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The Wonder of the Christian Story

On the road of Sacred Tradition, holding aloft the Holy Scriptures, the teachers walk along: bishops and priests with all the people.

God, the source of all light and wisdom, nourishes us through words and through teachers; but in Communion, we meet the Divine Son, the whole Person.

Those who strike at the Church's teachers and teaching strike a blow against Christ who is Head of the Church, His Body. Any Catholic who attacks the Church is like a person who cuts his own body.

Those who strike at the Church's teachers and teaching strike a blow against Christ who is Head of the Church, His Body. Any Catholic who attacks the Church is like a person who cuts his own body.

Some of the beliefs and practices recommended today by Catholic writers and teachers are not in accord with the teaching of the Pope and Bishops.

Just as it is pointless installing sewage pipes if an open sewer is allowed to remain nearby, so it makes little difference trying to improve catechesis if heretical books and dissident teachers are left in place.

Just as it is pointless installing sewage pipes if an open sewer is allowed to remain nearby, so it makes little difference trying to improve catechesis if heretical books and dissident teachers are left in place.

Just as it is pointless installing sewage pipes if an open sewer is allowed to remain nearby, so it makes little difference trying to improve catechesis if heretical books and dissident teachers are left in place.

Scripture alone? Holy Scripture is a gift from God. How strange it would be to receive this Word, when it is 'delivered' to us, without acknowledging the Church that wrote it and handed it on - and her Tradition, her Eucharist, her teachers, saints and symbols.

Christ told me how little the Cross is mentioned by preachers and teachers today: the Cross on which He suffered because of the grievous sins no longer mentioned. He is grieving, too, because people say that devotion to His Mother is old fashioned, and because Catholic school children are often taught more about self-esteem than humility.

Think about the uproar when careless school teachers allow the children to do as the please on school trips, only to find them lying dead near a river-bank. What will all of Heaven think when careless priests and Bishops, who have let people do as they please, see them falling down into the depths of Hell?

As well as being fervent teachers, the Church's greatest sinners, when forgiven, have been the most lyrical in their expressions of gratitude to God for helping the weak and hopeless: for example, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ignatius Loyola, and St. Francis of Assisi.

Not speaking, here, of invincible ignorance, The Lord asks: Of what value is the praise of someone who declares: "O God, I love and praise You, but I am determined to ignore Your chosen teachers in the Church and to work in Government to extend the provision of abortions".

A teacher or theologian who freely fixes a curtain between herself and the Papacy, so that she need not put into practice the constant teaching of the Church, will be in danger, when called home to God at death. She will be entangled in the 'curtain' of dissent and heresy which she herself erected, and will risk being unable to rise up to glory, and risk going down to Hell.

Every priest in the world has been called to be another Christ in the place where he serves. Whoever dissents from Church doctrine, however, and argues publicly about such things, endangers his own soul and endangers others by perhaps leading them astray. Teachers and preachers have a stricter judgement.

In Christ's sight, teachers of the faith ought to embody it. It is not enough for teachers to believe in the articles of the Faith, if they do not show out the virtues, including chastity, for example. Women, especially, should pay attention to their clothing and avoid immodest garments or styles which tempt other people to have unchaste thoughts.

Very few Catholics accept the truth: that it is Christ Who teaches us through His Church; and that she teaches the truth about faith and morals. It is with pride that many speak, when they say, in effect: "On the subject of contraception, I know better, what is right and wrong, than all these Patriarchs, Prophets, teachers, Popes, Bishops and Saints."

Christ spoke about sudden death, caused by the collapse of the tower at Siloam. He warned people to repent. In our day, catechesis and teachers are not wrong to say what He said, in appropriate ways. We might face sudden death. The question for each of us to ponder is: 'Am I ready to appear in God's presence, without a moment's notice?'

Christ wants everyone to see what He sees: that many people are ignoring what is good and embracing evil; but of those who have stepped onto His path to Life, a large number are making little progress. They argue so much about the teachings of His Church, disagreeing with His chosen teachers - the Pope and other Catholic Bishops; and Christ cannot ask them to do great work.