r successors power to
do what He had just done: "Do this in commemoration of Me." He also gave
them power to baptize, to forgive sins, to bless, to be "dispensers of
the mysteries of God." He gave them power to confer these powers on
others. "As the Father sent Me [_i.e._, with the same power] I also send
you." To these apostles and their successors He spoke when He said that
He would remain with them until the consummation of the world. To them
and the Church He said: "He that hears you hears Me." What the Church
teaches, then, Christ teaches.

As, in the natural order, man is born, grows to manhood, is nourished,
and if sick needs proper food and remedies: so, in the supernatural
order, there is a birth, it is Baptism; there is a manly growth, it is
Confirmation; there is a nourishing food, it is the Holy Eucharist, the
Bread of Life; there is a medicinal remedy against death, it is Penance;
and there is a balm to heal the wounds, the scars of sin, it is Extreme
Unction. These are some of the channels through which God's grace flows
into our souls to assist us to keep the commandments.

The practices of the Church naturally flow from her teachings. She
teaches that there is but one God, the creator and Lord of heaven and
earth and all things; that man by his reason alone can find out this
truth; that the order, beauty, and harmony of the works of nature show
God's work; but that there are some truths which the deepest intellect
of man can never fathom. Hence she teaches that God has revealed certain
truths; such as the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, and
the Blessed Sacrament. When we know that God has revealed these truths
we are acting reasonably not only in believing them, but also in showing
our belief by practices of respect, adoration, and love.

The Church teaches that we must not only believe, but practise our
religion. For faith alone will not save us. "Faith without works is
dead." To have these works we must "keep the commandments." We must love
God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. All the commandments
are comprised in this. In fact, the essence of Christianity is charity.

Where will you find charity practised in reality except in the Catholic
Church? If you wish to see the truth of this, visit our larger towns and
cities, and you will find hundreds of hospitals, asylums, schools, and
other charitable institutions in which are thousands of the children of
the Catholic Chur