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The Labor of the Apostles their teaching of the Nations

 by Rev. Louis De Goesbraind, D.D.



"We hope that our little work will be well received by all Catholics who love their religion. Many there are who are constant readers of the New Testament, and yet know very little regarding the origin of the Christian religion. In the books of the New Testament we find much regarding the early history of the Church, but we do not find in them the order of the events therein related, the occasion which led to the writing of each book, or the scope intended by the writer. These books of the New Testament do not describe the places of the several occurrences related, nor the time when they were written. Catholics continually hear non-Catholics speaking about the necessity of reading the New Testament as a rule of faith, and they are not always prepared to answer them properly. To them it will be pleasant to know whence the New Testament derives its authority, and what is the use that should be made of it. We hope, therefore, that they will welcome our book regarding the labors of the apostles. The principal source of our information has been, as it ought to be, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of St. Paul. But we have quoted them as true books of history, not demanding that our readers accept them as the work of inspired writers until we have demonstrated that the Catholic Church is the infallible guide appointed by Jesus Christ, and then we draw the inference that the books of the Gospel are inspired because the Church has declared it so."



A SHORT WAY TO TRUTH


What is your most Important Business in this Life?--It is to save your soul. "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul," says our Blessed Saviour (Mark viii. 36).

What must you do to Save Your Soul?--You must follow the religion taught by Christ. "Go ye into the whole world," He said to His Apostles, "and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be condemned" (Mark xvi. 15, 16).

How many Religions did Christ teach?--Most certainly only one, for this plain reason, that He cannot contradict Himself. As St. Paul tells you that there is "one Lord" and "one Faith" (Ephes. iv. 5).

What, therefore, is to be thought of the many Religions in this Country?--As our Saviour taught but one religion, it must follow that all these religions are false except one, wherever that is. Hence St. Paul says, in his epistle to the Galatians (i. 8): "Though we, or an Angel from Heaven, preach a Gospel to you other than that which we have preached, let him be anathema."

Is it not very uncharitable to say that all Religions are false except one?--It is not more uncharitable than to point out the right road to one when he is on a journey; and to tell him all other roads will lead him astray:

But are you not safe in following the Religion in which you were born?--From what you have been reading, it is as clear as noonday that you are not safe in following the religion in which you were born, unless it be the one true religion which Christ taught.

But how are you to find out the true religion?--You must truly and heartily repent of all the sins you have committed; you must have no other wish than to learn the will of God and to do it; you must be resolved that neither persecutions nor losses, nor worldly interest, nor anything else whatsoever, shall prevent you from doing the will of God, when you know what that will is; and you must often pray that He will teach you His holy will, saying: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts ix. 6). If you will follow this advice, you may be sure that God will hear your prayer and lead you into the right way (Luke xi. 13; Matt. vii. 7, 8).

You should also look about you, and inquire which is the one true religion. You will soon find, in the New Testament, that Christ established a Church upon earth; that He built it upon a rock, and declared that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. xvi. 18); you will find that He gave His Church authority to teach His religion, and commanded all to hear and obey it (Matt. xviii. 17; Luke x. 16; Acts ix. 6, 7; x. 5, 6) that this Church cannot teach error; being "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. iii. 15) and that by following what it teaches you will be freed from all doubt and perplexity about the way to Heaven, and will no longer be tossed about by every wind of doctrine (Ephes. iv. 11-15). You will find, in short, that you will be as sure of learning the religion of Christ from this Church as if you heard Him speaking to you Himself: "He that heareth you, heareth Me" (Luke x. 16).

A further examination will make clear to you that this Church is no other than that which you often truly say was the first and will be the last and which all Christians say they believe when they repeat the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church." Yes, this is the Church which Christ built on a rock, which has stood for nineteen hundred years, and has triumphed over all the persecutions raised against it; this is the Church from which all other churches have separated, whilst it has always remained the same as our Saviour established it. Death! Judgment! Heaven! Hell! Eternity!



PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE UNTO TRUTH


God of all goodness, almighty and eternal, Father of mercies, and Saviour of all mankind ; I implore Thee, by Thy sovereign goodness, to enlighten my mind and to teach my heart, that by means of true faith, hope, and charity I may live and die in the true religion of Jesus Christ. I confidently believe that, as there is but one God, there can be but one faith, one religion, and only one path to salvation, and that every other path opposed thereto can lead but to perdition. This path, O my God! I anxiously seek after, that I may follow it and be saved. Therefore I protest before Thy divine majesty, and swear by all Thy divine attributes that I will follow the religion which Thou hast revealed to me as the true one, and will abandon at whatever cost that wherein I shall have discovered errors and falsehood. I confess that I do not deserve this favor for the greatness of my sins, for which I am truly penitent, seeing they offend a God Who is so good, so holy, and so worthy of love; but what I deserve not I hope to obtain from Thine infinite mercy; and I beseech Thee to grant it unto me through the merits of that precious blood which was shed for us sinners by Thine only Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen.







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