Episode Transcript  

One

The Ache We All Feel

From the time he was a little boy, a friend of mine wanted to play professional football. In the early 90s, he made the training camp for the KC Chiefs as a kicker. Arrowhead Stadium was jam-packed. He lined up for the opening kick-off, stadium full, crowd going crazy. The ref blew the whistle to signal the start and my friend just stood there. The ref signaled again and again, but he just stood there. He finally shook himself and kicked the ball. Afterward, everyone wanted to know what happened; was he so awestruck that he was paralyzed? It was just the opposite. He looked at the crowd, realized he had achieved his ultimate desire, and he said to himself, “Is this it? There must be more to life than this.”

We all climb similar peaks, only to find the view unsatisfying. We make something in this world our goal, then we achieve it, and it doesn’t satisfy. It never will.  Because we are made to possess God, who is infinite, perfect, and everlasting love, goodness, truth, and beauty. We have a built-in desire for Him that no earthly thing can fulfill. That desire should cause us to long for him and search for Him. Yet, we can never reach God by our effort alone. God is infinitely beyond us. God knows this. So, instead of our having to climb the impossible mountain, God does something completely surprising: He comes down to us.

In Jesus, God comes down to our level so that we can know God and enter into such a profound friendship with him that His divine life penetrates and transforms us, raising us up to his level. He said, “I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father” (Jn 15:15). In Jesus, God fully reveals Himself and gives His divine life to us. That self-disclosure is what Christians call Divine Revelation. Through Jesus, God shows us His heart and invites each of us into a real, life-changing friendship with Him, offering the fulfillment to the longing we carry inside.

Two

The Apostles and Divine Revelation

Jesus came to reveal God to us and to give God to us. But when Jesus ascends back to heaven, now what do we do? Now, how do we reach Him? Jesus set up a way for all people for the rest of time to reach Him. That way is through Peter and the Apostles. 

When Jesus ascended, the bridge between God and us did not vanish; He placed it in apostolic hands. He gave the Twelve His own teaching authority and saving power, commanding, “Go, make disciples … baptize them … teach them” (Mt 28:19-20). Through Peter and the other Apostles, Christ still teaches saving truth and pours His divine life into us through the sacraments.

Peter, the first Pope, shows the pattern. First, they taught. On Pentecost, he proclaimed, “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38); at the Council of Jerusalem, he affirmed that we are saved by union with Jesus, not the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:7-11). These Spirit-guided decisions form Sacred Tradition. Second, they wrote. Peter’s memories became Mark’s Gospel; Luke penned another beside Paul; Matthew, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude added letters. These Spirit-inspired writings, together with the Old Testament, form Sacred Scripture.

Jesus remains the one Teacher and wellspring of divine life. He speaks and acts through the Magisterium, the Pope and bishops (the successors of Peter and the Apostles) who safeguard and interpret Scripture and Tradition. And through the Church’s liturgy and sacraments, He pours His very life into our souls. So, even though the Lord has ascended, He has not left us orphaned: His voice resounds in His Word, and His Sacred Heart still floods the world with living water.

Three

The Magisterium

There are three elements every Catholic should know if they want to understand how we can all have reliable access to the full revelation of Jesus Christ. First of all, there is the Magisterium. This is the pope and the bishops in union with him in their capacity as teachers of the faith. The first pope was Peter, and the first company of bishops was the apostles. But, of course, their successors are the Pope and the Bishops of today. And this is the organization that Christ put in charge of reliably spreading his full revelation throughout the ends of the earth until the end of time. The Magisterium, this teaching organization instituted by Christ, has given us two points of access to God’s truth: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. And that is the two-fold stream that flows to us from Christ, and by which we can drink fully of his divine truth.

Four

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture

The Magisterium is the Church’s official teaching body. It began with St. Peter (the first Pope) and the Apostles (the first bishops), and today consists of the Pope together with all the bishops. As the official teaching organization, they provide two modes of access to God’s truth. First of all, the magisterium has given us its official pronouncements down through the ages. Peter gave an official homily at Pentecost, and the Council of Jerusalem gave official declarations at the conclusion of its meeting.

So too, today, the Pope gives encyclicals and apostolic bulls, and councils like Vatican II give us official declarations in the form of dogmatic constitutions. These official teachings of the pope and the bishops in union with him are called, Sacred Tradition, it is the fullness of our faith, handed down over the centuries. The Denzinger is a classic compendium of the Church’s key doctrinal and dogmatic statements, drawn from popes and councils across the centuries.

But secondly, the Magisterium has given us the Bible. Apostles, like Peter, wrote and supervised the books of the New Testament. And then in the fourth century, the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament were collected by the magisterium into the single volume that we call the bible today. 

These are the three elements of divine revelation, the three elements God has used to distribute the full truth He has revealed in Jesus Christ. The Magisterium: the pope and bishops in union with him. And the Magisterium gives us Sacred Tradition, which is official Church teaching and Sacred Scripture: the Bible. The Catechism is a great summary of all three. And because of this structure, we can know everything we need to know about Christ and know it with confidence.

Five

Union with Christ

Jesus isn’t just another historical figure. He’s the one bridge between God and humanity. Which means it’s not enough to have a more or less accurate historical portrait of Jesus. We absolutely need to have a reliable connection to Him, a way of being sure that we’re getting not just a second-hand report, but the full truth about Jesus and about everything He wants us to know, as well as access to the River of Living Water, the river of grace and divine life that comes through the sacraments.

And, of course, Christ knew we needed that, so He ensured that we would have a mechanism that gave us full and reliable access to Him. He gave us a Church with leaders bearing His authority: the magisterium. He empowered them to give us infallible teachings: sacred tradition. And He used them to compile an inspired book: Sacred Scripture. He gave them Holy Orders so they could make His Body and Blood present to us and give us the spiritual nourishment we need. And so we can know Christ, know God’s truth, and receive His divine life in their fulness. 

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