of the bread and wine as His body and blood), and the forgiveness of sins. He called these men His apostles. Then there were the disciples who were to bring His word and power to cure illnesses and to cast out evil spirits. There are other groups as well. The most notable are His family and the women who followed Him from Galilee and stood by the cross. There were the multitudes who believed in Him. We see them so often, not as a well defined group like the apostles and the disciples. They are often referred to as listening to His word, believing in Him, and welcoming Him on Palm Sunday and at the first Pentecost. Then there are the larger multitudes for whom He has compassion because they are like sheep without a shepherd. There are other categories too, although they are not groups: those who see His signs but reject them and Him, those who have ears but do not hear, and finally His enemies, for whom He prays on the cross. The first and most obviously defined group are the twelve men Christ sends out to be His representatives. We are explicitly given their names, and we see them constantly throughout the Gospels. He teaches them, gives them instruction, which He does not share with others. He corrects them, appears to be disappointed in them, sends them, calls them His friends in the most affectionate way at the Last Supper, returns to them after the Resurrection, and sends them out to the ends of the world. Who took the place of these first collaborators, or apostles? Who increased their ranks as the new faith began to spread to the ends of the world? The Greek word for those who were added to the ranks of the apostles means overseers. Changing the Greek words into Latin, we get epi (over) and scopos (look or see), which gives us the Latin word episcopus, or in English, bishop. St. Paul often speaks of these bishop overseers who fulfilled the tasks of the apostles, and he writes to two of them explicitly, Timothy and Titus. They were among the first bishops of the Church. St. Paul also makes a distinction between those he leaves in charge (overseers) and the elders. (See Titus 1: 5-9) The Greek word for elder is rendered in Latin as presbyter, from which we get the English word priest. In the earliest tradition of all ancient churches -- Catholic, Orthodox and apostolic, like the Armenian and Coptic churches -- these three distinct groups of ordained men have existed and have been defined in exactly the same way. As such, these groups were designated at the end of the first century by St. Clement, Bishop of Rome (died 94 A.D.) and at the beginning of the second century by St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (died 106). There are bishops, priests and deacons, the latter being found in the Acts of the Apostles 6: 1-6. It is strange that many devout Gospel-loving Christians don't see these distinct groups of people singled out by the original apostles in the laying on of hands and prayer (see Acts 6: 6 for one of several references to what we now call ordination.) Presumably those who give special importance to the King James version of the Bible would be very astonished to find that those who made that translation had the title of bishops and priests of the Anglican Church. Moreover, they saw themselves as Catholic clergy, although separated from the Bishop of Rome because of the order of the King of England. Bishops, priests, and deacons are not supermen. Like the apostles, they can sin, fall away, and even betray Christ, as the apostle Judas did. Good bishops, priests, and deacons do their work to feed and guard the flock of God filled with an awareness that when Christ chose the man to lead the apostles, He chose the only person recorded to have confessed to Jesus Christ that he was a sinful man. Quotation for Meditation Words of Pope John Paul II to the Catholic world on the day of his election as Pope. "Christ, make me become and remain the servant of your unique power, the servant of your sweet power, the servant of your power that knows no eventide. Make me a servant. Indeed the servant of your servants." Then the Holy Father spoke these words of encouragement to the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square. "Be not afraid to welcome Christ and accept His power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ's power to serve the human person the whole of mankind. Be not afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ. To His saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Be not afraid. Christ knows what is in man. He alone knows it. . . . I ask you . . . I beg you, let Christ speak to you. He alone has the words of life, yes of eternal life." Quotations are taken from Witness to Hope by George Weigel, published by Harper Collins 1999. p.262 Quiet Time and Then Discussion Questions for Meditation 1. Am I as aware as I should be that Christ established the office of bishop and that priests and deacons have assisted in this holy order since the time of the apostles? 2. With all the attacks of the media and the revelation of the moral failure of some bishops and priests, has my faith in what Christ did become clouded? 3. Do I react appropriately when the Pope, bishops and priests are attacked in the media? Do I protest or do I give my consent to this by silence? Prayer Come, Holy Spirit, and renew your Church. Help everyone of us, clergy, religious and laity, to respect the Holy Orders that you bestow as part of Christ's plan of salvation. Help those called to be bishops, priests and deacons to fulfill their offices well and guide us in supporting them as those sent by Christ. Amen.
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