Tag: The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica – Bernini’s Baldacchino. This bronze canopy is located directly under the dome of St. Peter’s and marks St Peter’s tomb underneath.

The Ninth Article of the Apostles’ Creed continued…

    The Catholic Church established by Christ is also known as the “Universal Sacrament of Salvation“.  All saving grace makes it way to humanity in and through  The Catholic Church  as a result of Christ’s passion and death on the Cross. Whoever  is saved receives the graces necessary to become holy and reach Heaven through  The Catholic Church. Do not be deceived, The Catholic Church is the chosen instrument of God Himself! Do you hear me my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? Do not be deceived by soul destroying  moral relativism that is corrupting our World. There is no second or third way into Heaven, there is only the Catholic way! The Catholic Church has EVERYTHING we need to help us along on our journey to our ETERNAL DESTINY. Eternity is a really long time even though it is outside of time. This is why Jesus left us with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (daily Mass is available to most), prayer (our Father, Hail Mary), His Mother Mary (now our Mother), Confession (I try to go at least every 2 weeks, sometimes more), the Sacrament of  Matrimony ( Trinitarian), Baptism (Faith, Hope, Charity), Confirmation (strengthening), and Anointing of the Sick (physical and spiritual healing). Christ and His Church meet us at every step of our lives, from birth to death. As Catholics we have so many tools in order to help us on our way.

  The Catholic Church  is necessary for salvation! Jesus very clearly declared that no one can be saved except through faith and Baptism. Here is from St Mark’s Gospel in chapter 16:[16] “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.”  We also read in Lumen Gentium 14 Christ’s affirmation “the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door“.

 Ordinary and Extraordinary Magisterium

     The Catholic Church  utilizes two ways to teach and safeguard the Truths handed down by Christ to His Apostles’. We have the ordinary Magisterium of the Church which is Her day to day universal, worldwide teachings on faith and morals. These are TRUTHS to believed and laws to be obeyed. These TRUTHS and laws are not optional by the way. Some good examples of the Church’s teachings that fit into the category of ordinary magisterial teachings are the Church’s solid stance on the evils of abortion, contraception, and euthanasia. These TRUTHS have not been solemnly defined, but the content (doctrine) of these TRUTHS is fixed. Our consciences are bound to believe these Truths.

  The extraordinary Magisterium  is the exercise of the Church’s teachings in a very exceptional and defined  way. Not only is the content fixed, but we also have a fixed and defined statement that cannot be changed. Therefore, the content and definition are fixed when we are talking about the teachings from the extraordinary Magisterium. An example of an ordinary teaching becoming a part of the extraordinary Magisterium of the Church is in 1854 when Pope Pius IX solemnly declared our Mother Mary’s Immaculate Conception in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus . The extraordinary Magisterium’s declarations’ are made in the form of ex cathedra pronouncements, or also known as “from the Chair of Peter“. They can also  come from solemn declarations made through Ecumenical Councils (these must be approved and ratified by the Pope). We must note that these DOGMAS/ DOCTRINES are binding on ALL the FAITHFUL. We cannot pick and choose which teachings suit our fancy, or which teachings the World agrees with. We are bound as Catholics to follow, live by, and believe the infallible dogmas of The Catholic Church.

 So, in the case of the ordinary Magisterium we understand that the content of the teaching is fixed but it’s language, or definition is still not solemnly defined. In the case of an extraordinary Magisterial teaching, the content and defined language are both fixed and cannot change. Yes, both ordinary and extraordinary teachings must be believed.

  We will look at infallibility in the next post

  May Almighty God bless us and protect us from the World, the devil, the heretics, and ourselves !

        In  JM+JT,

                Lee

ps  The Church needs Saints ; don’t be afraid to be one !