Dom Prosper Gueranger:
The Apostles have received their mission. The Sovereign Master has bade them divide among themselves the nations of the earth and preach everywhere the Gospel, that is, the Good Tidings — the Tidings of man’s Redemption wrought by the Son of God who was made Flesh, was crucified, and arose again from the dead. But what is to be the grand support of these humble Jews who have been suddenly transformed into Conquerors, and have to go winning the whole world to Christ? Their support is the solemn promise made to them by Jesus, when, after saying: “Go, teach all nations!” He adds: “Lo! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world!” Hereby he promises never to leave them, and ever to direct and guide them. They will see Him no more in this life, and yet He assures them that He will be ever in their midst.
But these men with whom Christ thus promises that He will abide forever and preserve them from every fall and from every error in the teaching of His doctrine — these Apostles are not immortal. We will find them, one after the other, laying down their lives for the faith, and so leaving this world. Are we, then, condemned to uncertainty and darkness like men who have been abandoned by the light? Is it possible that the appearance of our Emmanuel upon the earth has been but like that of a meteor, which we sometimes behold in the night, emitting a lurid light, and then suddenly disappearing, leaving us in greater darkness than before?
No: the words of our Risen Jesus forbid us to fear such a calamity. He did not say to His Apostles: “Lo! I am with you even to the end of your lives,” but “Lo! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” So that those to whom He addressed Himself were to live to the end of the world! What means this, but that the Apostles were to have successors in whom their rights were to be perpetuated? Successors, whom Jesus would ever assist by His presence, and uphold by His power. The work founded by a God, out of His love for man, and at the price of His own Precious Blood, oh surely it must be imperishable! Jesus by His presence amidst His Apostles preserved their teaching from all error. By His presence He will also, and forever, guide the teaching of their successors.
O precious and necessary gift of Infallibility in the Church! Gift, without which the mission of the Son of God would have been a failure! Gift, by which Faith — that essential element of man’s salvation — is preserved upon the earth! Yes, we have the promise and the effects of this promise are evident even to them that are not of the Church. Where is there an unprejudiced man who would not recognise the hand of God in the perpetuity of the Catholic Symbol of Faith, whereas everything else on earth is forever changing? Can we attribute to natural causes, such a result as this, that a society, whose link is unity of belief, should live through so many ages, and yet lose nothing of the truth it possessed at its commencement, nor imbibe anything of the falseness of the world around it? That it should have been attacked by thousands of sects, and yet have triumphed over them all, survived them all, and be as pure in the faith now, at this present day, as it was on the day when first formed by its divine founder? Is it not an unheard-of prodigy that hundreds of millions of men, differing from each other in country, character, and customs, yes, and frequently enemies to each other — should be united in one like submission to one same authority, which, with a single word, governs their reason in matters of faith?
How great is your fidelity to your promises, O Jesus! Who could help feeling that you are in the midst of your Church, mastering, by your presence, the warring elements and, by irresistible yet sweet power, subjecting our pride and fickleness to your dear yoke? And they are men, men like ourselves, who rule and guide our Faith! It is the Pope, the Successor of St. Peter, whose Faith cannot fail (Luke xii. 32) and whose sovereign word is carried through the whole world, producing unity of mind and heart, dispelling doubt, and putting an end to disputation. It is the venerable body of the Bishops united with their Head, and deriving from this union an invincible strength in the proclamation of the one same truth in the several countries of the universe. O yes, men are made infallible because Jesus is with and in them! In everything else, they are men like ourselves, but the Chair on which they are throned is supported by the arm of God. It is the Chair of Truth upon the earth.
How grand is our Faith! Miracles gave it birth, and this continued miracle (of which we have been speaking, and which disconcerts all the calculations of human wisdom). directs it, enlightens it, and upholds it. How stupendous are the wondrous works done by our Risen Jesus during these forty days! So far, he had been preparing His work. Now He carries it into effect. May the Divine Shepherd be ever praised for the care He takes of his Sheep! If He exacts their Faith as the first pledge of their service, we must own that He has made the sacrifice, not only meritorious by our reason’s submitting to it, but most attractive to our heart’s acceptance.
