The Supernatural Character of the Church

Extract

Belief in the holy Catholic Church is required on precisely the same terms and for the same reasons as is belief in the other mysteries and dogmas of the faith, such as the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation. A passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel, the Confession of St. Peter, provides a good analogy for focussing the Mystery of the Church. Our Lord asks of His disciples concerning Himself: ‘Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?’ The different answers given: John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias, one of the prophets, imply agreement in one thing, namely that Jesus Christ is a man, evidently a religious man and seemingly one who comes front God. Those Jews who made these judgments were right in confessing the humanity of Christ; they were wrong in not distinguishing Him from other men. For them He was only a man, though worthy to be compared with the great religious figures of their history. But He was also truly God and the Son of God. It is the recognition of this profound truth by St. Peter that moves our Lord to His eulogy that ends with the prediction of St. Peter’s position in the Church.