Dearest friends, one of the problems facing our world today is the lukewarmness or even utter rejection of the AUTHORITY of the Church to teach the TRUTH that leads to temporal and eternal life. This AUTHORITY is directly from Jesus Christ, which he gave to Peter the Apostle and has continued to subsist in the Church through the Pope, the Successor of Peter the Apostle, in union with the Bishops of the world.
It was the same power and authority with which Jesus Christ carried out his earthly ministry (cf. Mk 1:22, 2:1-12) that he bequeathed to Peter when he said to him: “… And I will give you the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed, even in heaven” (cf. Matt 16:18-19).
Thus, following the above, the Catechism affirms:
The power to “BIND and LOOSE” connotes the AUTHORITY to ABSOLVE sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the KEYS of the kingdom (cf. CCC n. 553).
Now, the Church, as MOTHER and TEACHER, continues to exercise this AUTHORITY through her continuous teachings which have always remained faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ, her Master. Unfortunately, a number of persons both within the Church and in the world at large, continue to reject the teachings of the Church; they rather prefer the FALSEHOOD of the devil and his agents in the forms of: Relativism, Secularism, Gender theory, LGTBQ, Sexual promiscuity, etc. The above is simply a clear rejection of the TRUTH which leads to both temporal and eternal MISERY. Thus, the Scripture affirms: “The time will come when people will not listen to sound teaching, but will follow their own desires and will gather for themselves teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. They will turn away from listening to the TRUTH and give their attention to legends” (cf. 2 Tim 4:3-4).
Indeed, listening to and obeying the teachings of the Church, as handed to her by Jesus Christ, saves us from a lot of difficulties. Jesus himself affirmed thus: “Whoever LISTENS to you, LISTENS to me. And whoever DESPISES you, DESPISES me. And whoever despises me, despises him who sent me” (cf. Lk 10:16).
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary to always support us with her powerful intercession. Amen🙏🏼
Happy Sunday and remain blessed!
(cf. CATECHESIS ‘NKUZI NKE OKWUKWE’ FOR THE 21ST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (A);
READINGS: R1: Is 22:19-23, R2: Rom 11:33-36, Gosp. Matt 16:13-20)
Leave feedback about this