Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 3, 2008 - Sts. Philip and James, apostles
[1 Corinthians 15:1-8 and John 14:6-14]I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
Whenever we celebrate the feast of apostles, the usual picture that forms is a sort of amalgam of the characters in the Da Vinci LAST SUPPER or holy cards of bearded guys holding particular symbols associated with them. The fact is that they were working guys and after Pentecost, they hit the trail. Tradition has them all, except John, dying as martyrs. Theology deals with them more in a collective sense as "the Twelve." The term appears in the scripture and carries with it an allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel. The apostles formed the basis of the New Jerusalem. From their ministry came the development of the episcopate, and that is why we call our bishops the "successors of the apostles," and we consider the "apostolic succession" to be one of the cornerstones of Catholic faith. Even though the Orthodox Churches do not maintain unity with the pope, the Catholic Church regards them as "true churches" because they have maintained the apostolic succession and sacraments. When Pope Benedict XVI visited, we saw a bunch of bishops in their purple or red beanies (zucchettos) or miters (the pointed hats) surrounding him at all times. Some of them were Vatican officials and some were heads of dioceses or assistants to heads of dioceses (auxiliary bishops). Every one of them is a "successor" to the apostles. Those who are not "ordinaries" (heads of dioceses) are given "titular dioceses" as part of their appointment. These are dioceses that once existed but not any longer. For example, my hometown of Natchitoches, LA, was a diocese 1853-1910. The "titular bishop of Natchitoches" is currently a Vatican diplomat named Marino who is originally from Birmingham, AL. All the pageantry that seems to surround a bishop may appear to be inconsistent with the original guys! I suppose that's human nature. We surround our important folks with symbols of power (crosier - the stick, the ring and the miter). We know from experience that bishops are just as human as we are but they have a heavy responsibility. Some handle it better than others (the Gospel picture of the Twelve is not always flattering). Some would like to imagine our church without them. That would be another Reformation! Maintaining the tradition seems the wise course. Choosing good people is ever the challenge and that's one of the reasons we have a Pope! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
82 ms
4
