Daily Retreat 05/28/06

2006 May 28 SUN: Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:15-26/Ps 102(103):1-2.11-12.19-20ab/1Jn 4:11-16/Jn 17:11b-19

(In some regions, the liturgical celebration of Ascension Thursday is transferred to this Sunday)

From today’s readings: "For it is written in the Book of Psalms: May another take his office.... The LORD has established His throne in Heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.... We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.... Holy Father, keep them in Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are one."

Apostolic Succession

During His own earthly lifetime, Jesus chose His apostles to be with Him in His ministry, and He singled them out for special instruction, and at the Last Supper, He ordained them priests with the sacramental power to confect the Eucharist as they fulfilled the Lord’s command to "do this in memory of Me." But also, when His Ascension marked the end of His bodily time on earth, the apostles were sent to continue the Lord’s mission to the ends of the earth, and to the end of time (in fact, the word "apostle" means "one who is sent").

The apostles understood their mission to continue what Jesus had started, and so, after the Lord’s Ascension, but even before Pentecost, their first order of business was to chose a successor to Judas, and the first chapter of Acts records how the prayerful apostolic band was led to chose Matthias. Originally, there were only twelve apostles, but as the Church grew, so did the number of those ordained with apostolic authority - St. Barnabas, and St. Paul, for instance, are soon also mentioned in the New Testament as apostles.

The Holy Spirit guided the apostles to continue appointing successors to shepherd the nascent Church, and eventually, they had to turn to candidates who were quite fervent in faith, but nevertheless lacked the eyewitness qualifications of Matthias and the other earliest apostles. Still, the new successors were ordained with the same apostolic authority to teach, govern, and sanctify in the Church. In virtue of their leadership role in the Church, they were called "episkopoi," the Greek word meaning "overseer" or "bishop" (the English word "episcopal" thus refers to that which pertains to the office of bishop).

From New Testament times to our own day, that chain of apostolic successors has continued unbroken, so that it is an historical fact that Pope Benedict XVI and the other bishops of the Church are the legitimate successors to the first apostles. Because the Catholic Church is blessed with this apostolic foundation, the Lord visibly continues His mission of teaching, governing, and sanctifying the world through the sacraments and scripture and other treasures of true faith.