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Fr Sean again:
There’s only One Saviour and One Church
One of the worst illusions is the belief that we can save ourselves from sin and make ourselves happy. Adam and Eve bought into this lie in the Garden of Eden. Another form of that lie prevalent today, even espoused by some Church leaders, is called universalism. This is the belief that every human being will eventually be saved regardless of their religion. That belief contradicts Jesus who stated unequivocally: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6), and “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in Heaven” (Mt 10:32-33). He didn’t say, “I’m only one way, truth, and life among many.” Jesus is the only One who can save us from our sins. Outside His Church there’s no salvation and those who don’t belong to His Church depend on the merits of His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church for their salvation. Jesus revealed to Peter and the other apostles as His Church’s leaders, “He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me. And he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me” (Lk 10:16). Neither Buddha, Mahomet, nor Confucius, nor anyone else can save us from eternal death except Jesus because He alone was raised from the dead by His Father and now sits at the right hand of God as the judge of the living and the dead (Col 3:1). Only those who die believing in Him and embracing His Church, His Bride on earth, will be saved. This is why Jesus urgently commissioned His disciples: “Full authority has been given to me both in heaven and on earth; go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize that in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!” (Mt 28:18-20). He ordered them to teach what He taught them, not their own opinions or some synodal way. This is why Catholics are obligated out of love for others to bring them the truth that Jesus is the only Saviour.
We can neither save ourselves from selfishness and sin, nor perfect ourselves. If we could save ourselves we certainly wouldn’t suffer, let alone die. Why, as intelligent creatures, do people think and behave so unintelligently? Instead of embracing Jesus as the Truth people make up their own truth which is founded on their opinion that are as flawed as they are. Jesus is the only person in history who conquered death through His Resurrection. Therefore, He’s the only one who can show us how to rise from death. He alone shows us the only path to joy, peace, and a happiness that lasts forever. Peter, the head of the Apostles, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, reminds us that, “There is no salvation in anyone else, nor is there any name under Heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:10-12), apart from Jesus. Knowing that He was the only means of entry into Heaven, Jesus commissioned and commanded His Apostles to bring this good news to the whole world. St. Paul reiterated Jesus’ command when he said, “Now you must realize that this salvation of God has been transmitted to the gentiles – who will heed it” (Acts 28:28).
How does Jesus save us? Through uniting us with Him in His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. He prayed that His followers, and through their witness, that all peoples would be united with Him in His Church. “I do not pray for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their word, that all may be one as You, Father, are in me, and I in You; I pray that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me” (Jn 17:20-21). Jesus saves us by making us His adopted brothers and sisters through baptism into His Church where He’s present to each member in the preaching of His Word and in the Sacraments. There He intimately nourishes our soul by giving us the gift of Himself especially in the Holy Mass which is the re-presentation of His sacrifice on the Cross. There we are privileged to receive the “… love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God… we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn 3:1-2). Have you received that love as He unites your suffering to His and asks His Father to bless you in your suffering?
If love is the essence of Christianity - the glue of togetherness through repentance and forgiveness - why are there divisions among those who call themselves Christian? How can we love God if we don’t love one another? We can’t. Jesus identified Himself as the “Good Shepherd” (Jn 10:11) who has an intimate relationship with His flock and also cares for those who are not yet members. “I know my sheep, and mine know me in the same way that the Father knows me and I know the Father. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them too, and they shall hear my voice. There shall be one flock then, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). Jesus shows clearly that there can only be “one fold,” one universal Church, led by “one shepherd,” the Vicar of Christ, Peter and his successors. This is Jesus’ visible community to which those outside it are invited to join, not on their conditions but on Jesus’ conditions, namely by obeying His commandments. Jesus’ Church, under the leadership of the Apostles’ successors, re-sounds His voice calling all people to be saved through entering and participating in His “one fold” as His “one flock” shepherded by Him until the end of time. Anybody who tries to build a fold and collect a flock outside of the Church founded by Jesus on Peter causes division. Division is always a sign of Satan’s activity generating confusion and dissension. As Christians we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and pray daily with the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Ps 118:1)
Division among Christians weakens the Church’s effectiveness as Jesus’ visible sign of His saving presence in the world. It’s an absurdity for Christians not to be united in one family. The Holy Spirit revealed that “There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and works through all, and is in all” (Eph 4:5-6). To heal division and restore unity, Jesus empowered His Church to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that her members may repent of their sins, be forgiven, and reconciled to God and to one another in order to witness His mission of supernatural and unconditional love. The human love with which we naturally love must be nourished with God’s supernatural love if we’re to mirror Jesus’ love, truthfully, mercifully, and justly. God’s spirit of love - the Holy Spirit - decries division since He leads everyone into the loving union enjoyed by Jesus and His Father. There’s only one Saviour and only one Church. This is God’s will for us to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (fr sean)
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