Does God commission Apostles today?

[Todd_Easton]

I suppose it depends on what their definition of what an apostle is. The New Testament refers to the twelve apostles, with Matthias ordained to take the place of Judas Iscariot who killed himself. It also refers to Barnabas and Paul as apostles. The Church honors Mary Magdalene as the Apostle to the Apostles. For his missionary activity there, St Patrick is sometimes referred to as the Apostle of Ireland. However, the New Testament also mentions false apostles, “who call themselves apostles but are not.” (Revelation 2:2)

 

[VeryBlessed]

Since they are not in communion with the Catholic Church, these groups are free to define apostle in any way they choose. So it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges, because while we are using the same word, we may be thinking of two different meanings. The Catholic Church tends to define these terms very exactly, but you may not find that same level of exactness in a protestant church. And in some ways we are not so far apart. When I was confirmed, I had a sponsor who laid hands on me as part of the ceremony, helping to “impart” the Holy Spirit to me. So I suppose we do imparting as well, although we’d never claim to be apostles because we do so.

I’ve seen the charismatic movement from both inside and outside the Catholic Church. I love the way the magisterium anchors the Catholic Charismatic Movement and keeps it from veering into strange places. And I’ve seen and heard of miracles on both the Catholic and protestant side of that movement.

 

[guanophore]

If God uses people like this to draw others to Him, but they do not have any God-given apostolic succession authority as leaders, then how does that work?

God can work in the lives of any and all who desire Him, even if they are misguided. That being said, just because people are zealous, does not mean they are necessarily being moved by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said to His disciples when they were upset about non-Christian Jews casting out demons and performing miracles that they were not against Him, so to let them be.

Indeed. It is not our job to pull out the weeds. Jesus said to let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest, and the angels will do the sorting.

But then Jesus says that He will separate the sheep from the goats and even those who performed miracles and such He will not recognize with His sheep.

What is the Catholic response to this?

Catholics need to be focused upon keeping themselves in the state of Grace. We each of us have one primary responsibility, that is to get our own souls to heaven. After that, we are responsible for those God has given into our care (such as spouses and children). There are many ways to tell if one is in a state of grace. One of these is by observing the fruit:

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness…” Galatians 5:22

We can also measure by the degree of love we see:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” I Cor. 13: 4-8

 

[guanophore]

These are good questions SarahKate. The Catholic Church teaches that all authentic gifts of the Holy Spirit come through His One Church. The action of the Holy Spirit outside the visible boundaries of the CC are calls to unity. Jesus only has One Body, and only established One Church.

I’m asking because these people genuinely believe they are sent by God to be true Apostles and I wanted to know the official church teaching on whether or not God calls modern day people to be true Apostles from other denominations and whether these people who have performed healings and signs and wonders are doing it out of having God’s authority and anointing on their lives or if it is a ruse from Satan to draw people from the truth. I’m very concerned for this person and it’s a very delicate situation.

819 “Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth” are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: “the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.” Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to “Catholic unity.”

We follow the Apostolic teaching that such gifts, if authentic, can be submitted to the authority appointed by Christ.

Yeah, but when you listen to what they say about themselves, they mean it in the sense that I am speaking of.

The Apostles taught that such authentic gifts are to operate within the authority given to the Church by Christ. This authority is found in the Apostolic Succession.

 

[Hodos]

In the time of the apostles there were others casting out demons in Christ’s name

The Apostles taught that such authentic gifts are to operate within the authority given to the Church by Christ. This authority is found in the Apostolic Succession.

I don’t identify with NAR so feel free to address it with them. I am not super familiar with them, and haven’t personally witnessed the gifts of the spirit worked out under their ministry, so I will refrain from further comment on that. My comment was only to clarify on what this group believes about apostolic ministry based on what I have heard them say for themselves. However, we fundamentally disagree on what constitutes Apostolic Succession according to how it is demonstrated in scripture. This has been frequently addressed in multiple forum threads. If by the Holy Spirit they are preaching and teaching faithfully, then they have been sent by the Holy Spirit and I can accept that the gifts of the Spirit which they claim are legitimate manifestations of the Spirit. If you want to kick against the goads otherwise, have at it.