Saturday, September 11 : Saint Irenaeus of Lyons

From every point of view the preaching of the Gospel offers an unshakeable solidity: it remains consistent with itself and profits from the witness of the prophets, apostles and all their disciples – a witness that encompasses “the beginning, the middle and the end”, the whole of God’s plan which is infallibly ordained towards man’s salvation and is at the basis of our faith. From their times till now we have carefully guarded this faith received from the Church – for indeed it was to the Church that the “gift of God” (Jn 4:10) was entrusted, just as breath was entrusted to Adam, the first of all the works God formed (Gn 2:7) – so that all the Church’s members might have a share in it and so be brought to life. It was within her that our communion with Christ, that is to say the Holy Spirit, was inserted, the first fruits of the gift of incorruptibility, confirmation of our faith and ladder by which we ascend to God: “God has designated in the Church,” writes Saint Paul, “to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers” and so on, through one and the same Spirit (1 Cor 12:28.11). For where the Church is, there also is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there also is the Church and every grace. But the Spirit is Truth (1 Jn 5:6). Hence those who turn away from it are not nourished at their Mother’s breasts either, so that they might gain life, nor do they have any share in the clear spring flowing from Christ’s body (Jn 7:37) but “have dug for themselves leaky cisterns” (Jer 2:13) (…) Strangers to the truth, inevitably they slide into error and are tossed about by it, nor do they ever possess a firmly established teaching since they prefer to become quibblers with words than disciples of truth. For their foundations are not on the one Rock but on sand.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team