The herald., 1895-02-25
Sermon at the Cathedral

At the Church of Santa Vibiana, Rev.
Father McAulfte preached on The Au-
thority of the Church. The priest said
that one sof the attributes with which
Christ Ell owed his church was the au-
thority to make laws and enforce their
observance. By this legislative author
ity of the church is meant the power
which she has received from God of en-
forcing ir ~'or discipline by laws, and
Of Of Gbiigir ;na 2i children Id to observe them
errring an Aoontumacious. This power s
resides in the Pope and the Bishops
The church, being society," properly So
called, reason and experience tell us
that there must be some one to govern
the members of that society, and make
laws for the preservation OF unity and
order among them for otherwise its ruin
would be inevitable.
That Christ conferred this power ON the
pastors of the church is evident from
several texts of Sacred Scripture, in
which He constituted His apostles rulers
of His church with power to teach all ma
tions to make laws and to insist upon their
observance by the faithful. The apostle
claimed this power for themselves, as is
evident from the Council of Jerusalem, in
which they declared that the command
which they imposed on the converted
Gentles was dictated by the Holy Ghost,
and St. Paul claims to have received this
power from God, that is the power to
transgress them. He even describes this
power of the pastors of the church, under
different heads, saying that they were
constituted by Jesus Christ for the per
fecting of the saints or the work of the
ministry, and for the edihcation of the
body OF Christ. And the apostle ex-
pressly states that we are bound to obey
tho eff nf tho .it ch vf,an ha
Let every soul be subject to Ehe higher
power, ETC." Ii the apostles command
us to be subject to all lawful powers
even though they be of human institu
tlon, how much more when the power is
instituted by Christ himself, as is that of
the pastors OF this church. We know from
the history OF the church that there is
scarcely Pope from Peter to Leo XIII
who has not made various laws for the
better government OF the faithful.
The church being q society, must not
only have power to make laws, but she
must also have power to inhict punish
mcnt on those who violate those laws,
otherwise she could not exist nor fulfill
her mission. Ii in state the fear of pun
ishment is removed, the laws would be
violated with impunity, anarchy would
prevail and the social edifce would topple
to the ground. Such would be the fate of
the church if her Divine Founder had not
vested her with Christening power. That
the church has this power is evident
from the words of Christ himself, where
he says that he who will not listen to the
admonitions of the pastors of the church
must be treated as Il heathen, or a pub
lican. And ST. Paul excommunicated the
incestuous Corinthian, that is, separated
him from the communion of the faithful
and deprived him of the spiritual bene-
fits of the church, that his spirit might
be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Obey, then, the commands of
the church. She holds the place of God
on earth. Hence, disobedience to her is
disobedience to her Divine Founder.
Moreover, it is duty you owe your own
souls; because as long as you live YOU
must labor to become holy, but you can
not become holy if you refuse to obey her
whom God has given you for moth r,
teacher and a guide.