| On September 6, 2000, the Church issued the document Dominus Iesus which asserts that the complete truth, revealed by God in Jesus Christ, is found in the Catholic Church. St. Anthony, who preached the unshakeable truth of the faith in a century rife with heresy, would have applauded this document.
Dubbed the Hammer of Heretics, Anthony hammered the truth home without condemning its enemies. His method was not to make fun of rival beliefs nor to degrade those who held them, but rather to uplift the teachings of Christ as taught by the Catholic Church. By comparison with heresy, the truth would be apparent, the saint realized.
In the same tone, Dominus Iesus clearly states the teachings and beliefs of the Church. While condemning opposing theories, the document does not condemn those who sincerely hold them. This is the manner in which Anthony preached and lived.
Take the incident of the adoring mule. Anthony was trying to prove that Christ was truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. So he challenged unbelievers to a contest whose outcome no one could dispute. The unbelievers would starve a mule for three days and then bring it, along with some hay, to the town square. Anthony would come with the Blessed Sacrament. The date of this encounter was Holy Thursday. The hungry beast, instead of bolting for the hay, knelt before the Lord in the Host. The truth was evident for all to see. Many who had been away from the Church returned to it to receive the Eucharist on Easter.
In another incident, Anthony was trying to convert a town of heretics. They refused to listen to him so he went to where the river met the sea. There he began to preach to the fish, which were held to be clean animals by the city’s heretics. When the fish began to pop their heads through the waves to listen to Anthony, the amazed townsfolk began to listen, too. Then Anthony turned from the sea to the awestruck crowd and drove his points home.
Incidents like these made enemies for the saint. Not only did his rivals try to mock him by once serving him a toad which he complacently ate, but they also tried unsuccessfully to poison him. Despite their efforts, many returned to the Church because of Anthony’s preaching and his holy manner of life. Anthony knew that the truth, never compromised but rather preached with love and compassion, would win hearts. Not all hearts, but many.
In the same way, Dominus Iesus will win many hearts, but not all, to the truths therein. The document has its admirers and its detractors. Those who admire it appreciate its balance and straightforwardness. Most of those who find fault adhere to one or more of the doctrines which the document condemns.
St. Anthony’s sermons reflect many of the themes of Dominus Iesus. Here are some comparisons between the document and the sermons of the saint. The Church’s Mission: The Lord Jesus, before ascending into heaven, commanded his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world and to baptize all nations: Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned (Mk 16:15-16) (opening lines of Dominus Iesus)
They (the apostles) would be the bearers and the sowers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the One Who left the Father and came into the world to sow the divine seed of His word and to found His Church with the precise mission of keeping alive and untainted His word of salvation and of presenting it to every human being until the end of time. (Anthony, The Church, Ark of Eternal Salvation) The Universality of the Church: The Church’s universal mission is born from the command of Jesus Christ and is fulfilled in the course of the centuries in the proclamation of the mystery of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the mystery of the incarnation of the Son, as saving event for all humanity. (Dominus Iesus, Section 1)
Just as one day God commanded Noah to build an ark to save the human race condemned to perish in the waters of the universal flood, in the same way he entrusted to Christ the twofold mission of proclaiming faith in Him as the Redeemer, true God and true man, to the world, immersed as it was in the darkness of idolatry, and of founding the Church of eternal salvation, open to all men. Noah’s ark prefigured the one universal Church of Christ. (Anthony, The Church, Ark of Eternal Salvation) The Obligation to Seek the Truth Especially in those things that concern God and his Church, all persons are required to seek the truth, and when they come to know it, to embrace it and hold fast to it. The revelation of Christ will continue to be the true lodestar in history for all humanity: The truth, which is Christ, imposes itself as an all-embracing authority.(Dominus Iesus, Section 23)
Christ is ‘truth’ without falsehood for those who find him. The Psalmist spoke of him: ‘Truth shall spring out of the earth’ (Psalm 85:12). Christ is truth born of virgin earth; he is the truth of that faith which is born in the Church. The truth that is Christ, however, appeared first so that the Church could follow it. (Anthony, Christ, Our Way, Truth, and Life) The Merits of Christ With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another’. If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation. However, all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged. (Dominus Iesus, Section 22)
No one, in fact, enters the Church unless he is baptised and united to the body of Jesus Christ. He is our only mediator of salvation communicated by the Catholic faith founded upon apostolic teaching. We are taught: ‘When called by the preacher, you will receive the gift and through it you will unite yourself to the members of the Church.’ Be careful, then, not to glory in your own presumed merits, as if you were more noble or better than others. (Anthony, The Church, Ark of Eternal Salvation) Our Salvation Achieved Once for All by Christ The Church believes that Christ, who died and was raised for the sake of all (cf. 2 Cor 5:15) can, through his Spirit, give man the light and the strength to be able to respond to his highest calling, nor is there any other name under heaven given among men by which they can be saved (cf. Acts 4:12). The Church likewise believes that the key, the centre, and the purpose of the whole of man’s history is to be found in its Lord and Master. (Dominus Iesus, Section 13)
It must therefore be firmly believed as a truth of Catholic faith that the universal salvific will of the One and Triune God is offered and accomplished once for all in the mystery of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. (Dominus Iesus, Section 14)
But you do not believe in Christ, in your life, who assures you: ‘Just as Moses raised the serpent in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be raised up, so that whoever believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life.’ To see and to believe is the same thing because, in this case, you can see only as much as you believe. Believe firmly in Jesus crucified, the life of your life, so that you may be able to live with him, who is life itself, forever and ever. (Anthony, At the Foot of the Cross) Working for the Kingdom of God Therefore, one must also bear in mind that the kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society and the world. Working for the kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God’s activity, which is present in human history and transforms it. Building the kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. In a word, the kingdom of God is the manifestation and the realization of God’s plan of salvation in all its fullness. (Dominus Iesus, Section 19)
‘Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides’ (Matthew 6:33). The Kingdom of God is the highest good and we must therefore seek it. We look for it with faith, hope, and charity. The justice of God’s Kingdom consists in observing everything Christ taught us. To seek his Kingdom means to realise fully the justice of the Kingdom through good works. Hence, seek his Kingdom above all else. Make it the most important thing in your life. Everything else must be sought in view of this Kingdom; nothing should be asked beyond it. Whatever we ask must serve that end. (Anthony, Seek First His Kingdom) The Unity of Christ and the Church The Lord Jesus, the only Saviour, did not only establish a simple community of disciples, but constituted the Church as a salvific mystery: He Himself is in the Church and the Church is in Him (cf. Jn 15:1ff.; Gal 3:28; Eph 4:15-16; Acts 9:5). Therefore, the fullness of Christ’s salvific mystery belongs also to the Church, inseparably united to her Lord. Indeed, Jesus Christ continues His presence and His work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church (cf. Col 1:24-27),which is His body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-13, 27; Col 1:18). And thus, just as the head and members of a living body, though not identical, are inseparable, so too Christ and the Church can neither be confused nor separated, and constitute a single whole Christ. (Dominus Iesus, Section 16)
Peter was made a rock by Christ; he was made a sharer in the only foundation which is Christ and on which his Church is built. Indeed St. Paul writes, ‘No one can lay a foundation other than the one that has been laid, namely Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 3:11). We need not therefore fear for the Church’s stablility, even if the raging persecution of the devil and of men beats against it, or when heretical currents, like overflowing rivers rip through the dike, trying to devastate it. It will always stand firm because it is built upon a rock. (Anthony, The Church, Ark of Eternal Salvation)
Both Dominus Iesus and St. Anthony’s Sermons portray the singular victory of Christ over sin, the foundation of the one true Catholic Church, and the necessity for its members to believe in their saving Lord and to work and to love as an expression of that belief. Had St. Anthony been alive when Dominus Iesus was published, he would have been one of the first to proclaim its merits. Note: Quotes are taken from the Vatican’s official translation of Dominus Iesus and from Anthony’s sermon extracts which are printed in the book Seek First His Kingdom, available from The Anthonian Association and the Messenger of St. Anthony. |
