“they will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears”
I always thought this referred to protestant ministers, who have not received any commission to preach the Gospel?
Unless one has received the laying-on-of-hands (aka Holy Orders) through apostolic succession, then one does not have any authority to preach the Gospel, it is that simple.
As a Catholic, I let my gift of Faith precede what I humanly interpret from the Sacred Scriptures. The Grace I have received in Baptism and Confirmation thus prevents me from falling into the many pits that await those who allow their human willfulness to interpret the Sacred Scriptures that the Church and Holy Spirit has preserved for us.
The Church has always held that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. If a pope finally said, in the 1950’s, “hey give it a rest, it’s a fact”, why would anyone fail to heed the authority of the See of Peter? Here is the infallible statement, for those who might have never seen one:
“We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”
Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1950
To the outside world, Catholics may appear weird about their collection of first class relics of God’s friends. The fact that there are NONE of the Blessed Virgin Mary is quite remarkable if in actuality she did die and was not assumed.
Honoring Jesus Christ’s mother is a much better insurance policy than denigrating her. To say that love for one takes away from love for the other is childish logic. Love is a common good, the more one gives away, the more there is of it.
They have indeed received the Great Commission. Right at the end of The Gospel of Matthew:
Mat 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in [fn] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Unless one has received the laying-on-of-hands (aka Holy Orders) through apostolic succession, then one does not have any authority to preach the Gospel, it is that simple.
Incorrect. No such direction is given. In fact, Jesus told His disciples:
Luk 9:49-50 "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."