Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches that send out door-to-door missionaries are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established.

The Catholic Church has existed for more than 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church's divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members - even some of its leaders - have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy.

Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous Church in the world, that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church's leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.

If we wish to locate the Church founded by Jesus, we need to locate the one that has the four chief marks or qualities of his Church. The Church we seek must be One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

The Church is One - Romans 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC 813-822 - Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ - Eph. 5:23-32 - Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.

His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles - Jude 3 - This is the unity of belief to which Scripture call us - Phil. 1:27, 2:2 -
Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church's official teachers - the pope and the bishops united with Him - have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply - John 16:12-13 - but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.

The Church is Holy - Ephesians 5:25-27, Rev. 19:7-8, CCC 823-829 -
By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as he is holy. This doesn't mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church - John 6:70 - and not all the members would go to heaven. - Matt. 7:21-23 - But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments. - cf. Eph 5:26 -

The Church is Catholic - Matthew 28:19-20, Rev. 5:9-10, CCC 830-856 - Jesus' Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations". - Matt. 28:19-20 -

For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family. - Gal. 3:28 -
Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations." - Matt. 28:19 -

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius's time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

The Church is Apostolic - Ephesians 2:19-20, CCC 857-865 -
The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition. - 2 Tim. 2:2 -
These beliefs include...

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -