‘STAND PAST IN THE FAITH ’

New Zealand Tablet, 6 November 1913, Page 3

‘STAND PAST IN THE FAITH ’

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by 'Ghimel'.) THE PRIMACY OF ST. PETER: ITS DOCTRINAL BEARINGS (Continued.) Our Lord intended that after His Ascension His Church should continue His saving work in the world, and accordingly He made provision during His lifetime for some form of government to take the place of His own visible presence and rule. Thus we find Him choosing from amongst His followers twelve men who were henceforth to be known as Apostles. ' And going up into a mountain, He called unto Him whom He would Himself: and they came to Him. And He made that twelve should be with Him and that He might send them to preach (St. Mark iii., 13-14). To these— was one of —He gave many powers which went to make up their Episcopate. Thus they received power to teach, to secure obedience to their teaching, to bind by laws—' Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ' —to baptise, to forgive sins, to consecrate and offer the Holy Eucharist This do for a commemoration of Me.' Other prerogatives went to make up their Apostolate, in so far as that office may be distinguished from their Episcopate: immediate institution by Christ' As the Father hath sent Me, I send you '—universal mission Teach ye all nations—and personal infallibility. In the exercise of their Episcopal and Apostolic ministry they were to enjoy their Master's continued presence and unfailing assistance. So far as these powers are concerned Peter stood on a level with the other Apostles, even as a Bishop stands on a level with any of his priests in regard to the power of consecrating in the Sacrifice of the Mass. But our point is that in addition to these powers, Peter, and Peter alone, received others, which made him superior even to the Apostles, their Head in fact, and which go to make up what we call the Primacy or Supremacy. To make this clear, we will arrange in parallel columns, first, the promises made, and secondly, the powers granted to all the Apostles, including Peter, on the one hand, and to Peter alone, on the other. A.—Promises. To all the Apostles, including Peter: To Peter alone : 1. I say to thee, that thou art Peter: and upon this Rock I will build My Church. 2. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 3. And I will give to thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Verily, I say unto you, 4. And whatsoever thou whatsoever ye shall bind on shalt bind on earth it shall earth shall be bound in be bound also in heaven, heaven, and whatsoever ye and whatsoever thou shalt shall loose on earth shall be loose on earth it shall be loosed in heaven (St. Matt, loosed also in heaven. (St. xviii., 18). ; Matt, xvi., 18-19). B. —Powers. 1. This do for a com- 1. Simon, Simon, behold memoration of Me (1 Cor. Satan hath desired to have x i-> 24). you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren' (St. Luke xxii., 31-32).

\2. Whose sins ye shall 2. Simon, son of John, forgive they are forgiven lovest thou Me more than unto them," and whose sins these [do] ? He said to ye shall retain they are re- him: Yea, Lord, Thou tained (John xx., 23). ' knowest that I- love Thee. _l_lg oamiL uu mm: reeu lviy lambs. He saith to him 3. Teach ye all nations again: Simon, son of (Matt, xxviii.., 19). John, lovest thou Me ? He saith to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love \ 4. Baptising them in the Thee. He saith to him: name of the Father, etc. Feed My lambs. He said (Matt, xxviii., 19). to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest V;. ■' - thou -; Me? Peter was 5. Lo, lam with you all grieved, because He had days, even to the consum- said to him the third time: mation of the world (Matt. Lovest thou Me ? And he xxviii., 20). said to Him: Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee. 6. As the Father hath He said to him: Feed My sent Me, I also-send you sheep (John xxi.,.15, 16, (John xx., 21). 17). It will appear from these passages that Peter, and Peter alone, was made the Rock, or Foundation, on which the Church was built; the Key-bearer is, the steward or guardian of Christ's-Kingdom; its strong defence; the chief ruler; the shepherd of all, sheep as well as lambs; the confirmer of his brethren's faith. ' The whole question then,' writes Archbishop Carr, ' resolves itself into this: Did our Blessed Lord, in dealing with the constitution and future government of His Church, on the most solemn occasions, at different times, and in different places, using words of startling significance, mean anything at all by these magnificent promises and various powers, of which Peter alone was the recipient ? Or, are these solemn and apparently creative words of His to be read only as an unmeaning enigma ? Are we to suppose that He did not forsee that these words of His would -prove a fruitful source of -error to His Church, and a snare to innumerable souls? If He did not mean that they shoiild be understood in their plain and obvious sense, would He have allowed His Church from the very beginning to entirely misunderstand the form of government which He established, and the centre of unity which He founded, and the source of perpetuity which He provided? (Lectures, p. 237).