Defending the Faith 2
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You called the Apostles,
You founded Your Church,
and You promised to remain with her until the end of the age.
Open our minds to Your truth,
open our hearts to Your grace,
and help us to love the Church as Your gift to us.
Amen.
Last time, we began with the question:
Why be Catholic?
And we said that Catholic faith begins not with rules, buildings, customs, or guilt, but with a Person:
Jesus Christ.
If Jesus is only a wise teacher, then Catholicism is optional.
If Jesus is only a symbol of kindness, then the Church is one human organisation among many.
But if Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, crucified and risen from the dead, then everything changes.
The question is no longer:
“What kind of religion do I prefer?”
The question becomes:
What has Christ given us?
And so we look at one of the most important Catholic claims:
Jesus Christ founded the Church.
The Church is not an accident.
The Church is not a later invention.
The Church is not simply a useful organisation created by Christians after Jesus went away.
The Church comes from Christ.
That is what we need to understand.
Because many people today say:
“I believe in Jesus, but I do not need the Church.”
Or:
“Jesus was simple, but the Church made everything complicated.”
Or:
“The Church is a human institution.”
Or:
“Jesus preached love; the Church invented rules.”
Those are common claims. But they do not fit the Gospel.
Jesus did not simply leave behind memories, sayings, and private inspiration.
He gathered a people.
He chose Apostles.
He gave authority.
He commanded them to teach and baptise.
He gave them the Eucharist.
He gave them power to forgive sins.
He promised to be with them.
He sent the Holy Spirit upon them.
At Pentecost, the Church is not invented; she is manifested. What Christ had already gathered, taught, and entrusted to the Apostles is now filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent openly to the nations. Pentecost does not replace Christ’s founding of the Church. It reveals it and empowers it.
In other words:
Jesus founded a visible Church.
We are going to see why that matters.
1. Jesus did not come to create isolated believers
Sometimes people imagine Christianity as something purely private.
They think faith means:
“I have my own relationship with God.”
Now, of course, each person must know and love God personally. No one else can believe for me. No one else can repent for me. No one else can love Christ in my place.
But Christianity is not private individualism.
Jesus did not come to create isolated believers.
He came to gather a people.
This is already seen in the Old Testament. God did not simply call random individuals to have private religious experiences. He called Abraham. He formed Israel. He gave a covenant. He gathered a people who would belong to Him.
And when Jesus comes, He does not abolish that pattern. He fulfils it.
He gathers disciples.
He calls them by name.
He teaches them together.
He forms them into a community.
He gives them a common prayer.
He gives them a common mission.
He makes them the beginning of a new people of God.
So from the beginning, Christian faith is not:
“Jesus and me, without the Church.”
It is:
“Jesus calls me into His Body.”
To belong to Christ is to be drawn into communion.
That is why baptism matters. Baptism is not just a private blessing. It brings us into Christ and into His Church.
That is why the Eucharist matters. Holy Communion is not just my private moment with Jesus. It is the sacrament of unity, the Body of Christ given to the Body of Christ.
That is why Sunday Mass matters. We are not meant to worship as disconnected individuals. We are gathered as the Church.
So the first thing to say is this:
Jesus did not come to save isolated souls one by one while leaving them unrelated to one another. He came to gather sinners into one redeemed people.
The Church belongs to the very shape of salvation.
2. Jesus chose the Twelve
One of the clearest signs that Jesus intended to found a visible Church is that He chose the Twelve Apostles.
This was not accidental.
Jesus had many disciples. But from among them He chose twelve.
Why twelve?
Because Israel had twelve tribes.
By choosing twelve Apostles, Jesus is showing that He is gathering the renewed people of God.
He is not simply giving spiritual advice.
He is not starting a loose movement of admirers.
He is reconstituting Israel around Himself.
The Twelve are the foundation stones of the Church.
They are witnesses of His teaching, His miracles, His Passion, His Resurrection, and His Ascension. They are sent by Him. They teach in His name. They baptise in His name. They celebrate the Eucharist by His command. They shepherd His people.
This is very important.
Christianity is not based on rumours about Jesus.
It is apostolic.
It comes to us through those whom Christ chose, formed, authorised, and sent.
That is why the Church professes herself to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Apostolic means that the Church is founded on the Apostles, teaches the apostolic faith, and remains in continuity with the apostolic mission.
A Catholic does not believe in a vague Jesus of private imagination.
We believe in the Jesus preached by the Apostles and handed on in the Church.
That is why the Church matters.
Without the Apostles, we would not have the New Testament.
Without the Apostles, we would not have the sacraments.
Without the Apostles, we would not have the Church’s living memory of Christ.
So when someone says, “I want Jesus, not the Church,” we can gently ask:
How do you know Jesus except through the witness of the Church He founded on the Apostles?
3. Jesus gave authority to the Apostles
Many people are uncomfortable with authority.
That is understandable. Authority can be misused. People have seen bad authority, proud authority, abusive authority, selfish authority, and hypocritical authority.
But the misuse of authority does not mean authority itself is evil.
Jesus Himself has authority.
He teaches with authority.
He forgives sins with authority.
He commands demons with authority.
He calms the storm with authority.
He sends His disciples with authority.
And He gives real authority to His Apostles.
He says to them:
“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
He tells them:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
He says:
“He who hears you hears me.”
And after the Resurrection, He breathes on them and says:
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.”
That is not vague inspiration.
That is mission.
That is teaching authority.
That is sacramental authority.
That is pastoral authority.
The Apostles are not replacing Christ. They are sent by Christ.
The Church does not stand above Christ. She stands under Christ.
Her authority is not self-invented. It is received.
This is why Catholics take the Church seriously. Not because every churchman is wise. Not because every priest or bishop is holy. Not because Catholics enjoy being told what to do.
We take the Church seriously because Christ gave authority to His Apostles and promised to remain with His Church.
Of course, that authority must always be exercised humbly. Authority in the Church is meant to be service, not domination.
But we cannot remove authority from Christianity without removing something Christ Himself gave.
A Christianity with no authority quickly becomes a Christianity of private opinion.
And private opinion cannot preserve the Gospel for two thousand years.
4. Peter has a particular role
Among the Twelve, Peter has a particular role.
The Gospels show this again and again.
Peter is named first.
Peter speaks for the Twelve.
Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ.
Peter is given the keys.
Peter is told to strengthen his brethren.
Peter is commanded after his fall to feed Christ’s sheep.
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus says:
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”
Notice those words:
“I will build my church.”
Jesus does not say:
“You will build your religious association.”
He says:
“I will build my church.”
The Church is Christ’s.
Christ is the builder.
Christ is the foundation in the deepest sense.
But He gives Peter a visible role.
He gives him the keys of the kingdom.
Keys mean authority. Not ownership, but stewardship. Not domination, but responsibility.
Peter is weak. Peter falls. Peter denies the Lord. But Christ does not abandon him. Christ restores him.
This is deeply Catholic.
The Lord chooses weak men and gives them real responsibility, not because they are impressive, but because His grace is greater than their weakness.
So the role of Peter is not about Peter being better than everyone else.
It is about Christ providing a visible principle of unity for His Church.
Catholics believe that this Petrine ministry continues in the successor of Peter, the Pope.
Again, this does not mean every Pope is a saint.
It does not mean every papal decision is wise.
It does not mean Catholics worship the Pope.
It does not mean the Pope can invent a new Gospel.
It means that Christ did not leave His Church without visible unity.
The Pope is not above the Word of God.
He is not above the Gospel.
He is not above Christ.
He is a servant of the faith handed down from the Apostles.
But without visible unity, Christianity fragments.
And we can see that fragmentation all around us.
So when Catholics speak about Peter and the Pope, we are not saying:
“We are better.”
We are saying:
Christ gave His Church a visible centre of unity, and that gift matters.
5. The Church existed before the New Testament was complete
This is another important point.
Some people say:
“We just need the Bible, not the Church.”
But historically, the Church came before the completed New Testament.
The first Christians did not begin with a printed Bible in their hands.
They had the preaching of the Apostles.
They had the Eucharist.
They had Baptism.
They had prayer.
They had bishops, priests, and deacons emerging in the apostolic Church.
They had the living Tradition of the faith.
The New Testament was written within the life of the Church.
The Gospels and letters were written by Apostles and apostolic men for Christian communities that already existed.
And it was the Church that recognised which writings were truly apostolic and belonged to Sacred Scripture.
So the Bible is not against the Church.
The Bible is the Church’s book.
That does not mean the Church is above Scripture. Far from it. The Church reveres Scripture as the inspired Word of God.
But Scripture was not dropped from heaven as a complete book, separate from the Church.
It was given within the apostolic life of the Church.
That is why Catholics hold together Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching office of the Church.
Not as three rival sources.
But as one living transmission of the Word of God.
Christ entrusted the Gospel to the Apostles.
The Apostles preached it.
The Church received it.
The Scriptures bear inspired witness to it.
The Church guards and hands it on.
So when someone says, “Bible alone,” the Catholic can gently ask:
Which Bible? Who recognised it? Who preserved it? Who handed it on?
The answer is: the Church.
Not instead of Scripture, but in service of Scripture.
Of course, the Church has developed in history. Her liturgy developed. Her language developed. Her structures developed. Her ways of explaining doctrine developed.
But development is not the same as invention.
An acorn becomes an oak tree, but the oak is not a different thing from the acorn. It is the same life brought to maturity.
So when Catholics say Jesus founded the Church, we do not mean every later detail appeared fully formed on day one. We mean that the Church’s life, authority, sacraments, apostolic foundation, and mission come from Christ and unfold faithfully through history.
6. The Church is visible and spiritual
Another common misunderstanding is that the Church is only invisible.
Some people say:
“The real Church is just all true believers. It does not matter what visible Church you belong to.”
There is a truth here. God alone fully knows the heart. There are people visibly outside the Catholic Church who truly love Christ and are touched by grace. We should never deny that.
But the Church Jesus founded is not invisible only.
She is visible and spiritual.
She has baptism.
She has the Eucharist.
She has teachers.
She has shepherds.
She has public worship.
She has discipline.
She has a mission to the nations.
You cannot baptise invisibly.
You cannot celebrate the Eucharist invisibly.
You cannot preach to all nations invisibly.
You cannot reconcile sinners invisibly.
You cannot appoint shepherds invisibly.
The Church is a mystery, yes. But she is not merely an idea.
She is the Body of Christ in history.
And because she is visible, she can be wounded visibly. Her members can sin visibly. Her leaders can fail visibly. Her divisions can grieve us visibly.
But her visibility is not a defect.
It is part of the Incarnation.
God saves us not by pulling us out of the material world, but by entering it.
The Son of God took flesh.
He used water, bread, wine, oil, words, touch, and human witnesses.
He founded a Church that can be seen, heard, entered, and received.
That is very Catholic.
The invisible grace of God comes to us through visible signs.
And the invisible communion of the saints is expressed in a visible Church.
There is another image we must not forget. Saint Paul calls the Church the Body of Christ.
That means the Church is not merely a society of people who agree with Jesus. She is joined to Him. Christ is the Head, and we are members of His Body.
This is why sin in the Church wounds so deeply: because the Body of Christ is meant to show His holiness. But it is also why we do not abandon the Church when we see weakness. The Body needs healing, not rejection.
To belong to the Church is to belong to Christ’s Body. It is not simply membership. It is communion.
7. “But the Church is full of sinners”
Yes. It is.
That is not a surprise. It is one of the reasons the Church exists.
The Church is not a museum of saints already perfect. She is a hospital for sinners being healed.
But we must be careful.
Sometimes people use the sins of Catholics as an excuse to reject the Church. And sometimes those sins are very serious. We must never minimise them.
Scandal wounds faith. Abuse wounds trust. Hypocrisy damages souls. Clerical pride disfigures the face of the Church. Indifference and cowardice do real harm.
A Catholic should not defend evil.
A Catholic should not excuse sin because it happened inside the Church.
A Catholic should not pretend that failure does not matter.
But we must also ask:
Did Jesus promise that every member of the Church would be holy?
No.
He told parables about wheat and weeds.
He chose Judas, who betrayed Him.
Peter denied Him.
The Apostles argued about who was greatest.
The early Christian communities had divisions, scandals, sins, and confusion.
And yet Christ did not abandon His Church.
The holiness of the Church does not mean that all her members are holy.
It means that Christ is holy.
Her doctrine is holy.
Her sacraments are holy.
Her mission is holy.
Her saints are real.
Her source is divine.
The Church is holy because she belongs to Christ, even while many of her members still need conversion.
That should humble us.
We do not say:
“The Church is holy because we are impressive.”
We say:
“The Church is holy because Christ is faithful.”
And that gives hope.
Because if the Church were only for the already holy, none of us would belong.
8. Why this matters for ordinary Catholics
This may sound like theology, but it matters very practically.
If Jesus founded the Church, then the Church is not optional.
If Jesus gave the sacraments to His Church, then Mass is not optional.
If Jesus gave authority to the Apostles, then doctrine is not something I invent.
If Jesus gave Peter a role of unity, then visible unity matters.
If Jesus gave the Church the mission to teach all nations, then faith is not meant to be hidden.
If the Church is our mother, then I do not treat her as a religious shop where I take what I like and leave the rest.
This changes how we live.
It means I do not ask first:
“What do I personally prefer?”
I ask:
“What has Christ given?”
It means I do not treat Sunday Mass as an optional extra.
I ask:
“Where does Christ gather His people and feed them?”
It means I do not approach Catholic teaching as a menu.
I ask:
“What is the faith handed down from the Apostles?”
It means I do not leave the Church simply because I find something difficult.
I ask:
“Lord, where else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
It means I do not stay Catholic because every Catholic is good.
I stay because Christ is true.
That is a very different foundation.
9. How to answer this simply
So if someone says:
“Jesus did not found the Church. The Church came later.”
You do not need to panic.
You might say:
“Jesus gathered disciples, chose the Twelve, gave them authority, commanded them to teach and baptise, gave them the Eucharist, gave them power to forgive sins, and promised to remain with them. That is already the beginning of the Church.”
Or:
“The Church is not a later invention. It grows directly from what Jesus did with the Apostles.”
Or:
“If Jesus only wanted private believers, He would not have chosen Apostles, given them authority, and sent them to teach all nations.”
That is enough to begin.
You do not need to answer every historical question at once.
You are simply helping the person see that the Church is not an accidental development.
She is rooted in the will of Christ.
10. What this asks of us
If Christ founded the Church, then we must receive the Church with gratitude.
Not naïvely.
Not blindly.
Not pretending that every Catholic has lived well.
Not excusing sin.
But with faith.
Faith that Christ keeps His promises.
Faith that the Holy Spirit has not abandoned the Church.
Faith that the sacraments are real.
Faith that the apostolic faith is worth receiving, guarding, and handing on.
And also with humility.
Because if the Church is Christ’s gift, then I am not her owner.
I do not remake the Church according to my taste.
I do not treat doctrine as personal opinion.
I do not treat the sacraments casually.
I do not reduce the Church to politics, culture, nostalgia, or preference.
I receive.
That is one of the hardest things today.
Modern people are trained to choose, customise, edit, and consume.
But Catholic faith teaches us first to receive.
We receive life.
We receive Baptism.
We receive the Creed.
We receive the Scriptures.
We receive the Eucharist.
We receive mercy.
We receive the Church.
And then, having received, we hand on what we have received.
That is tradition.
Not dead habit.
Not empty repetition.
Tradition is the living handing on of what Christ gave.
Conclusion
So did Jesus really found the Church?
Yes.
Not as a company.
Not as a political empire.
Not as a human club.
Not as a religious business.
He founded His Church as the visible communion of those gathered into His life, taught by His Apostles, nourished by His sacraments, united in His truth, and sent on His mission.
He gathered disciples.
He chose the Twelve.
He gave authority.
He gave Peter the keys.
He commanded them to teach and baptise.
He gave the Eucharist.
He gave the power to forgive sins.
He promised to remain with His Church.
He sent the Holy Spirit.
The Church is not an afterthought.
She is part of the gift of Christ.
That is why we do not say:
“I like Jesus, but I do not need the Church.”
We say:
“Lord Jesus, if You have given me the Church, teach me to receive her as Your gift.”
Not because every Catholic is holy.
Not because every priest is wise.
Not because every bishop is courageous.
Not because every moment of Church history is glorious.
But because Christ is faithful.
And He has not left His people orphaned.
He has given us His Church.
Amen.
Before we move to questions, remember these three simple answers.
Did Jesus found the Church?
Yes.
Because He gathered a people.
Because He chose and sent the Apostles.
Because He promised to remain with His Church until the end of the age.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
The Church is not a human invention added onto Jesus. She is the visible people Christ Himself gathered, taught, nourished, and sent.
And perhaps each of us should ask:
Do I treat the Church as Christ’s gift, or merely as something I judge according to my own preferences?
Because the Church is not simply something to criticise from outside.
She is the mother into whose care Christ has placed us.
Q&A after Session 2
- What would you say to someone who says, “I believe in Jesus but not the Church”?
- Why did Jesus choose the Twelve Apostles?
- What does it mean to say the Church is apostolic?
- Why does visible unity matter?
- How can the Church be holy if her members are sinners?
- Why is the Pope important for Catholic unity?
- What is the difference between receiving the Church and merely choosing a religion?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
You founded Your Church on the Apostles
and promised to remain with her always.
Help us to trust Your promises,
to love the Church as Your gift,
and to live as faithful members of Your Body.
Purify Your Church, strengthen her shepherds,
heal those who have been wounded,
and make us witnesses to Your truth and mercy.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 