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 and ate  with  them. He imparted  to  His  apostles  various  gifts  and instructions for  the  good  of  His  Church; gave  them  the  power  to  forgive and retain  sins;  and  opened  their  minds  to  understand  the  types  and prophecies relating  to  the  Messias.

The apostles  as  witnesses  to  the  Resurrection.  It  was  not  without  reason that our  Lord  sought  to  convince  the  apostles  by  the  evidence  of  their senses that  He  had  risen  from  the  grave  with  the  same  Body  which  had died on  the  Cross. He did  this  because  they  were  to  testify  before Jews and  Gentiles  to  the  fact  of  His  Resurrection. Thus, Peter  was able to  say  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  speaking  to  ten  thousand men: “This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  again,  whereof  all  we  are  witnesses!” and not  one  man  could  contradict  him. St. John  was  able  to  write with equal  truth: “That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have heard, which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon, and our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  life  (Jesus  Christ,  the Eternal  Word,  made  Man)  we  declare  unto  you”  (1  John  1, 1).

The mission  of  the  apostles  and  their  successors.  Our  Lord’s  words: “As the  Father  hath  sent  Me,  so  send  I you”,  are  full  of  very  deep meaning. Even as  God  the  Father  had  sent  the  Son  into  the  world, so did  God  the  Son  send  the  apostles. Their mission  therefore  is divine,  and  the  end  for  which  they  were  sent  forth  is  the  same  end  as that  for  which  Jesus  Christ  was  sent. Now, what  was  the  end  for  which our Lord  was  sent  into  the  world? He Himself  answers  the  question thus, in  His  discourse  with  Nicodemus:  “God  sent  His  Son  into  the world, that  the  world  might  be  saved  by  Him.”  This  was  the  mission which He  transferred  to  the  apostles. The work  of  Redemption  was accomplished, and  the  office  of  the  apostles  was  to  apply  the  fruits  of Redemption  to  men,  in  order  that  they  might  be  saved. This was  the office of  the  apostles,  and  this  is  the  office  of  the  Church. To her  has our Lord  bequeathed  the  treasures  of  His  doctrine  and  of  His  merits, to administer  them  for  Him,  and  it  is  only  through  her  that  we  can receive a share  in  these  treasures. For this  reason  our  Lord  said: “He that heareth  you  heareth  Me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you  despiseth  Mel” (Luke 10,  16.)

The holy  Sacrament  of  Penance.  Jesus  Christ,  by  His  Passion  and Death, obtained  for  the  world  the  forgiveness  of  sin. But this  forgiveness has to  be  applied  to  each  individual. Now, in  order  that  individual men might  actually  receive  this  pardon,  and  with  it  the  peace  of  God, our Lord  gave  to  His  apostles  the  power  of  remitting  sins  in  His  stead, and equally  of  retaining  them  should  the  sinner  be  unworthy  of  forgiveness. By doing  this  our  Lord  instituted  the  holy  Sacrament  of Penance,  whereby  all  sins,  without  exception,  can  be  remitted,  provided the sinner  be  contrite. Our Lord  left  it  to  the  apostles  to  decide  whether the sinner  was  or  was  not  worthy  of  absolution:  but  since  they  were not omniscient  as  He  was,  they  could  not  decide  unless  the  sinner