The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-05-04

MAY 1, 1918.
Going therefore, teach ye all ma
tions. Teaching them to oh
serve all things whatsoever l have
commanded you: and behold l am
with you all days, even to the consum
nation of the world" Matthew
XVIII, 19, 90
Such is the commission Christ gave
to His Apostles and through them to
their successors, the Bishops of the
Catholic Church. That commission
makes teaching the primary function
of the episcopal Office. 1t gives to the
world for all time a consecrated
teaching body, whose infallibility is
guaranteed by the abiding presence of
the Divine Teacher Himself. In fact,
it makes that body not merely the
echo of the Saviour of mankind, but
His mouthpiece, His very voice. He
that heareth you, heareth Me-"
The Apostles understood the mean
ing of the commission. Going forth
they preached everywhere, the Lord
working withal, and confirming the
word with signs that followed. -
Their sound went forth into all the
earth and their words unto the end of
the world" To be able to devote
themselves more fully to the work of
preaching, they went so far as to
delegate to others most important
functions of their ministry 1T is not
reason that we should leave the word
of God and serve tables. Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you sew
en- men of good reputation, full of
the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom
we may appoint over this business.
But we will give ourselves over to
prayer, and to, the ministry of the
word" Convert Jews insisted that
naturalization into Judaism by the
rite of circumcision be made a con.
dition of citizenship in the Kingdom
of Christ. The Apostles held the first
council of the Church, and as authori-
tatiye teachers of the New Law, de-
clared that the Christian religion ac-
cords equal rights to all nationalities,
that it is world religion, making no
distinction of national or personal con-
dition, that its appeal is universal, in
word, that it is Catholic. There
is neither Gentle nor Jew, circum-
cision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian
or Scythian, bond nor free. But Christ
is all in ALL"
Apostles Were Teachers.
The immediate successors of the
Apostles were known chiefly as
teachers. Polycarp of Smyrna, Igna-
thus of Antioch, Clement of Rome,
are looked up to as the great teachers
of the first century. When the Ship
of the Church had emerged safely
from the narrows of Judaism and
reached the high seas of Greek and
Roman civilization, it was her Bish-
ops who piloted her through the fierce
storms of rationalism that beat upon
her from the east and from the west
Their answers regarding the Holy
Scriptures, the virtues of Christian
life, the attitude of Christians to non
Christians, the relation of the Church
to the State were accepted as author
itative and final. 1t was Athanasius
Bishop of Alexandria, who routed the
Arians of the fourth century and vim
dicated the Divinity of Jesus Christ
1t was Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
who in the fifth century destroyed
the power of the Pelagians and laiC
down the Catholic doctrine of grace
and free will. The Fathers and Doc
tors of the Church, whose unanimous
teaching regarding faith and morals
is a certain evidence of divine reyela
tion-whose writings form the basis
of all ecclesiastical science-upo1
whose learning Thomas of Aquin ant
Suarez, Bossuet and Dante built uI
their famous masterpieces, were near
ly all of them Bishops. 1t was tht
Bishops of the Church assembled il
the great councils who put down th'
heresies of the ages. They it wa
who through their Cathedral School
gave effective answer to the paganisn
of the first centuries. 1t was the.
who brought the proud intellect 0
the Roman world into captivity unit
the obedience of Christ" 1t was thei
teaching that converted the Barbar
ans and made them bearers of Chris
tian faith and Christian civilization t
the ends of the old Roman Empire
Theirs were the schools and college
and universities of the Middle Age!
where the twin lights of faith an
science were kept brightly burnin;
where the Bible and the classics WeT
preserved and transcribed, where la
and medicine, agriculture and th
manual arts were taught and deye
oped, where the great cathedral
found their inspiration, their arch
tects and builders, where sculptuI
and painting, poetry and music wei
nurtured, and whence they sprea
their sweet influence to draw men
souls To Christ. It was under tt
tutelage Of the Bishops that grew U
and prospered those wonderful labo