'Judge not before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts' (1 Cor. iv. 5).
72. To obtain eternal salvation is it sufficient to be a member of the Catholic Church?
No; for there are also rotten and dead members (Apoc. iii. 1), who by their sins bring upon themselves eternal damnation.
73. What, then, do we profess to believe by these words of the Creed, 'I believe in the Holy Catholic Church'?
We profess to believe that Jesus Christ has established a visible Church, endless in her duration, and infallible in her doctrine, which we must believe and obey without reserve, if we would obtain eternal salvation; and that this is no other than the Roman Catholic Church.
Application. It is right for us to call the Catholic Church our mother; for 1. She has regenerated us in a spiritual manner in baptism, and has made us children of God; 2. She feeds us with the Word of God, and with the Bread of Angels; 3. She brings us up in the fear of the Lord; and 4. She kindly prays for us, comforts us, and assists us, as long as we live here below, and even after we have departed this life. Honor and love, therefore, the Church as your mother; listen diligently to her instructions, and humbly submit to all her laws and directions; for ' he shall not have God for his Father who will not have the Church for his Mother' (St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr; d. 258).
§ 5. The Communion of Saints.
74. Are only the faithful on earth united together as one Church?
No; with the faithful on earth are also spiritually united the saints in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory.
The faithful on earth who are members of the Catholic Church constitute the Church Militant; the souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering; and the Saints in Heaven, the Church
