The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-11-23
THE BISHOPS OF THE CHURCH

Reflections on the sacrament VI
Confirmation naturally lead to a few
comments on the Office of a Bishop,
says The Casket. st. Paul wrote to-
the man he had consecrated Bishop OF
Ephesus, Il admonish thee, that thou
stir up the grace of God which is in
thee by the imposition of my hands.
Labor with the Gospel by the
power of God Keep the good deposit
by the Holy Ghost Who dwelleth in us.
/. Be strong in the grace which
is in Jesus Christ"
Now, as in the case with everything
written by st. Paul, there is here a.
very great deal in a few words. Tim
othy, Bishop of Ephesus, knew exactly
what the great Apostle meant; for
that was about 1900 years before the
idea began to prevail that the written
words of the Apostles were all the
Christian teaching. In those days, an
occasional letter from ST. Paul was
not supposed to be all he had to say
about the faith he had received from
the Lord.
So Timothy knew what he meant
when he said, 1.-THE grace of God
which is in thee by the imposition OF
my hands," And Catholics still know
what he meant; for they have seen
the imposition of hands, and know
that by the sacramento conservation
of a Bishop, the authority of the
Apostles is continued to this day;
that Bishops are yet consecrated in
exactly the same way in which st.
Paul consecrated Timothy Bishop OF
Ephesus and Titus Bishop of Crete.
The Bishop of Antagonist was made
Bishop precisely as Timothy and
Titus were made bishops by selec-
ton by competent authority and by
the administering of the Sacrament,
carrying with it the Holy Ghost and
the grace of God. The Church bids
the Bishop of Antagonist, as st. Paul
babe Timothy, BE strong in the grace
which is in Christ Jesus" She bids
him, Labor with the Gospel by the
power of God"
Where did st. Paul get his power?
And how? He got it at the hands of
others, and by the same means ex-
actly by which he passed it on to
Timothy and Titus. He was himself
consecrated at Antioch. And brief as
are his words to Timothy, he leaves
no doubt as to what had been done to
him and what he had done to Tim
othy. He tells Timothy plainly that
the grace of God is in him by the i'm
position of his hands; the grace of
God which is in me by the imposition
of my hands"
st. Paul was not one of the twelve
Apostles. He came in afterwards,
being converted. He received and ac-
cepted his power and authority from
them, by conservation. So did St.
Barnabas So did many others. Hav-
ing received that power and authority,
he passed it on to Timothy and Titus,
and to many others. This was ST.
Paul's understanding of the Office of a
Bishop; that it was a thing to be
passed on and perpetuated.
That is still being done. 1t is far
cry from Ephesus in the first century
to Nova Scotia in the twentieth. But
those who were present in the Ca
thedral at Antagonist on morning in
September, six years ago, saw the very
thing done which was done to st.
Paul and by him to others; the con-
secretion of Bishop by the Sacra-
ment; by the imposition of hands and
the grace of God.
But how did this begin? After
Christ had spent forty days on earth
after His resurrection, completing His
instructions to His Apostles, He de-
livered to them, just before His re-
turn to Heaven, this momentous COM
mission:
"All power is given to Me in Heaven
and on earth; going, therefore, teach
We all nations, baptizing them in the
Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever that
have commanded you; and behold l
am with you all days even to the con-
summation of the world"
The men who then stood in His
presence were not to live "an days"
to the end of the world And as Christ
could not talk nonsense, He was prom
Using to remain. all days to the end
of the world with those who we're to
lawfully and regularly succeed them,
all days to the end of the world. Had
He been speaking only of remaining
with the men then and there present
before Him, He could not have ex-
tended that promise beyond their life
time. He must have meant more than
them. And He could not have meant
that He would be with anybody and
everybody who might take it into his
head to set up some new vagaries in
religion and call on His name as war
rant for it.
He meant His teachings to live and
to be kept intact; or else He would
never have given them to men at ALL
st. Paul was quite clear in his mind
as to how the thing was to be done.
Am l not an Apostle" he asks the.
Corinthians. Ct. Cor. 81 How did
he become an Apostle? When Christ
delivered the above commission to-
the Apostles, Ss. Paul was not with
them, nor one of them. II Christ
II .>,,~,..:1x