Since we are in the period between Easter and Pentecost, many of the readings at Mass are from the Acts of the Apostles and deal with the early Church. These readings express how the apostles powerfully carried on the work with which they were entrusted by Christ, faithfully fulfilling it by handing on what they themselves had received “from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit.”
And so the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved by an unending succession of preachers until the end of time. Therefore, the Apostles, handing on what they themselves had received, warn the faithful to hold fast to the traditions which they have learned either by word of mouth or by letter, and to fight in defense of the faith handed on once and for all. (Cf. Dei Verbum 7-8.) …
