Words without interpretation are meaningless. Words with improper interpretation become subjective falsehoods. The only foolproof way of knowing the right interpretation of words is to be informed by the one who has spoken them.  This is an important principle.

So too, the divine Word without proper interpretation becomes something false in the subjective minds of many. Would God communicate to fallen human nature His words without His interpretation of them? It would make no sense to provide a medium for divine Revelation without providing a medium for right interpretation of them. Tens of thousands of Christian denominations caused by various interpretations of God’s word was not in Christ’s prayer or His positive will for His one Church (Jn 17).

Thanks be to God He did give us both His words and His meaning behind them, to enable us to know without error the truths necessary for salvation. The Divine Word is spoken through Revelation and the Divine Spirit interprets them through the Magisterium. Word and Spirit, the two Persons of God sent by the Father, has ensured God’s word and God’s meaning be inerrantly accessible through Revelation and the Magisterium, respectively.

Despite all the frailty and sin of post-Eden man, which finds its way to the temporary office holders of the Church, Christ’s promise is trustworthy, that He will continue to use what He infallibly established though His Church out of love of us. “God…desires all men to be saved, to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). The God of love offers us clarity, reassurance, and peace with what is necessary for salvation. It is great to recognize this fullness of truth, goodness, and beauty God in Christ’s greatest gift to mankind, the Catholic Church.