Every morning, as I get ready for my day, I pray by name for all the people who have died in my or my wife’s family. Many of them weren’t Catholic; some weren’t even Christian; and a few did some pretty terrible things. Yet I pray for them, because our Catholic faith teaches that we can hope that all of them might ultimately be saved.
Other religions and other Christian traditions might say with great confidence that some or even all of my relatives and in-laws are now separated from God for all eternity in hell. But that’s not how we understand things. We do believe in the possibility of hell. Yet there is another possibility too. As Pope John Paul II wrote, there is “a real possibility of salvation in Christ for all humanity.” Because God is love. Because love hopes all things. Because God desires everyone to be saved. Because Jesus died and rose again.
We might say that this possibility is possible, however, only because of the reality of purgatory. Heaven is only for the perfect. And no one, when thy die, is perfect-even the saints. Everyone needs to be purified…to be made whole…to be stripped of all that is ungodly. Change like this can sometimes be painful, because we’re defensive, proud, stubborn, addicted, angry. That’s why tradition speaks of the pains of purgatory. Yet at the same time, those in purgatory are friends of God, and they know it.
And so we have hope for “all souls” who have gone before us in death. That is why we celebrate this Mass. And that is why we pray for them, every day.
Oh Lord, I’m running….Trying to make a 100. Ninety-nine and a half won’t do! These are the words of an old African American spiritual. And ultimately they are rooted in a promise of God that we will one day be perfect.
Well, I’ll tell you, God’s been good to me and he’s brought me a mighty long way, but I’m not at 100, not even close. Because this “100” is not graded on some human curve or scale. The 100 is God’s 100! Jesus says, Be therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).
How about you? Are you there yet?
If we’re honest we all fall short, way short. But what then of God’s promise, if on the day we die, we haven’t reached God’s 100? Have you ever really known anyone who had God’s perfection? Really? We often speak of how holy some people are, and some have reached great heights, by God’s grace. But how many have you or I really known that had, not just human perfection, but the very perfection of God?
So what if we die unfinished? And most of us will.
Some say, oh well, God will just overlook all that and let us in anyway, “God loves me just the way I am.” But again then we must ask, “What of God’s promise that we would be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect?”
And further, what of the descriptions of the just in heaven and the promises of perfection assigned to us? For example:
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect (Heb 12:22-23)
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…..Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 21:2,27).
You know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, and lacking in nothing. (James 1:3-4)
For now, we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away (1 Cor 13:9-10).
God who has begun a good work in you, will bring it to perfection. (Phil 1:6)
So the promise and the need of perfection stand clear in Scripture. And God will not just overlook his promise and “love me just the way I am.”
What a callous and cruel thing to consign us to ultimate imperfection. The very thought of living in my present unseemly state forever would be awful. As I have said, God has been good to me, but for all of us, there are still too many disordered and competitive drives at work, too many unruly passions, and too many spiritual, emotional and physical irritants of many unknown and deep sources, for you and me to say we’d be happy to stay in this condition. Spiritual progress is the normal Christian state. But we are heading to a high and wondrous state beyond all imagining. This is the promise and I won’t be satisfied with anything less that the full promise of the Lord to make me perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.
GK Chesterton, responding to a Critic of Purgatory said,
Purgatory may exist whether he likes it or not…..It may be obvious to us that [a person] is already utterly sinless, at one with the saints. It may be evident to us that [he] is already utterly selfless, filled only with God and forgetful of the very meaning of gain. But if the cosmic power holds that there are still some strange finishing touches, beyond our fancy, to put to his perfection, then certainly there will be some cosmic provision for that mysterious completion of the seemingly complete. The stars are not clean in His sight and His angels He chargeth with folly; and if [God] should decide….there is room for improvement, we can but admit that omniscience can heal the defect that we cannot even see. (G.K’s Weekly 4/11/1925)
Yes, even if we were to engage in the folly of thinking we ourselves, or someone else had reached perfection, the truth is we don’t really know what true, God-like perfection is. All I know is, that if I were to die today, God would have to bring to completion the good work he has begun in me.
The Protestants largely dismiss Purgatory because their first founders (Luther, Calvin et al.) tended to reduce salvation and justification to a legal act. The sinner was “declared” righteous, was “covered” in the blood of the Lamb. But this justice was a justitia aliena (an alien justice), a justice imputed, declared, or said of the sinner, but not intrinsic to them. They did not actually become righteous, they were merely said to be righteous and the Father overlooked their sin. They were, to use Luther’s supposed analogy, a dung hill covered with snow (but still a dung hill underneath).
But here too is a sad loss of the promise of the Lord who did not merely promise we would be considered perfect, but that we would actually BE perfect, by his grace. And in all the promises of scripture listed above, there is no notion of a mere declaration of perfection but, rather, an actual experience of real perfection, an actual and real transformation. And this experience, this transformation, begins now. But surely some finishing work is required for most all of us after death, if we take the scope of Godlike perfection seriously.
Purgatory just makes sense when we focus on the promises of God rather than merely to see it as a punitive place where we make up for our sins. Purgatory must also be a place of healing and of promise keeping. Likely there is suffering there, since to let go and be purged of things to which we have been clinging is probably not easy. But Oh, the healing too and weight that must be lifted and we finally shed years of accumulated “issues and baggage.”
Of those made fit for heaven the Scripture says that Jesus “Will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rev 21:3). I, like you, have surely said goodbye to family, friends and parishioners who still had some tears in their eyes. And we know that they, like we, had things they could not bring to heaven: tears, sorrows, regrets, painful memories, unhealed hurts, and sins. But God, who is good, and a promise keeper, will not leave anything undone. He will wipe every tear from our eyes, every tear.
Purgatory has to be. God loves us too much to leave us in our present unseemly state.
Imagine my wife’s surprise when, after Mass on All Saints Day two years ago, a bishop walked straight up to her and said with a smile: “Be a saint.” As she did not know this bishop, she was surprised, to say the least. But she took the message to heart as a serious call to holiness.
Jesus challenges each one of us today to be a saint. Today of course is All Saints’ Day, when we celebrate the “holy men and women of every time and place,” and ask their prayers that we might become saints ourselves.
But what is a saint? A young boy once asked this question of his parish priest as they were standing together in church. The priest pointed to the saints on the stained glass windows and said, “The saints are those people who let God’s light shine through.”
I think that’s a good a definition as any. Pope Benedict agrees. “Nothing can bring us into close contact with Christ himself,” wrote the Holy Father, “other than the…light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through whom his own light becomes visible.”
Today, the whole company of saints says to us: “Be a saint.” The light of Christ shone from their faces. And the light of Christ can shine from ours.
Consider this text from the Prophet Amos. He has God speaking of some rather strong punishments coming Israel’s way due to her lack of repentance. God says the strong shall be brought low and the swift shall not escape! There is also a vivid line in the psalm that read: Consider this, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you. He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God (Ps 50:22-23)
We have become rather “soft” in modern times (at least in the Western World). We have been taught in the “God is Love” school, which is not wrong but has often understood that love in sentimental and simplistic ways. Modern notions of love are usually soft, permissive and non-directive. Love is often thought to be exclusively “supportive” and “affirming.” The understanding that love could or should include setting limits, correction, admonishments or punishments is usually downplayed if not explicitly rejected as pertaining to love. For this reason parenting in our culture has been severely undermined.
God too has largely been relegated to being essentially an affirmer. He is the one who “understands.”
One man recently told me that God didn’t care if he went to Church or not. When I quoted the 3rd Commandment and another scriptural passage he just brushed it aside and said, “God understands my heart.”
A couple divorcing once told me that God was OK with them divorcing since God “wouldn’t want them to be unhappy.” When I read scriptures that indicated that God wasn’t too impressed with divorce, they just brushed it aside and indicated that God wouldn’t want them to go on suffering, since they were both in love with other people.
Homosexuals often insist that, since God is about love, he has no problem with any two people loving each other. Scriptural quotes as usual have no impact on such as these. They, like many others, have chosen to define God, inconvenient Scriptures and God’s actual words, not withstanding.
So in the end it would seem that God’s main job is to affirm us in whatever we want to do. This reinvented “God” just want us to be emotionally happy and have plenty of self esteem.
Of course in this climate, the notion of God not merely disapproving of something we do but actually punishing us for it seems an outrageous and untenable position. And yet over and over again Scripture is filled with God sending forth punishments on those who persist in sin. It is true many passages speak of his patience but there comes a time when, after warning through the prophets and others, that God does punish. Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments are filled with warnings of punishment and also its execution.
Now it remains true that God is Love. But he is true and real Love. His love is strong and rooted in what is actually best for us, both as individuals and as a community. Hence when God punishes it is a manifestation of his love.
We also have to recapture a proper understanding of punishment and its purpose. Too many people today think that punishment is the same as vengeance. Hence the one who punishes is merely exactly revenge or getting back at some one for what they have done. Perhaps too many think of punishment as merely a way for the more powerful to vent their anger on the less powerful. It is true that sometimes a parent may punish with mixed motives. Perhaps they are at times venting their anger as they punish a child. But they are imperfect parents. God however, is a perfect Father and when he punishes it is not admixed with these sinful qualities. But distorted notions of punishment as synonymous with revenge or a mere venting of anger are common today. Thus a proper notion of punishment must be recovered.
What then is the proper understanding and purpose of punishment? In effect the purpose of punishment is allow the one punished to experience the negative effects of bad behavior in a small way, so that they do not experience the bad effects in a far worse way.
Consider a child who has been commanded by his parents not to cross the busy street without an older person to escort him. This warning is issued in love. The parents are not trying to take away his fun or merely limit his freedom to no purpose. They are trying to protect him from grave harm. But what if the child does cross the street unescorted and the parents discover it? Likely they will, or should, punish him. Perhaps his father will have him stay in his room for three hours alone as a punishment.
Now notice what is happening here. A smaller injury is inflicted to avoid a much worse injury. After all which is worse, a three hour “time out” in a boring room, or being struck by a car and possibly paralyzed or killed? It is clear that the purpose of punishment is to allow a small amount of pain to avoid a much worse situation.
And thus when God punishes he is often acting in the same manner. He will allow pain or inflict it so that we will avoid far worse pain eternally in Hell, or also pain here as our bad behavior spirals downward into far worse and dangerous matters. Punishment when properly applied (and it always is so, by God) is salutary. It helps to bring an end to bad and ultimately hurtful behavior and usually issues forth in good and constructive behavior.
Hence punishment is integral to love. But love here must be understood as the strong and vigorous love that speaks the truth and insists upon it for us as the only basis for real and lasting fulfillment.
The Letter to the Hebrews has a remarkable passage that spells out the true contours of punishment and discipline rooted in God the Father’s true and vigorous love for us:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards. Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. (Heb 12:5-13)
As a final observation note that this passage says that those who are without discipline are called “bastards.” It is interesting that this word, which originally refers simply to child that does not have a father in his life, has come to mean some one who is obnoxious self centered, or incorrigible. When a child grows up without the discipline of a father they often become a “bastard” in both the ancient and modern sense of the word. In our use of this rather impolite word we are connecting what happens to a person who does not know discipline.
It is a true fact that many children today have not known proper discipline and this leads to any number of ills: bad and self destructive behavior, arrogance, disrespectful attitudes, incorrigibility, hostility, selfishness, greed, insensitivity, lack of self-control and many other sociopathic tendencies.
We need to rediscover that punishment is part of love. It is not love to leave a child undisciplined. We are not helping them in any way when we fail to discipline. Surely discipline must be rooted in love and when it is it leads to many good effects. God too shows us his love in disciplining us and punishing. I have quoted these words of St. Thomas before and it is good to finish with them: [F]raternal correction properly so called, is directed to the amendment of the sinner. Now to do away with anyone’s evil is the same as to procure his good: and to procure a person’s good is an act of charity, whereby we wish and do our friend well. (II, IIae, 33.1).
In this video “Fr.” Bing Crosby warns the young men of the school of what comes from bad behavior.
In yesterday’s Gospel we pondered some teachings about authority from the Lord. Among His teachings was that authority is necessary and that, other things being equal, a Christian is bound to submit to lawful authority, both in the Church and, regarding temporal affairs, to lawful authority in this world.
In the Church there is a “Chair of Moses” which the Lord has given to Peter and his successors (Matt 16:18). The Lord spoke of Peter’s role to bind and loose, and also to be the Rock, to confirm, i.e. strength and unify, his brethren (Lk. 22:32). The sad experiment among Protestants, and to some extent the Orthodox, of trying to have a Church without a Pope, without a central governing “chair” of authority, shows the disunity, and even venom that can result without a pope. If no one is pope, everyone is pope.
I have been reading in the last weeks, for spiritual reading Fr. Thomas Dubay’s S.M. (R.I.P.) Authenticity – A Biblical Theology of Discernment. There are so many passages I have marked to share with you in the future. But for today I want to share with you some excerpts from Fr Dubay on the need for authority, just as a practical matter. He also ponders what happens if we, in some utopian way, think we can live apart from it.
Fr. Dubay has been one of my chief teachers in spirituality. He passed away last year – headed home to meet the Lord, whom he loved and preached. He was a devout and sober man, a fine theologians, deeply immersed in Scripture and Tradition, a terrific spiritual master, and always a keen observer of what ails us.
As is often the case, I will present his text in bold, black italics, and my poor comments in plain red text. I would like to give you page numbers in the book, but, sadly, the Kindle edition from which I have read does not have a coherent way of referring to pages (as far as I can tell). I can only say that the passage is in the last third of the book in a section entitled “Verification.”
Christ and St. Paul and the whole New Testament community were hardheadedly human. They knew better than we (because they were more holy than many of us) of human weaknesses and failings, but they could not imagine [as some do today] an “invisible Church of Christ.” In more than a theoretical way, the disciples knew they were not angels, and they could not have dreamed of the ekklesia of the bodily risen Kyrios lacking effective institutional elements.
Yes, the word I like to use is that they were “sober” about human sinfulness, and our tendency to be divisive and fractional, often about the most petty of things. And even in more profound matters, our sinfulness often causes us to have distorted thinking, our senseless minds can become very dark and jaded.
In the midst of all the scandalous division after the Eastern Schism, and the Protestant movements, some have tried to imagine that there is somehow an “invisible church” where “nasty little things” like structures, and authority are not necessary. In this dreamy, “kumbaya” thinking where all hold hands and sway as they sing “we are one in the Spirit,” there may be a legitimate dream.
But imagining we are one is not the same as actually being one. True unity will manifest in concrete, not just theoretical ways, for a central tenet of the faith is that of the incarnation. And the Church remains, incarnationally, the Body of Christ. I may like to imagine that a severed hand is still part of my body. But while I dream, the hand begins to decay, and my body bleeds out. In the end reality has a way of setting in.
The Biblical fact is, that where Peter is, there is the Church (ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia). He is Christ’s vicar on earth, and the one who holds the keys. Christ noted that the devil would seek to divide, to “sift” the apostles like wheat. But Jesus solution was clear: But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, you will strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:32). Bishop Sheen once said of this passage that we share in Christ’s prayer for unity in the Church, only through Peter.
There is no “invisible church.” Only the visible and structured one founded by Christ and rooted in his prayer for Peter.
Graphically St. Paul reminds the overseer-bishops of Ephesus that it was the Holy Spirit himself who established them in office, and it is through these human instruments that the Spirit will deal with “fierce wolves” who invade the flock (Acts 20:28-31). The apostle goes so far as to say that anyone who objects to his teaching is not objecting to a human authority but to God himself, who gives us his Holy Spirit (1 Th 4:8). The Thessalonians are to foster the “greatest respect and affection” for their leaders (1 Th 5:12-13). All sorts of gifts from the spirit are given to the authorities in the Church: apostleship, prophecy, teaching, leading (Eph 4:11-13).
Yes, in our anti-authority modern age, we must recall that authority in the Church is established by God, and upheld by him. It is the Lord’s way of protecting the Church from the fierce wolves of error and division. God teaches authoritatively through his Church, and her appointed and anointed leaders. We have to trust God in this.
Authority is not perfect. God uses imperfect human instruments to accomplish his tasks.
In my personal journey I have come to discover that, while I have often wished that those in authority were more prompt and prophetic at times, I have also come to discover that there is a place to be more reflective. When I was first ordained, I was zealous for orthodoxy, but I was also rigid in unnecessary ways, and often impatient. “If only the Church would adopt my plan of action, all would be well.” Or so I thought. But, interestingly enough the Lord did not choose to promote me to bishop in those early zealous years, (or even now), and I must humbly recognize that there are often other ways of approaching issues. The general demeanor of the Church is to be thoughtful, reflective, and yes, slower than many moderns prefer.
But somewhere in the midst of this rather consistent approach, we need to see that our leaders have been anointed by God. We can surely seek to influence them and be part of the discussion. Most reform movements well up from the people of God. But we do not, and ought not, get ahead of our leaders, or refuse submission to them merely because we have a bright new idea. There may well be a reason to go slower and be more broad based that some who are zealous would prefer.
This bodily-structural element in the ekklesia comes out in many ways in the New Testament: Jesus sends men into the world, and they speak with his own authority so that those who listen to these representatives listen to him (Mt 28:16-20; Lk 10:16) . . . the leaders in the Church test the authenticity of her members (Rev 2:2; pastorals, passim) . . . all are to obey their spiritual leaders (1 Pet 5:5; Heb 13:17) . . . they who disobey are inauthentic, not from God (1 Cor 14:37-38; 1 Jn 4:6) . . . even a supposed messenger from heaven may not contradict what the human leaders have taught (Gal 1:6-9) . . . the presiding officer in the local church has all sorts of duties in the areas of teaching and governing (1 and 2 Tim and Titus) . . . the Holy Spirit is with them in the performance of these duties (2 Tim 1:6, 14). i.e. authority is biblical and from God.
Although we do not find the same degree of organization in the first-century ekklesia that we find in that of the twentieth century (it would be amazing if we did), we do find a plurality of functions that are clearly governmental. The leaders teach and proclaim the word (1 Tim 3:2; 4:13, 16; 5:7, 17; 6:2; 2 Tim 1:8; 2:2, 14, 24; 4:1-5; Titus 1:9; 2:1-10, 15; 3:1-8; Acts 20:28). They pray for the sick and heal them (James 5:14-15). They correct aberrations and errors and faults (1 Tim 5:20; 6:17; 2 Tim 2:25; 4:1-5; Titus 1:9-14; 2:15). They govern the ecclesial community, the Church of God (1 Tim 3:5; 2 Tim 1:14; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1-4). These superiors are said to be God’s representatives, and their authority is not to be questioned (Titus 1:7; 2:15). The faithful are told in plain language to obey these leaders and do as they say (Heb 13:17; 1 Pet 5:5)….
To teach govern and sanctify are the essential roles of Church authority and the faithful are expected to be submitted to their leaders.
This is a critical reminder in an age like ours that often celebrates rebellion as well as angry invective and derision directed at leaders, both secular and religious. While our world may celebrate this and many who act rebelliously get “credit” for being bold and “free,” there is little or no biblical basis for this behavior, especially insofar as the Church is concerned.
While a Catholic may make some discernment as to the level of authority involved in a given pronouncement, legalistic minimalism should also be avoided and Catholics should remain teachable even in non-infallible teaching of the popes, bishops and magisterium (cf CCC # 892).
It is not accidental that people who now commonly speak of our generation as “men come of age” are often those who belittle the need for societal government. ….The error in this position lies in its partiality. It fails to provide for the many other needs among perfectly adult men and women that cannot be met [apart from]… the essential role of authority. No matter how mature a society has become, its members cannot provide for protection, for international trade, for airports and highways (and a host of other things) by mere friendly agreements. To desire to substitute consensus as a universal replacement for authority is merely utopian.
Yes, utopian is the word.
It is the dreamy arrogance of our modern age that has caused us the most grief. The more we speak of ourselves as “men come of age,” the less mature we seem to become. In our culture, maturity is further and further delayed, and there are many in our culture who never grow up. Dependent and demanding, many sound more like petulant children, than grown adults. Further, the dismissal of the wisdom of previous generations, and the refusal to be accepting of authority, bespeaks more of a teenage rebellious stage than sober adult refelction. I have written more on that here: Stuck on Teenage
When the members of a group are all open to the Holy Spirit, a discernment process can produce consensus, but who will maintain that, in our sinful condition, we can hope, in larger societies, to be free from selfishness and ignorances of all sorts. And even aside from our sinfulness, we need to note that all judgments made for an action are surrounded with contingencies that make it impossible to demonstrate the necessity of any [one] given prudential judgment. One of the functions of authority, therefore, is to choose among many defensible courses of action one that all must follow….
Yes, so well said. Even in the best, the most mature and spiritual of communities, some one still has to call the shots. For not all, or even most, decisions are between good and bad things, but often between numerous good options in the face of limited resources.
If a group of people rejects an official teaching authority in the Church, it does not follow that there is no teaching authority. There surely is, and often it is more apodictic [demanding of submission] and harsh in its condemnations than most popes have ever been. The allegiance given to quotations from “in” theologians can be remarkable….
Pope Benedict has often remarked on the tyranny of relativism wherein those who cloak themselves in tolerance and open-mindedness are often the least tolerant when it comes to a host of issues they regard as politically correct. Many of the College campuses who have prided themselves on their liberal openness often have the most severe “speech codes” and the most strident applications of political correctness. Don’t try and uphold a lot of traditional Catholic and Biblical moral teaching there. If you do, prepare in most instances to shouted down, shown the door, and called hateful, bigoted, close-minded and number of other personal attacks.
Further, unquestioned loyalty to certain theories, scientific, political and philosophical, and the kind of venom, if you even have just a few questions, is remarkable. Talk about “religious” zeal.
Oh yes, we will confer authority on someone, it just depends on who. I had rather accept as authoritative a Church I believe founded by God and upheld by him. An old hymn says, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. Jesus founded, establishes and upholds the Church, so I’ll go there and be submitted to authorities I believe, by faith, he upholds and inspires.
The binding force of an ecclesiastical Magisterium is commonly viewed [today] as an infringement on a healthy freedom in the academic realm. It is no more an infringement on freedom than the experimental data of the positive sciences are an impediment to scientific progress and freedom. The divinely guaranteed Magisterium liberates the theologian from the morass of his own subjectivity, just as the hard-nosed data of scientific research liberate the theoretician in pure physics from the illusions of a thought, lacking contact with the real world…..
One of the keys to understanding freedom is that it is only enjoyed within limits. I am free to communicate with you now only if I accept certain grammatical parameters.
Absolute freedom does not exist for limited and contingent beings such as ourselves. Hence, Christian theology must accept that there are necessary limits and guard rails which guarantee the greatest freedoms. Outside the guard rails of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium, lie only thickets, precipices, dead ends and a howling wilderness of subjectivism and the directionless wandering of an “off road” experience.
I have written more on the paradox of true freedom HERE
It is alleged that Roman congregations have made mistakes and that these impede progress. Some (not all) of these allegations are true. But in sheer number they are few indeed in comparison to the thousands of mistakes that theologians have made….History abounds in examples of the bizarre aberrations possible even in well-intentioned enthusiasms.
Yes. Thank you Fr. Dubay. Rest in peace.
Here is video that illustrates the modern tendency to celebrate rebellion. While it’s funny, it must also be said that this ads ridicules limits and people who believe in them. The man who says “stay within the lines” is presented for us as an object of ridicule and the notion of limits as “childish” hides the teenage immaturity of those who celebrate rebellion and reject limits. The ad does not follow the woman “off road” as she surely hits ruts, messes up her alignment and may even flip the vehicle. Paved roads with guard rails are usually better, faster and safer.
The Gospel today is familiar to many Catholics from a negative point of view, in that many a Protestant has summoned the verse: Call no one on earth your father, to assail the Catholic practice of calling priests, “Father.” Never mind that the text also says to call no one on earth teacher. Never mind either that the New Testament contains almost 200 uses of the word “father” to refer to earthly male people. Apparently Matthew, Mark, Luke and John along with Paul and Peter and Stephen, never got the memo banishing all use of the word in reference to “anyone on earth.” (We will see some of these quotes later). Never mind all that.
Alas, to turn this into a gospel about terminology, is to miss its main point, which is to teach us about authority. And the teaching is both beautiful and essential, especially in modern times when the notion of authority is so misunderstood and frequently maligned.
Before looking at Jesus’ teaching on authority it is good to be clear one point: While it is true you and I are under authority, we also have authority. Whether it is as a parent, at work, as a community leader, Church leader, or just because you’re older; you have authority.
Because we live in a culture that largely despises authority, we tend to think it is always the “other guy” who has authority and needs to be “put in his place.” Maybe it’s that jerk in the corner office, or those nasty politicians, or the boorish and backward pastor. But, look in the mirror, this gospel isn’t just for “them,” it’s for you. So, as we explore this teaching on authority, remember it applies to you and me just as much as “them.”
Let’s look at the teaching in four stages.
I. TheTenure of Lawful Authority. Jesus says, The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you but do not follow their example. Jesus teaches the disciples that, for now, they are to remain under the lawful authority of the Scribes and Pharisees. In the future, Jesus will fully send forth his Church and establish the authority of the Apostles themselves. But for now, they are to follow lawful authority, just as Jesus will expect the Church to be under the lawful authority of the Apostles and their successors in the future.
Christians are not encouraged anywhere in scripture to withstand, ridicule, resist or overthrow lawful authority. The human tendency, especially evident in modern times, to be insubordinate and disrespectful of lawful authority is neither encouraged nor supported in the Biblical teaching. Consider some of the following examples:
Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.
Titus 3:1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good
1. Tim 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
1 Peter 2:17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
Matt 22:21 Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.
Hence, the Lord Jesus, indeed, Scripture in general, upholds the proper need and place for authority. Modern tendencies to celebrate rebellion and disrespect toward authority are not countenanced by Scripture, no matter how popular and pleasing such negative attitudes may seem.
And these tendencies are exhibited at every level in our western culture. Children are bold and disobedient toward parents, younger people toward elders, subordinates in the workplace toward supervisors, citizens toward elected officials, Catholics toward the hierarchy, and so forth.
One may argue, “Well, the one in charge is a pain, or a bad leader.” Perhaps, but consider what Biblical times featured: from the Scribes and Pharisees, all the way up to Herod and the likes of Nero. Yet still this teaching went forth. Others may rush to assert, “Authorities need to be corrected.” Yes, at times they do, and a Christian should use means that are both respectful and non-violent.
Vigorous political discourse is surely a feature and a genius of our modern democratic republic. However, too much of the discourse strays into the hateful, and the hyperbolic, toward personal attack and ridicule. Such extremes are unfit discourse for a Christian, who is called to speak the truth with both clarity and charity.
So in setting forth a teaching on authority, the Lord Jesus first establishes that there IS authority and that, other things being equal, lawful authority is to be respected and obeyed. And though, as the Lord clearly indicates, there are times when the example of those in authority should not be imitated (more on that in a minute), their lawful and moral directives are to followed.
Thus, in cases where you are under authority, pray, strive to cooperate, and correct where necessary with reverence. And in cases wherein you have authority, do not be ashamed that you DO have it. Use it well, for the common good, and to provide necessary direction and unity for those under your authority. Remember too, as we shall see, if you have authority, it is to serve.
II. The Tyranny of Arrogant Authority. Jesus does acknowledge the burdensome and insensitive qualities of the leadership of that time. He says, Do not follow their example. For they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders. But they will not lift a finger to move them.
Here is a sober assessment by Jesus of the problems of leadership in his day. They will have to answer to God for their tenure. And Jesus holds them up as a kind of warning to the future leaders of his Church, who will also have to render an account for their leadership one day. “Do not follow their example,” Jesus warns.
As we shall see, true authority exists to serve, not to crush or merely exhibit its power. It exists to unite people around a common purpose and direct people and resources to a good and focused end. It exists to help others to accomplish their tasks in a unified and directed way. Hence we may ask the following questions of authority:
1. Does it make wings to lift a person up, or is it a deadweight to drag a person down?
2. Does help a person or haunt him?
3. Does it carry him does he have to carry it?
4. Does it bring joy to life or depression
5. Does it unite people around common goals or merely unite them in unproductive anger against authority?
How would those under your authority answer these questions?
III. The Trappings of Self-Centered Authority. Jesus sets forth how the Scribes and Pharisees loved titles, honors, and ostentation: All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces and the salutation, “Rabbi”
And so the Lord distinguishes the following problems:
Their Actions are Acted – Jesus often called them hypocrites, not as derogatory, but as a descriptive. For the word hypocrite, in Greek, means “actor.” Now an actor performs and plays his role only when there is an audience. He does so for money and applause. But when the crowd is gone he does not pay his role. There would be no point in that, since neither money or applause will result. The point here, in terms of authority, is that some in authority have forgotten the reason they have authority, or the goal to which it is directed. They care only about the praise that may increase their authority or build their ego.
They Parade their Piety – The point here about authority is that the one in authority wants to be noticed as having authority. Rather than pointing to the end to which his authority is directed (in this case, God), some in authority see the acknowledgement of their authority as the proper end and desired goal.
They Hunger for Honor – They seek the front seats, and to be seen as having authority. They take the honor due those in authority personally, as directed to them, rather than to the office they hold.
They Take after Titles – But a title is only good if the one bearing it does not disgrace it. Having a title is not so much an honor as a responsibility.
So, in the end the poor example comes down to the fact that those in authority in Jesus’ time, mistook the “trappings” for personal ends and glory, rather than for the ends to which they were intended: the glory of God, the serving of his people and the common good and unity of all.
But leadership is not about trappings, it is about service and the glory of God.
IV. The Truth of Christian Authority. The text says, Do not be called teacher (Rabbi) You have but one teacher. Do not be called Father, you have but one Father in heaven..Do not be called master, have but one master the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Who ever humbles himself will be exalted.
Jesus emphasizes Three fundamental things here, and I would a fourth.
1. All authority is under the headship of God – In critiquing the use of terms like “teacher,” “master” and “Rabbi,” Jesus is insisting that all teachers and “experts” must first be under the teaching and authority of God. All their teaching and “mastery” of any subject must be in conformity to, and submitted to the revealed truth of God. For someone to be worthy of the title “teacher,” “Rabbi,” or “Master” means that they are first submitted to what God teaches and reveals.
2. All Fatherhood, all headship, is submitted to the Father and Lord of us all and reflects His Fatherhood. No one deserves the title “father” who does not first have God for his Father. In this sense, Jesus is not so much banning a word, as insisting on a conformity to the one and perfect Father of us all. In this sense, St Paul can say, You do not have many fathers, For I became your father in Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Cor 4:15). And again, For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted you and charged each of you lead a life worthy of God (1 Thess 2:10). St Paul takes up this title “Father” with them, only in relation to how he guides them to what the Heavenly and true Father would want.
3. Authority exists for service – Jesus says of those in authority: The greatest among you must be your servant. In other words those who have authority have to serve those under them, not to “lord it over.” Jesus says elsewhere:
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mk 10:42ff)
Hence, those who have authority, have it not for their glory, but as a sign of their servitude. The priest who has authority, has it to serve his people in teaching, sanctifying and governing (uniting). The Parent has authority to serve their children, raising them to become the man or woman God intends them to be. The police officer has authority to protect and give order to the people. The teacher has authority in order that she may teach. And so forth. Authority is not for its own sake, it is for the sake of others.
4. Authority is exercised among equals – In the world, authority is equated to power, and is often ascribed to those who gain it because they are smarter, richer, more connected, and so forth. In a way, there is an assumption that “I have authority because I am, some how, better than you.” But among Christians authority is always exercised among equals. For the greatest title one can have is “Child of God.” Adding titles like CEO, President, Grand Knight, Monsignor, Excellency, and so forth, are but mere footnotes. The Pope has authority in the Church, but he is no more baptized than you or I. Please understand, he DOES have authority, and we have an obligation to submit to it. But his greatest title is not “Pope,” or “Supreme Pontiff.” His greatest title is “Child of God.” Authority does not make me greater than you, it makes me your servant. But before God we are all equally his children. This final point is my own addition and I fully open it for critique.
So there it is, a Gospel not about terminology (as in “Father”), but about authority and how to understand it and live it as a Christian. Remember it is not just about “that jerk in the corner office.” It is about you, since you too, have authority. One day we will answer to God about how we have used our authority, whether to build or destroy, enable or disable, inspire or unnecessarily infuriate. We will also render an account for how we have acted toward those in authority. And, no matter the laughter and praise this world gives to disrespect and disobedience, God is neither impressed or pleased. Authority, how we use it, and respect it, is critical to God.
Note the word “Author” in authority. For no authority exists unless it is granted from God (cf Jn 19:11). And to the Author, all in authority must one day answer.
Here’s one of my favorite hymns: Crown Him with Many Crowns. It is here sung on the 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth of England. It is fitting to see those in authority, even if (these days) more ceremonially so, to be seen praising to true King from who all kings, queens and leaders take their authority.
Of this King, Jesus, we can say he is the only King who died for us. And so the second verse of the hymn says, Crown him the Lord of Love, Behold his hands and side. Rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified. No angel in the height, can truly bear that sight, so downward bend his wondering eye, at mysteries so bright.
Indeed, For the Son of man did not some to be served, but to serve, and give his life as ransom for many (Mk 10:45)
As the great English Catholic G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly.” Chesterton was trying to be witty, of course, but his point was that humility is a hallmark of holiness- both for angels, and for us.
Consider an episode from the life of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, and now a candidate for sainthood. Sociologist Robert Coles once went to meet her at one of the soup kitchens she ran. When he arrived, Dorothy Day was in a conversation with a homeless woman who was drunk and mentally ill. The woman rambled on and on in a loud voice and kept nervously touching a large mole on her face. Only when the woman was finished did Dorothy Day politely excuse herself. She walked over to Coles and asked, “Do you wish to speak with one of us?”
Coles was astonished. He had expected her to say, “Do you wish to speak with me?” as we might have been tempted to do. But Dorothy Day was humble, and she didn’t assume that she was somehow more important than the homeless woman.
Jesus speaks of humility in today’s gospel, and promises that the humble will be exalted. In his parable about taking the lowest seat at a wedding banquet, Jesus warns us not to think too highly of ourselves at the expense of others. Because if we do, we’ll find it difficult to truly love other people. When we look down on other people, we might pity them, but pity is not love. And if we don’t think that they look up to us as we think they should, we’ll get huffy and bent out of shape.
In short, arrogance alienates, but it’s love that unites. And people that are full of love, are never full of themselves.
One of the great challenges in life is to learn what is really most important. I remember as a child being told at Christmas that Jesus was the real reason for the season and that toys were secondary. But I was a child and although I heard what should be most important in actual fact what really was most important to me was what was under the tree. “Thanks Jesus for gettin’ born, now what did Santa leave!?”
This little childhood scenario recasts itself differently as we get older but the basic challenge is the same: learning to really accept and experience that the most important things in life aren’t things. St. Paul states well what is really most important:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him… (Phil 3:7-9)
The psalms too express what is most valuable:
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:9-11).
The Lord also goes on to teach us that we should value the people in our lives above the things in our lives. Consider this example.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Lk 12:13-15)
Among the teachings contained here is that the brothers should be more important to each other than the wealth that divides them. But too often our desire for passing things takes precedence over the people in our lives. Both brothers sin against each other over money, one through greed the other through injustice.
So I want to ask you (and me) a few questions and I want you t be careful how you answer them. Often when we are asked questions of a moral nature we answer the question the way we should answer the question instead of responding with the actual truth. So as I ask these questions let’s consider supplying the truest answer rather than the “required” answer.
Do you really love God above all things and above all people?
Do you really love the people in your life more than the things in your life?
Do you really believe that you life does not consist in an abundance of possessions?
And as you and I answer these questions consider what the evidence states. The best evidence in a question like this is not merely our feelings but even more what we spend our money and time on. Truth be told a lot of us struggle to love God most. We are told to worship God, love people and use things but too often worship things, use people and forget about God. The fact is a lot of us can still be stuck on that old childhood scene where we knew Jesus is the reason for the season but in the end we also knew he really had very little to do with the season, either in the culture or in our hearts.
The steps to making progress in this difficulty are fourfold:
Honesty – Honestly answering questions like the ones the Lord asks us above has go to be the starting point. Perhaps some of you who read this are way ahead of the rest and God really is first. But for the rest of us, the first step is to honestly realize that we’re messed up and that we prefer passing things to God.
Prayer – The second step is to get on our knees and say, “Lord have mercy! I am messed up. My priorities are wrong. I love things more than people and people more than you. I’m surrounded by idols and I ascribe greater worth to the dust of this earth than to you or to my loved ones. Help me Lord!”
Looking at the Deeper Drives – Part of regular confession is to learn to focus on the deeper issues of our life. Too often we only look at our behaviors but not to the deeper drives of sins that lead to this bad behavior. Some of the deeper drives of sin that affect this particular matter are: greed, lust, idolatry, ego-centric attitudes, pettiness, worldliness, sloth, and ingratitude. Preparing for confession looks not only to symptoms such as outer behaviors but to causes which are the deeper drives of sin. In a future blog I will write more on the “deeper drives” of sin.
Cultivate gratitude – Gratitude is a way that we discipline our mind to count our blessings and then thank the Lord for them. In particular we ought to discipline our minds to thank God for the gift that He is to us. Also the gift that others are to us. Granted some folks are gifts to us “in strange packages.” But even the difficult people in our lives teach us things like being patient, kind and more forgiving, These are blessings, even though in strange packages.
Only with God’s help can we begin to realize that “The Most important things in life aren’t things” is more than a slogan. Only with God’s help and a lifetime of grace can we ever hope to really appreciate this insight and absolutely true.
Now a little humor and laughing at ourselves doesn’t hurt either. In this very funny video some priests send out a brother priest for beer. Upon his return there is a mishap and both beer and priest are in jeopardy. Guess which gets rescued!
Every morning, as I get ready for my day, I pray by name for all the people who have died in my or my wife’s family. Many of them weren’t Catholic; some weren’t even Christian; and a few did some pretty terrible things. Yet I pray for them, because our Catholic faith teaches that we can hope that all of them might ultimately be saved.
