Why is the church holy
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
[Music]
at mass on Sunday when we pray the Creed
we say I believe in one Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church what does that mean
these are known as the full marks of the
Catholic Church and can be traced back
to early Christian times let's take a
look at them one at a time and explore
what they mean for you what does it mean
that the church is one well Jesus only
started one church he didn't start five
or ten or a hundred when we talk about
oneness of the church we're talking
about the unity of God's people God
wanted us to be one the church is often
referred to as the body of Christ and
Paul speaks about this beautifully in
1st Corinthians chapter 12 he speaks
about how we're all given different
gifts but these gifts are given to us
not for our own gratification but for
the common good for the whole church for
the whole body of Christ and he speaks
about how we're all part of this one
body but how each part plays a unique
and vital role so what are your gifts
and how is God calling you to use those
gifts for the common good what unique
and vital role is God calling you to
play in the church God's vision for the
church is that all men and women be
united in belief agape love and mission
you want just United and believe he
wants us United in a gap a love and he
wants us united in mission God's vision
for the church is that we be one this is
what jesus prayed for right before he
was arrested and crucified he prays with
his disciples and he prayed for you and
me we read about this in chapter 17 of
john's gospel
it's a beautiful prayer for unity but
jesus also explains why he is praying
for unity in verse 13 he prays his
reason he prays so that they may have my
joy made complete in themselves he wants
our joy to be complete he wants your joy
to be complete and that's a beautiful
thing then he prays to God the Father he
says I asked not only on behalf of these
but also on behalf of those who will
believe in me through their word that
they may be one let's take one more look
at that Jesus praise I asked not only on
behalf of these who's he talked about
the disciples but also on behalf of
those who will believe in me through
their word who's he talking about there
he's talking about you and me says that
they may be one he wants there to be
unity among every Christian from the
first disciples to the last believer at
the end of the world this is one of the
most beautiful passages in the Bible and
perhaps the greatest prayer in the New
Testament it is God praying to God Jesus
ask the Father to give each of us
perseverance holiness joy and unity over
the centuries the oneness of the church
has been attacked questioned and
undermined as a result Christianity is
massively divided today but the Catholic
Church remains one it's the one church
that Jesus started people sometimes ask
me why should I stay in the Catholic
Church there are lots of reasons why you
should stay Catholic and grow in your
face every day but what's more
compelling than to say you should stay
because Jesus prayed you would there in
the Garden of Gethsemane two thousand
years ago Jesus saw every person who
would ever think about leaving his
church and he prayed that they would
stay and that they would remain one the
church is one
this is the first month second mark is
the church is holy what does it mean
that the church is holy one definition
of the word holy is set apart for a
special purpose by God and for God when
we speak about the church being holy it
doesn't imply that all the members of
the church are free from sin and
selfishness this is a common
misconception the holiness of the church
is not derived from the holiness of its
members but rather from the holiness of
Jesus God created the church for a
reason so what is the purpose of the
church Jesus founded his church to
continue his redemptive and sanctifying
work in the world you might be wondering
what this means well Jesus is redemptive
work liberates us from sin puts us back
in right relationship with God and leads
us to heaven
his sanctifying work helps us to grow in
holiness and become the best version of
ourselves by playing the unique role
that he calls us to play in His divine
plan the church is holy because Christ
is holy this is the second mark the
third mark is Catholic not Big Sea
Catholic but little sea Catholic what
does it mean that the church is Catholic
the word Catholic with a small C means
universal in this sense the church is
for everyone just as Jesus died and rose
from the dead for everyone
Church is for everyone the church is
also Catholic or Universal in the sense
that she has been sent out by Jesus on a
mission for everyone in the human race
this small sea Catholic is what we're
speaking of in the Creed and the third
mark of the church
when we speak of someone being Catholic
with a big city we're speaking of a
baptized Christian who accepts and
believes the teachings of the Catholic
Church strive to live in communion with
the church through the sacraments and
her teachings and embraces the life that
Jesus calls into we're all called to
Catholic unity as children of God but
not everyone responds to the call the
call is small see Catholic the response
is big see Castle the fourth and final
mark of the church is apostolic what
does it mean that the Catholic Church
isn't apostolic this is one of the great
questions of Christian history if you
can develop a clear understanding of
this a lot of the other things will just
fall into place let's turn to the
scriptures for some insight Jesus was
walking down the road one day talking to
his disciples answering questions and
asking questions any time you were
reading the Bible and God asked the
question you better sit up and take
notice you're about to learn something
two questions he asked these disciples
was question number one who do people
say that I am the disciples said well
some say you're John the Baptist come
back from the dead and others say you're
Elijah and I will say you one of the
great prophets then Jesus turned them
and he said who do you say that I am
even as you read in the script you know
you can also get the sense that this was
an awkward moment in other ciphers are
looking at each other it's a trick
question
you take this one Peter you know that
Peter steps up and he says you're the
Christ you're the son of a Living God
what seemed like a very spontaneous
conversation then turned into something
very formal when Jesus said you are
Peter and on this rock I will build my
church Jesus goes on to say I will give
you the keys to the kingdom of heaven
and whatever you bind on earth will be
bound in heaven and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven Jesus
gave Peter the authority to leave the
church and through Peter we get the
other apostles authority as Catholics we
can trace a direct line from your Bishop
back 2,000 years to Peter
Pope Francis is the 260 fifth successor
of Peter this is what we mean when we
say the church is apostolic the Apostles
were the foundation that Jesus chose to
build his church upon and we respect
that they were the witnesses who Jesus
chose to send out on a mission to the
whole world the church celebrates and
defends the teachings passed on by the
Apostles continues to be guided by the
Apostles and carries on the mission that
was entrusted first to the Apostles your
Bishop is a successor to the original
apostles that's profound and beautiful
so a Mass next Sunday you probably hear
some people mindlessly mumbling the
Creed don't be one of them say it loud
and proud I believe in one Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church
[Music]
