Here is a wonderful sample from St. Augustine of how the Church Fathers seamlessly read Old and New Testaments together, and in such a way as to confirm the Catholic Faith.
In this example, St. Augustine provides commentary on Psalm 45:16 in support of Apostolic Succession (see Becoming Catholic Quote ArchiveโApostolic Succession for more quotes on this subject from the Church Fathers).
He affirms that the Church was not โleft desolateโ of leadership after the death of the last Apostle, but enjoys it through their successors, the bishops. As with all the Psalms, St. Augustine reads it as pointing forward to the New Covenant and the Catholic Church.
Note that he says the bishops sit on the โthronesโ of the Apostles. These are the โthronesโ of the kingdom Jesus promised to the Apostles, and by extension their successors.
Weโve touched on this topic in Becoming Catholic #39 and elsewhere. You can find New Testament references to these Apostolic thrones in Matt. 19:28, Luke 22:28-30, and Apoc. 20:4.
St. Augustine concludes, as he often did, with a call to all who have separated from the Catholic Church to come Home.
St. Augustine, Exposition of Psalm 45
Here are the words of St. Augustine from Exposition of Psalm 45 (ยง29):
โInstead of your fathers, children are born to youโ (v. 16).
Nothing can be more manifest. Now consider the โTemple of the Kingโ itself, for it is on its behalf he speaks, on account of the unity of the body that is spread throughout all the world: for those very persons who have chosen to be virgins, cannot find favor with the King unless they be led into the Temple of the King.
โInstead of your fathers, are your children born to you.โ
It was the Apostles [who] begat you: they were โsentโ; they were the preachers; they are โthe fathers.โ But was it possible for them to be with us in the body forever? Although one of them said, โI desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better; to abide in the flesh is necessary for your sakesโ (Phil. 1:23-24). It is true he said this, but how long was it possible for him to remain here? Could it be until this present time, could it be to all futurity? Is the Church then left desolate by their departure? God forbid.
โInstead of your fathers, children have been born to you.โ
What is that? The Apostles were sent to you as โfathersโ; instead of the Apostles, sons have been born to you; there have been appointed Bishops. For in the present day, from where do the Bishops throughout all the world derive their origin? The Church itself calls them fathers; the Church itself brought them forth, and placed them on the thrones of โthe fathers.โ Think not yourself abandoned then, because you see not Peter, nor see Paul; [that you] see not those through whom you were born. Out of your own offspring has a body of โfathersโ been raised up to you.
โInstead of your fathers, have children been born to you.โ
Observe how widely diffused is the โTemple of the King,โ that โthe virgins that are not led to the Temple of the King,โ may know that they have nothing to do with that marriage.
โYou shall make them princes over all the earthโ (v. 16).
This is the Catholic Church: her children have been made โprinces over all the earthโ; her children have been appointed instead of the โfathers.โ Let those who are cut off own the truth of this, let them come to the One Body; let them be led into the Temple of the King. God has established His Temple everywhere; has laid everywhere โthe foundations of the Prophets and Apostlesโ (Eph. 2:20). The Church has brought โforth sons;โ has made them โinstead of her fathersโ to be โprinces over all the earth.โ