Learning to be Quick to Listen

Some Protestant critics claim that Catholics can't truly know what's in Sacred Tradition , arguing that it's a vague concept compared to the clear contents of Scripture. They believe that since we can no longer speak directly with the apostles, we can't be sure which traditions are truly apostolic . This line of reasoning, however, creates a problem for many Protestants, as they themselves rely on truths not explicitly found in the Bible. Many common Protestant beliefs, such as the cessation of public revelation or the specific books that make up the Bible, are accepted based on historical consensus and tradition, not solely on Scripture. This reveals a shared reliance on tradition, whether it's acknowledged or not. The Catholic Church, however, is not only able to identify these apostolic traditions, but it also has a clear, God-given method for doing so: the Magisterium. The Bible itself gives us a model for this process in Acts 15 , where the apostles gathered fo...

In the vibrant, nascent days of the Church, as the Apostles diligently spread the Good News, a beautiful and essential need arose. The community of believers was growing rapidly, and with it, the demands of daily life and ministry. It was in this context, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, that the Holy Spirit inspired a pivotal development in the structure and service of the Church: the appointment of the first deacons . The apostles, recognizing that they could not dedicate themselves fully to both prayer and the ministry of the word while also attending to the material needs of the community, wisely sought a solution. Acts 6:1-6 recounts this moment: "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were 1 neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, 'It is not desirable that we should leave the 2 word o...