“The Son of God is soon to ascend to His Father. He has said to His Apostles: Going, teach all nations: preach the Gospel to every creature. Thus, then, the nations are not to receive the word from the lips of Jesus, but through His ministers. The glory and happiness of being instructed directly by the Man-God were for none but the Israelites, and even for them for only three short year.
The impious may murmur at this, and say, in their pride: ‘Why should there be men between God and us?’ God might justly answer: ‘And what right have you to expect me to speak to you Myself, seeing that you can otherwise be as certain of My word as though you heard it from Myself?’ Was the Son of God to lose His claim to our faith unless He remained on this earth to the end of time? If we reflect on the infinite distance there is between the Creator and creature, we shall detest such a blasphemy. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater: and how can we reject it? Can we call the testimony human, which was given by the Apostles, when, in proof of their being sent by God, they showed the power, conferred on them by their Divine Master, of working miracles? Of course the pride of reason may rebel; it may protest, and refuse to believe men who speak in God’s name. Did not the very Son of God meet with more unbelievers than believers? And why? Because He affirmed Himself to be God, yet showed nothing exteriorly but His human nature. So that there was an act of faith to be made, even when Jesus Himself spoke; and pride might rebel, and say: ‘I will not believe;’ just as it will do when the Apostles speak in His name. The two cases are alike. God demands of us, as long as we are in this world, that we give Him our faith; and faith is not possible without humility. God confirms His word by miracles; but man has always the power to resist, and for that very reason faith is a virtue.
If it be asked – why, when God took His Son from this earth, He did not commission His angels to teach us in His name, instead of giving such a sublime office to men, frail and mortal s we ourselves are who receive their teaching – the reason is, that man could not be raised up from the state of degradation into which he had fallen by pride, except by submission and humility; and consequently, it was fitting that the ministry of the Divine word should not be entrusted to angels, inasmuch as our pride might have been flattered by our having for our teachers beings so noble and exalted. We believed the serpent when he spoke to us, and we had the pride to think that we might one day become gods: our merciful Creator, in order to save us, has imposed it as a law upon us, that we should yield submission to men, when they speak in His name.”
~ Dom Prosper Gueranger, The Liturgical Year
The sooner we recover the proper sense of the gratuity of grace, the better!
Laodicea 
May 11, 2017 at 4:34 am
Reblogged this on Petty Armchair Popery.
May 20, 2017 at 12:15 pm
‘Why should there be men between God and us?’ God might justly answer: ‘And what right have you to expect me to speak to you Myself, seeing that you can otherwise be as certain of My word as though you heard it from Myself?’
I’ve thought a bit about this.
God’s anointing certain men to rule or teach in His Name is not something superfluous, but is of practical necessity due to the nature of public life. It’s understandable to ask why God would not enlighten you internally without the mediation of a preacher, until you ask how you are to manifest your revelation in the public forum. Are you to tell the public what God has revealed? Well then, you have just made yourself God’s anointed preacher (the story of all false prophets). Or do you tell people to ask God for their own private revelation? But then, how are you to build a public religion on conflicting private revelations?
Even if God were to privately give the same true revelation to every human being in the world, that would not prevent men from misinterpreting that revelation and becoming heretics. God could privately reveal to the heretics that they were in the wrong, but then we would be approaching the scenario of God’s restricting man’s free-will.
There needs to be a visible authority to manifest in the world the authority of the invisible God; why should this visible authority be a mess of private, interior lights rather than one man being consecrated to serve as Supreme Pontiff, bridge between God and man?
God does not just want private persons to worship Him in private; He also wants peoples and nations to worship Him in public. Therefore, it is truly necessary that He consecrate a public religious authority, so to maintain the order & doctrine of public religion. Hence, the Aaronic and Catholic priesthoods. And this practice of having men anointed and serving in God’s place (priests), is of the greatest antiquity; even the pagans had a (corrupt) form of it, so it can hardly be an absurdity if it has been in place since the beginning of time.
May 22, 2017 at 11:53 pm
Furthermore, “Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet 1:20-21)