The Catholicity Of The Church And Sins Against The First Commandment

 

To My Readers: This week, John Gregory writes about the importance of the First Commandment, and how we must be diligent in following all this Divine precept compels and forbids us to do. Feel free to comment as usual. If you have  a specific comment or question for me, I will respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week.

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

The Catholicity of the Church and Sins Against the First Commandment

by John Gregory 

The following is from the beloved Catechism of Trent (COT):

 

From you is spread abroad the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place, your faith which is toward, is gone forth (1 Thessalonians 1: 8).

 

THE CATHOLICITY OF THE CHURCH

“CATHOLIC”

 The third mark of the Church is that she is Catholic; that is, universal.  And justly is she called Catholic, because as Saint Augustine says: she is diffused by the splendor of one faith from the rising to the setting sun.

 

In the Mass for the 6^th Sunday after the Epiphany the Introit is as follows:

 

“Adore God, all you His angels: Sion heard, and was glad and the daughters of Juda rejoiced.  The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.”

 

Very appropriately the introit speaks of Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem.  Sion can refer to the Mother of God who contained God within her womb, the universal Catholic Church, which she embodies, and heaven itself.  In the most holy Mass, we adore God in the most perfect way possible on earth.  The best the protestants can do is pray.  The Catholics have Jesus offering Himself to His Father every day on our holy altars throughout the world. Making present to us in an unbloody manner the one sacrifice of His death on the cross and applying to our souls the merits He won for us on that cross for the sanctification of our souls.  Christ died for our sins, yes.  But His merits must be applied.  It is not a name it and claim it Gospel.  I believe, therefore I am saved.  No.  His merits must be applied to our souls through His valid ministers through the aforementioned daily Mass, the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of Penance and the other sacraments which the protestants do not have, apart from baptism in some instances. It is only the Catholic Church's ministers, her bishops and priests, who are sent by Jesus for the instruction and sanctification of His chosen people’s souls. 

 

Unlike states of human institution, or the sects of heretics, she is not confined to any one country or class of men, but embraces within the amplitude of her love all mankind, whether barbarians or Scythians, slaves or freeman, male or female.  Therefore it is written: Thou . . . hast redeemed us to God, in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us to our God a kingdom. (Apocalypse 5: 9, 10) Speaking of the Church, David says: Ask of me and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession; (Psalm 2: 8) and also, I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me; (Psalm 86: 4) and man is born in her. (Psalm 86: 5) The Psalmist is proclaiming the glory of the Messianic Kingdom, the Church, to which all nations shall be gathered.

 

In the Collect for this Mass the Catholic Church “asks” God for detachment from worldly things and attachment to heavenly things, so that we may avoid sin and be pleasing to God:

 

“Grant us, we beseech Thee, almighty God, ever to think of spiritual things and in every word and work always to do what is well pleasing in Your sight.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.”

 

We should not be attached to worldly things, things we perceive with our senses as an end in themselves, but a means to an end, which is always our eternal salvation.  We are not attached to our jobs or money as an end in themselves, but as a means to an end.  For example, some may be attached to the prestige of their jobs, the high regard others have for them because of the position they hold.  This is an inordinate attachment to what others think of you.  If your end goal is to make as much money as you can, so people can admirer you for all the special things you can afford, then you have money as and end instead of a means to an end.  The purpose of our jobs and money is so that we can support ourselves and our families with the necessities of life. We sanctify our souls, strive for salvation, by fulfilling our natural state of life, whether that be the single life, married or religious.  The husband and father, for instance, fulfills his state in life by being a good husband and father.  Such a one has a job and earns money so he can provide for the necessities of his family.  If this is done for the love of God, then such a one is using his job and money as a means to an end.  Though his is and his family's eternal salvation being foremost in his mind as he strives to raise godly offspring who know and practice the faith.

 

Moreover to this Church, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, (Ephesians 2: 20) belong all the faithful who have existed from Adam to the present day, or who shall exist, in the profession of the true faith, to the end of time; all of whom are founded and raised upon the one corner-stone, Christ, who made both one, and announced peace to them that are near to them that are far.

 

She is also called universal, because all who desire eternal salvation must cling to and embrace her, like those who entered the ark to escape perishing in the Flood.  This (note of catholicity), therefore, is to be taught as a most reliable criterion, by which to distinguish the true from a false Church. (COT - p. 106)

 

In the Gradual we see that despite calling all to salvation, that most of chosen people of the old covenant, ceased to be chosen by refusing the new and everlasting covenant that the Gentiles embraced.

 

“The Gentiles shall fear Thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory.  For the Lord has built up Sion, and He shall be seen in His glory.  Alleluia, alleluia.  The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.  Alleluia."

 

We must fear the Lord.  Our souls are in His hands.  What happened to the Jews can happen to us.  They were the chosen people.  God’s most favored first-born.  But they rejected Him, over and over again, finally they rejected Him, God the Son, completely and irrevocably when they clung to their power, prestige and money, by holding the people who supported them to the Old Covenant and spitting on the New Covenant, despite the countless miracles that proved Christ was Who He said He was, and His dying to establish the New and everlasting Covenant. We were grafted on in place of the Jews, when they rejected and we accepted Christ.  At the eleventh hour they could replace us again.  Since Vatican 2, how many gentiles have an authentic belief in Christ AND act accordingly?  A faithful remnant?  When Christ comes will He find faith on earth?  The implication is that if He finds any, it won’t be many who hold to it.  And if there is barely any faith left when He comes, what about love?  How many will be in a state of sanctifying grace when He comes again?

 

THE SINS AGAINST THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

You turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1: 9) (COT - p. xliii)

The words of the First Commandment “Thou shalt not have strange gods before me, both command and prohibit or forbid.  The (COT) teaches that the words of the Commandment “is equivalent to saying: Thou shalt worship me the true God; thou shalt not worship strange gods.” 

WHAT THEY COMMAND 

The (mandatory part) contains a precept of faith, hope and charity.  For, acknowledging God to be immovable, immutable, always the same, we rightly confess that He is faithful and entirely just.  Hence in assenting to His oracles, we necessarily yield to Him all belief and obedience.  Again, who can contemplate His omnipotence, His clemency, His willing beneficence, and not repose in Him all his hopes? Finally, who can behold the riches of His goodness and love, which He lavishes on us, and not love Him?  Hence the exordium and the conclusion used by God in Scripture when giving His commands: I, the Lord. 

WHAT THEY FORBID 

The (negative) part of this Commandment is comprised in these words: Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.  This the Lawgiver subjoins, not because it is not sufficiently expressed in the affirmative part of the precept, which means: Thou shalt worship me, the only God, for if He is God, He is the only God; but on account of the blindness of many who of old professed to worship the true God and yet adored a multitude of gods Of these there were many even among the Hebrews, whom Elias reproached with having halted between two sides, (3 Kings 18: 21) and also among the Samaritans, who worshipped the God of Israel and the gods of nations. (4 Kings 17: 33) 

IMPORTANCE OF THIS COMMANDMENT 

After this it should be added that this is the first and principal Commandment, not only in order, but also in its nature, dignity and excellence.  God is entitled to infinitely greater love and obedience from us than any lord or king.  He created us, He governs us, He nurtured us even in the womb, brought us into the world, and still supplies us with all the necessaries of life and maintenance. 

SINS AGAINST THIS COMMANDMENT 

Against this Commandment all those sin who have not faith, hope and charity.  Such sinners are very numerous, for they include all who fall into heresy, who reject what holy mother the Church proposes for our belief, who give credit to dreams, fortune-telling, and such illusions; those who, despairing of salvation, trust not in the goodness of God; and those who rely solely on wealth, or health and strength of body.  (COT p. 368-369) 

THEY FORBID IDOLS A ND REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEITY 

As far as this Commandment is concerned, it is clear that there are two chief ways in which God’s majesty can be seriously outraged.  The first way is by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to, or reposing confidence in them, as the Gentiles did, who placed their hopes in idols, and whose idolatry the Scriptures frequently condemn.  The other way is by attempting to form a representation of the Deity, as if He were visible to mortal eyes, or could be reproduced by colors or figures.  Who, says Damascene, can represent God, invisible, as He is, incorporeal, uncircumscribed by limits, and incapable of being reproduced under any shape. This subject is treated more at large in the second Council of Nice.  Rightly, then, did the Apostles say (of the Gentiles): They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into a likeness of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things; (Romans 1: 23) for they worshipped all these things as God, seeing that they made the images of these things to represent Him.  Hence the Israelites, when they exclaimed before the image of the calf: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, (Exodus 32: 4) are denounced as idolaters, because they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass. (Psalm 105: 20) (COT p. 374) 

In the post communion we ask assistance to avoid seriously outraging God through sin: 

“Nourished by Thy heavenly food, O Lord, we beseech Thee that we may always strive after those things that give us true life.  Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.”

 

What things do we strive for?  Beer?  Games?  Entertainment?  Leisure?  Sumptuous feasts and extravagant vacations?  To be admired and esteemed?  To die with the most toys?  Flirtatious exchanges with women who are not our wives?  Men who are not our husbands?  To gain the whole world at the expense of our souls?  In every Mass we are reminded to have our focus on the right things.  The things that are above.  Spiritual things.  Leading a good moral life.  Detachment from worldly things.  God.  Heaven.  

THE CATHOLICITY OF THE CHURCH FROM SAINT MATTHEW

The Sins Against the First Commandment.—The kingdom of heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof (Matthew 13: 31, 32).

Those who understand the above verse do indeed marvel at the things that come from the mouth of God as stated in this Mass’s Communion:

“They all marveled at these things that came from the mouth of God.”

 

Here are a few words from God that should make all men marvel and accept the fact that the Catholic Church is only Church founded by God for our salvation.  The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church: 

 

All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.  Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

 

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

 

Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.  When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.  Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

 

I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.  Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

 

The Lapide commentary continues with the description of the catholicity of the Catholic Church on the above verse from Saint Matthew: 

In Arabic: “to such an extent that the birds of the air are overshadowed by its branches.”  This is Christ’s third parable (the mustard seed), the occasion and cause of which Saint Chrysostom gives as follows: “Because the Lord had said that of the seed three parts perish, and one is preserved and again of that which is preserved, this great loss on account of the cockle which is sown over it, lest people should say, who then and how many will believe?  He removes this fear by the parable of the grain of mustard seed, and, therefore, it is said, another parable He proposed unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, etc.” 

You will enquire in the first place, what it is which is here compared to the kingdom of heaven, and likened to a grain of mustard seed?  First, Saint Hilary understands it of Christ Himself.  He says, “The Lord compares Himself to a grain of mustard seed, which is very sharp and the least of all seeds, and whose virtue and power are increased by the bruising and pressure.  After this grain had been sown in the field—that is, when He was apprehended by the people and delivered to death, and His body was buried, as though in a field by a sort of sowing—it grew above the measure of all herbs—i.e., He exceeded the glory of all the prophets.  For the preaching of the prophets was given to Isreal like an herb to a man who is sick; but now in the branches of the tree, lifted above the ground on high, the birds of air dwell.  By these we understand the Apostles, lifted up by the power of Christ, and they overshadow the world with their branches.  To them the gentiles flew for the hope of life; and when they are vexed with whirlwinds, that is by the blasts of the devil, they rest as in the branches of a tree.”  Hear Saint Gregory, who in like manner expounds this whole parable, part by part: “Christ Himself is the grain of mustard seed, who was planted in the sepulcher of the garden, and rose again a mighty tree.  He was but a grain when He died; a tree when He rose again.  A grain through lowliness of the flesh; a tree by the power of His majesty.  A grain, because we saw Him, and there was no comeliness; but a tree because He was fairer than the children of men.  The branches of this tree are sacred preachers.  And let us see how widely they are spread.  For what is spoken concerning them?  Their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world.  The birds rest in their branches, because holy souls who lift up themselves from earthly thoughts by the wings, as it were, of virtues are refreshed after the fatigue of this life by their words and their consolations.”  Similar expressions are found in Saint Augustine. 

You will say, how can Christ be called the kingdom of heaven, when He is not the kingdom, but its king?  The response is: just as a king is, so to speak, the head in a kingdom, so in turn a kingdom is as the body of the king, its head.  Therefore, a king represents the whole state or kingdom.  Hence according to the rule of Ticonius, often in scripture what belongs to the Church (which is the kingdom of Christ) is attributed to Christ, and vice versa. Then again, the plain meaning is as if to say: The kingdom of heaven is like someone who sows in it, as though in God’s field, a mustard seed, i.e., Christ, who grows exceedingly high and spreads its branches in all directions.  We heard a similar phrase in verse 24.

 

2. More plainly and aptly, the kingdom of heaven and the grain of mustard seed are the Church, especially the primitive Church.  Thus Saint Chrysostom.  Saint Augustine claims that it stands for faith, or rather the gospel and the evangelical doctrine, as Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose, Saint Bede and others assert (although all these things amount to almost the same thing).  The Church (or her doctrine) is compared, first, to the seed [being sown] (vv. 3, 24); second to a mustard seed (this verse); third, to yeast (v. 33); fourth, to a treasure hidden in a field (v. 44); fifth, to a precious pearl (v. 46); sixth, to a dragnet cast into the sea (v. 47).  She is called the kingdom of heaven, because by her God reigns in us and leads us to His kingdom in heaven.

 

You will enquire, in the second place: Why is the gospel compared to a grain of mustard seed, and what are the resemblances between the two things?  I answer, the first reason is that Christ by this parable intends to signify the immense power and fruitfulness and propagation of evangelical preaching, for what had a very small beginning with Christ, and by a few Apostles, diffused itself over the whole world.  For a grain of mustard seed is “the least indeed of all seeds”, as the Syriac and Arabic have it (Vulgate: “less than all seeds”).  The Greek is “less than all seeds”, meaning the smallest.  This must be understood according to the common usage of speech, by which we call what is very little, or one of very small things, the least; for otherwise to speak precisely, poppy seed, and the seed of rue, basil and some other herbs, is less than mustard seed.  Thus the preaching of the gospel was carried on at first by Christ and the Apostles and was very limited. 

2. [sic] A grain of mustard seed, especially in Syria, grows into a tree, so that birds dwell (Syriac, “build their nests”) in its branches.  Thus the gospel grew and filled the whole world, so that the birds of heaven, i.e., men lofty in knowledge and understanding as well as kings and princes dwelt in its branches.  (See Daniel 4: 9 and 19).  Some understand by the birds, the angels, because they have wings, and are very swift.  Hear Saint Augustine: “Peter is a branch; Paul is a branch; blessed Laurence, whose birthday [into heaven] we are celebrating, is a branch.  All the Apostles and martyrs of the Savior are branches; and if anyone will bravely lay hold of them, they will escape being drowned in the waves of the world.  He who dwells under their shadow shall not feed the fire of hell, and shall be secure from the storm of the devil’s tempest, and from being burnt up in the day of judgment.” 

3. And chiefly by mustard is denoted the fiery force and efficacy of the gospel.  “Pythagoras,” says Pliny, “considered that mustard holds the chief place amongst those things whose force is borne upward; since there is nothing which more thoroughly penetrates the nose and the brain.” A grain of mustard refers to the fervor of faith, says Saint Augustine.  “For the dogmas of the philosophers,” says Saint Jerome, “when they have grown up, show nothing of life or strength, but watery and insipid they grow into grasses and other greens, which quickly dry up and wither away.  But the gospel preaching, though it seems small in its beginning, when sown in the mind of the hearer, or upon the world, comes up not a garden herb, but a tree.”

4. Mustard seed must be crushed; for when it is crushed it emits its igneous force and flavor.  So, too, the preaching of the gospel was, as it were, crushed by a thousand oppressions and persecutions which the Apostles suffered; and then it breathed forth its igneous force and strength. 

5. Mustard seed, as Pliny says, is sharp and biting.  It draws tears, purges away phlegm and cerebral secretions and facilitates excretions; it is masticated for toothache; when ground up with vinegar it is applied to the stings of scorpions and the bites of snakes; it is an antidote to the poison of fungi; it is most useful against stomach illnesses; it is beneficial for the breast and lungs; it is useful against epilepsy, dropsy, asthma, lethargy, baldness, psoriasis, kidney stones and many other diseases.  Thus the gospel expels poisons, that is sins, by the emetic of confession; it is sharp and biting, because it teaches penance and the cross; it excites the tears of compunction; it is medicine for all the faculties of the soul, and especially it dries up concupiscence, expels vices and animates to virtue.  “The bitterness of its words is the medicine of souls,” says Saint Augustine.

 6. Mustard seed by its sharpness seasons food, and renders it palatable.  So also the gospel renders palatable everything which is hard and difficult by means of the example of Christ, and by the hope of future glory which it promises.  Almost all these things are taught by Saint Augustine in sermons 31 and 33 “On the Saints,” which are the second and fourth about Saint Laurence.  The same sermons are found in Saint Ambrose, volume 5, sermons 19 and 20, for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, but the style is redolent of Saint Augustine’s phrases.  He expresses himself there as follows: “A grain of mustard seed is great, not in appearance, but in virtue.  At first glance it seems small, worthless, despised, not marked by any flavor, nor surrounded by any odor, nor giving any sign of sweetness; but once it is bruised, it sheds abroad its odor, displays its sharpness and exhales nourishment of a fiery taste.  It is so inflamed with the fervor of heat that it is a marvel how much fire can be enclosed in such a slight thing.  Indeed, men put this grain into their food, especially in the winter-time, for its great flavor and also to drive away cold, to expel humors and to warm themselves inwardly.  For this reason they often apply it as a medicine, so that if there is some infirmity or illness, it is cured by the fire of mustard.”  After this he applies the qualities of mustard to the gospel and the Christian Faith: “Thus, too, the Christian Faith, at first sight, appears small, worthless and frail, not manifesting its power, not carrying any semblance of pride, nor conferring grace.  But as soon as it begins to be bruised by divers temptations, immediately it manifests its vigor, indicates its sharpness, breathes the warmth of belief in the Lord, and is possessed with so great ardor of divine fire, that both itself is hot and it compels those who participate to be fervent also.  As the two disciples said in the holy gospel, when the Lord spoke with them after His passion, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us by the way, while the Lord Jesus opened to us the Scriptures?’  A grain of mustard, then, warms the inward members of our bodies, but the power of faith burns up the sins of our hearts.  The one indeed takes away piercing cold; the other expels the devil’s frost of transgressions.  A grain of mustard, I say, purges away corporeal humors, but faith puts an end to the flux of lusts.   By the one, medicine is gained for the head; but by faith our spiritual Head, Christ the Lord, is often refreshed.  Moreover, we enjoy the sacred odor of faith, according to the analogy of mustard seed, as the blessed Apostle saith, ‘We are a sweet savor of Christ unto God.’”

Tropologically, all these things may be applied to a faithful soul. And especially to an Apostle, and to a suffering Christian, or to a martyr, who hears the word of God, like a mustard seen, meditates on it and preaches it, transmitting it both to his own heart and to the hearts of others. Therefore, the Church adapts this parable to Saint Laurence, as the gospel for his festival.  As Saint Augustine says, in the work already cited, “We may compare the holy martyr Laurence to a grain of mustard seed; for he, being bruised by various sufferings, merited to become fragrant throughout the whole world by the grace of his martyrdom.  He, when he was in the body, was humble, unknown, and held in low estimation; but after he had been bruised, torn, and burnt he diffused the odor of his nobleness in the churches throughout the world.  Rightly, therefore, is this comparison coupled with him.  For Laurence, when he suffers, is inflamed.  The heat of being ground down moves the one; the other breathes forth fire in his manifold tribulations.  Mustard, I say, is cooked in a small vessel; Laurence is roasted on the gridiron by the fiery flame.  Blessed Laurence the martyr was burnt outwardly by the flames of the raging tyrant, but he was inflamed inwardly by the far greater fire of the love of Christ.”  The Arabians have a proverb, “A grain of pepper is more powerful than many large gourds,” because if it be bruised it emits a fiery force, and makes itself felt in everyone's nostrils.  You may say the same of a grain of mustard.  A believer, therefore, should be a grain of pepper or mustard, and breathe everywhere, and upon all, a divine fire, and so pepper all men, and make them like himself, zealous that is, and ardent in the love of God. 

Let us benefit from what Saint Jerome has to say on this Gospel:

 

The kingdom of heaven is the proclamation of the Gospel, and that knowledge of the Scriptures, which leadeth unto life, and whereof it is said to the Jews: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Mathew 21: 43) Therefore is this kingdom like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.  By the man that sowed it in his field, many understand to be meant the Saviour, because He is the Sower that soweth in the souls of believers; others understand every man that soweth good seed in his own field, that is, in himself and in his own heart.

 

Who is he that soweth, but our own mind and soul, which take the grain from preaching, and by nourishing it in the soil, cause it to sprout in the field of our own breast?  The preaching of the Gospel is the least of all doctrines.  He that preacheth, for his first lesson, God made man, Christ dead, and the stumbling block of the Cross, receiveth at first but little credit.  Compare such teaching as this with the doctrines of the Philosophers, with their books, their magnificent eloquence, and their rounded sentences, and thou shat see how the grain of the Gospel, when it is sown, is the humblest of all seeds.

 

But when the doctrines of men grow up, there is therein nothing piercing, nothing healthy, nothing life-giving.  The plant is drooping, and delicate, and soft.  There are herbs and grass whereof it may truly be said that the grass withereth and the flower fadeth. (Isaias 40: 8) But the grain of Gospel seed, though, when it was sown, it seemed to be the least of all seeds, when once it is rooted in the soul of man, or in the whole world, groweth not into an herb, but becometh a tree so that the birds of the air (whereby we may understand, either the souls of believers, or the (angelic) powers bound to the service of God, come and lodge in the branches thereof.  I consider that the branches of the Gospel tree, which groweth from the grain of mustard-seed, are the diverse developments of doctrine, on which the birds above mentioned find resting places. (From the Divine Office)

 

Conclusion

May the Catholic Church’s teaching on her Catholicity help us appreciate the truth contained in the offertory of this Mass:

 

The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength; the right hand of the Lord has exalted me: I shall not die, but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord.