I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father. JN 15:15
ACTS 15:22-31 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
The apostles and elders wrote the first pastoral letter to their flock and the practice continues to this day. No religious institution in the world apart from the Catholic Church can write a letter, or an encyclical, or proclaim a doctrine that is binding, accepted, and followed by its members. The Church speaks with the voice of Peter ex-Cathedra on matters concerning faith and morals, all the faithful are bound to listen and obey. Peter speaks with the authority conferred on him by You as the visible head of Your Church.
The letter written by the apostles and elders was sent to the faithful through Paul, Barnabas, and the delegates chosen by them - Judas and Silas. The newly baptized Christians of pagan birth rejoiced to receive a letter addressed to them personally by the Church in Jerusalem acknowledging them as brothers in Christ and confirming once and for all time that circumcision was not a requirement to belong to the family of God.
To this day, ignorant Christians continue to disturb and unsettle the minds of even more ignorant Catholics, who are as plentiful as weeds, and they sow seeds of division and confusion among them. Every Catholic ought to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is no religious institution in the world apart from the Catholic Church that can make the bold claim that the apostles and the elders made in that letter when they said, 'It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves....’ And on reading the contents of the letter the community of believers was delighted and encouraged.
The Church continues to accompany the faithful, encourage them, and speak in the same manner today and will do so until You return in glory. She speaks with the authority of the Holy Spirit and this is why we obey for to her is given the power to bind and to loose and this power is bestowed on her by You.
JOHN 15:12-17 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
The largest number of people in the world consider themselves Christians and fifty percent of them identify as Catholics. If every Christian and Catholic Christian lived this commandment of love that You give to every disciple an era of peace such as the world has never known would reign among us.
The teaching of the Church on the manner in which she was born is this:
The Church is born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.” “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.’” As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. (CCC, no. 766, citing LG, no. 3, and SC, no. 5)
Ever since You laid down Your life for her, the blood of martyrs since the dawn of Christianity is mingled with Your own. Imitating You they lay down their lives for Your sake and for the sake of the Gospel and You ensure that their blood is the seed of Christians.
Few Christians today have the kind of conviction that the early Christians did. They endured persecution, torture, imprisonment, and death with courage and joy because they knew in whom they had believed and they also understood that death was not the end of life.
The greatest test of love is the pouring out of oneself as a libation for the beloved, just as You did for us on the Cross.
You will no longer consider us Your servants but Your friends if we obey Your commandment to love one another as You have loved us. Authentic love is eternal, nothing can quench its fires and certainly not death.
If I truly love my brothers and sisters then I will share the best news the world ever received with them, the Good News of the Gospel that guarantees every believer eternal life in union with God.
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