Dear Brothers and Sisters!
When the Apostle Paul in Chapter 58 bid farewell to
the Church of Asia Minor, he invited the representatives
of the congregation to meet with him and entrusted
to their care the worries concerning the faithful, with
the following urgent words: “Take heed therefore unto
yourselves
and to all the flock, over which the Holy
Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of
God, which he hath purchased with his own blood”
(Acts 20:28). These admonitions apply to all leaders of
the Church, foremost the bishops. The bishops after all
are, especially through the sacrament of ordination as
bishops, appointed by the Holy Spirit to lead and guide
the Church of God. They must, as faithful guardians
over the souls, which Christ has purchased with his own
blood, take care of the faithful. Therefore, the words of
the Prophet Ezekiel apply to each bishop: “Son of man,
I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel”
(Ezek 3:17). The prophet, if we ask about the special duty
of the bishop, also says: “therefore hear the word at my
mouth, and give them warning from me.” The bishop
must listen to the words of God, as they are contained
in the Bible and the words from the mouth of God, and
proclaim them to the faithful, according to the demands
of the time. It is his serious obligation and responsibility.
He must after all, according to the words of St.
Paul, in the letter to the Hebrews, watch over the souls of
the faithful, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye
are called” (Eph 4:1). These are the warnings I want to
append to the slogan, which I have chosen as my motto
for my work as bishop: “Fides et pax” – “Faith and Peace”.
Faith – our holy Catholic faith – is the first asset that
I would like to protect and preserve for you by the grace
of God. The faith that was gifted to you already in early
childhood, without your own services or for which you
yourself have fought into your hands, through extensive
searching and great sacrifices, must always be holy and
dear to you, as the greatest treasure in life. You, after all
through this faith, have “in all regards become rich in
Christ” (1 Chronicles 1:5)
I want to draw your attention to a few things.
Our holy Catholic faith first of all gives us great assurance
for our life. Everywhere around us today, in questions
of religion, there is so much lack of clarity and
confusion that we have been gifted with great clarity and
certainty, in questions of religion and life. The foundation
of this assurance is Jesus Christ himself, the eternal
truth, who “was born, and for this cause came into
the world, that [he] should bear witness unto the truth”
(John 18:37).
All Christians certainly want to base their faith on Jesus
Christ. We, however, unfortunately see that outside the
Catholic Church, there are still disputes between others,
concerning questions of faith and life. We see them as
divided and torn into pieces in many churches and religious
assemblies, of which each has its own confession.
But where do these various Christian beliefs and confessions
come from? Is there a diverse Christian truth?
“Is Christ sometimes divided into several?” (1 Chronicles
1:13). He is not. There can only be one Christian truth.
The confusion however arises from people taking upon
themselves the right and power to feel and explain
the teachings of Christ, according to their own understanding.
And yet the Apostle Peter already drew attention
to this that “in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16). It is therefore no wonder
then that what St. Paul already pointed out is fulfilled,
that people let “themselves be swayed and swung, in two
directions, from each breeze of teachings” (Ephesians
4:16). Yes, it seems that the time has come, which the
same apostle predicted: “That they do not want to like all
the teachings, but seek teachers for themselves, according
to their own desires, according to how their ears
twitch and turn away their ears from the truth, as well as
address empty stories” (2 Tm 4, 3-4).
The danger that people would understand the truth
delivered by Christ, according to their own minds, as
well as into disputes and differences of opinion with
each other, was already foreseen by Jesus Christ in his
divine, all-encompassing knowledge and he also found
remedies against it. He has founded his Church, which
the Apostle Paul calls “the Church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tm 3:15). He chose
twelve apostles in the Church, and sent them out to
preach his truth to the people with the words: “Go ye
into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”
(Mark 16:15).
He vowed to the apostles that they would remain
untouched by mistakes when preaching their knowledge
that: “I will be daily by your side, until the end of
the world” (Matthew 28:10). Yes, he vowed to them that
a special advocate, “the Spirit of truth”, “would guide
them into all the truth” (John 16:13). “The Holy Spirit…
will teach you all things and remind you of everything
I have said to you” (John 14:26). The special advocate –
the Holy Spirit – could only possess the duty to keep the
apostles from error, in the proclamation of the word of
God. It is for this reason that the apostles also felt themselves
to be ambassadors of God, through whom God
spoke to the people: “We are ambassadors of Christ, as if
God were warning you through us” (2 Chronicles 5:20).
It is from here, where the absolute authority arises, which
the apostles took upon themselves when preaching
the gospel, according to the words of the apostle: “But if
even we or an angel from heaven, should preach to you
a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them
be under God’s curse!” (1 Galatians 1:8).
Christ himself had hinted at the unmistakable authority
of the apostles, as the preachers of the word of God,
with the words: “Who hears you hears me; who despises
you despises me” (Luke 10:16) Therefore he threatened
those who did not believe the apostles also with eternal
damnation: “Who believes and is baptized will become
blessed, but who does not believe will be condemned”
(Matthew 16:16).
Christ, however, has created his Church for all times.
Therefore, the Church must at all times also be a “pillar
and ground of the truth”. Christ has vowed his special
support, not only to the apostles personally, but also to
those who maintain the profession of an apostle and
must continue it, “until the end of the world.” And
the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth, must “remain
forever”, with the apostles of the Spirit and their offspring.
(John 14:16). We, however, know very well
from the history of the Church, that for over a thousand
years there was no doubt among Christians that
the offspring
of the apostles are bishops, foremost the offspring
of St. Peter, and as such, they are characterized by
an unmistakable authority in preaching the gospel. So,
as the student of the apostles, Ignatius said: “Just as Jesus
Christ is the Word of the Father, so are the bishops
sent out on all the paths into the entire world, to preach
the teachings of Jesus Christ” (Eph 3:2). Elsewhere, he
adds as in essence the words: “All who belong to God and
Jesus Christ abide by the bishop” (Phil. 3). St. Irenaeus
adds, particularly concerning the Roman Church, that
“because of its special first position, every Church and all
the faithful must be in unity with it… Therefore, there is
no need to look for the truth elsewhere than what can be
taken from the Church, the apostles having endowed it
in plenitude with the entire truth” (Ad Haer. 3: 4).
The given belief of the ancient Church that in
the bishops of the Church of Christ, in the forefront with
St. Peter, the unmistakable learning authority of Christ
and the apostles lives on and has been faithfully preserved
without blemish to this day in the Catholic Church.
Every Catholic bishop, according to conviction, steps
into the lineage of offspring of the apostles, as preachers
of the truth of Christ and therefore he also participates
in their authority. Conviction has found its expression
in the ordination ceremony of becoming a bishop,
in which the Gospel is first placed on the shoulder of
the bishop and then in his hands. The bishop takes upon
his shoulders the obligation in the name of Christ and
the spirit of Christ to preach, purely and unquestionably,
the Gospel of Christ to the world.
The profession of unmistakable teaching now lives on
in the Catholic Church. Since the times of the apostles,
without interruption, this Church has truly proven
for centuries to be “the pillar and ground of the truth.”
The possession of an unmistakable teaching profession
gives steadfast peace with which he steps through
the centuries, that in the turmoil of battles of differences
of opinion, he faithfully adheres to the truth, entrusted
to him by Jesus Christ. He searches and finds in
the truth, the answer to the questions and problems that
arise again and again. The Catholic Church is the only
Church offering an unmistakable teaching profession.
The Christian community does not feel within itself any
disparity in teachings and faithfully maintains the unity
desired by Christ.
The unmistakable teaching profession of the Church
that lives on in the bishops and offspring of Peter are also
the great assets of our Church. He is the foundation for
our own certainty of faith and strength, for which we are
now the envy of many Christians. My beloved brothers
and sisters in Christ, maintain the certainty and strength
of your faith. Hear the admonition of St. Paul: “Be on
your guard, stand firmly in faith, be men, become strong”
(1 Chronicles 16:13). Do not let yourselves be deceived
by those who claim that surrendering to the unmistakable
teaching profession of the Church is to be considered
an unbearable restriction of human freedom, claiming
that the freedom of religious opinion alone is to be considered
worthy of modern mankind. The Bible demands
“to be obedient to the Gospel”, against these claims
(2 Thessalonians 1:8) and to “be obedient to the truth”
(Galatians 5:7). And indeed, in a natural circumstance,
a person must listen to the word of truth and surrender
to the laws of nature. And just as no freedom is allowed
concerning the laws of morality, so any freedom concerning
religious truth must not keep one from the truth.
God would deny himself the truth revealed by Christ, if
he were to give a person the freedom to remain in error.
Obedience to the truth of Christ therefore does not
also mean an unworthy restriction of human freedom,
but rather it comes closer to true freedom, according to
the words of Christ: “If you hold on to my words, then
you are my disciples and you sense the truth and the truth
makes you free” (John 8: 31-32). And some amongst you,
my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, who have had
the opportunity to feel uncertainty in religious matters,
see that only the possession of truth and obedience to
the unmistakable teaching profession of the Church has
made you truly free. “Now remain in the freedom with
which Christ has made us free and do not let yourselves
be enslaved again.” (Galatians 5:1). Do not let yourselves
be led astray by those who “vow freedom, though they
themselves are slaves of a vanishing thing” (2 Peter 2:19),
who vow truth to you, but are in error themselves.
Let us also try continually to learn to know the truths
of our own Catholic faith more and thus grow more in
recognition of Christ “in all knowledge.” (1 Chronicles
1:5)
[Part of the text has been destroyed …]
The living belief in Christ, in salvation through him,
that he is the way that leads us to truly eternal happiness,
must enliven in ourselves the strong religious strength
that provides us with support in all the struggles and difficulties
of life. Christ, however, foremost and in plenitude,
wanted to endow us with divine strength for the
struggles of life, through the wonderful sacrament which
he left us at the end of his life, as the greatest gift of his
love. In this sacrament, he gives himself up completely,
with divinity and humanity, as food for our souls. He
“becomes living bread to us that has come from heaven”
(1 Chronicles 1:5) He makes the words of his vow come
true: “And the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of
the world… and like I live through the Father, so must
the person who eats me, also live through me” (John 6).
The Catholic Church, into the hands of which Christ
entrusted this greatest gift of his love, has throughout
the centuries faithfully maintained and overseen the
Holy Sacrament as her greatest asset. Every day she
celebrates holy secrets on thousands and thousands of
altars throughout the world, breaks the bread of heaven
and calls her children to receive it.
The tremendous lamentation of the Prophet Jeremiah
states: “Young children beg for bread, there is no one
that distributes it to them” (Lamentations 4:4). Has this
lamentation not become, in a spiritual way, the truth for
many in our modern times and of today’s youth, who in
a religious sense, roam the streets of life in hunger, as
nobody hands out the ‘bread of life’ to them?”
The children of the Catholic Church however need
not die of hunger on the streets of life. The Catholic
Church distributes the “bread of life” to her children, as
often as the children ask for it. Yes, the more that life
struggles to a culmination, the greater the dangers of life
are, the more urgently the Church invites her children
to attend even daily Holy Communion more frequently.
She invites small children to grow and become stronger
through the acceptance of the flesh of the Lord, in
a supernatural life. She calls on young men and women
that this heavenly sustenance gives them strength to
serve God, in austerity and the purity of the heart, amidst
the immorality of our days. She calls on men that the
bread of life gives them strength and courage of faith, in
the current times of lack and weakness of faith. She calls
on women and mothers that in their calling of motherhood,
in sorrow and pain, as victims and sacrifices of
their Christian women’s life, they find the strength and
comfort of Christ. So must all who come to the table of
the Lord experience his word…
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So, hear the calling of the Church, the calling of Christ.
Accept worthily and regularly the Body of Christ. It is
after all the urgent wish of the Holy Church that all
of her children, both big and small, men and women,
if possible at least once every month, receive the Body
of the Lord. It is the most fervent wish of the Church
that an increasing number of us, in the times of the religious
zeal of the first Christians, come back to life again,
when many Christians lived so much within Christ that
during each celebration of the Holy Mass, they also participated
in the Lord’s Supper.
I indeed know that some amongst you, often with respect
to Holy Communion, are affected by several prejudices.
But I have hope that you will not let yourself
be guided in this matter so much by your senses, but
will attempt in true Christian spirit, fulfilling the wishes
of the Church, to grow in the love of Christ, through
the more frequent acceptance of Holy Communion.
More frequent Holy Communion will, in the best possible
way, develop and preserve within you the great treasure
of faith, deepen and increasingly revive it. The true
words of the Lord are: “Who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood, remains in me and I in them” (John 6:27).
Another great asset is born out of deep and living faith,
which needs to be maintained and preserved for you: It
is peace, the peace of Christ. I would just like to tell you
a little about that.
(1939)