Ave Maria!
Feast of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – 9 January AD
2005
“And He was subject to them.”[1]
Ordinary of the Mass
Today's Mass text - Latin
Today's Mass text - English
In the night Office, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux calls our attention to the fact that the subjection of Jesus to Mary and Joseph was marvelous on two accounts. One could be as equally amazed with “the gracious condescension on the Son’s part,” as with “the Mother’s sublime dignity.” Bernard mentions, too, that Jesus was subject “to Joseph as well, for Mary’s sake”[2]—a fact which just might be even more marvelous than the subjection of Jesus to Mary, who was, indeed, His true biological mother.
Saint Bernard’s observations prompt us to consider the great humility demonstrated by our Lord in becoming man and subjecting Himself not only to the limitations of the material world and human nature—but also in the concept of God making Himself obedient to the will of human beings. Mary and Joseph were his earthly parents, to be sure, but it still seems strange to think of their very Creator obeying them. I would suggest to you today, that Jesus became subject to Mary and Joseph precisely because they, as well as He, were dedicated to “being about His Father’s business.”
The virtue of obedience to legitimate authority is a virtue of paramount importance, for without it all human society would fail—from the humblest family living in obscurity, on up to the most powerful nations, and even to the Catholic Church Itself. It takes little or no imagination to recognize the chaos that would ensue if mankind were without any conception of authority and obedience. But, one may ask, where does human authority come from? How is it decided who must be obedient to whom? And how must it be sometimes limited?
All authority—of every sort—comes from God. It is delegated to those who must exercise it, according to the structures of the society in question. Society may have formed itself in such a way that it responds to the authority of an hereditary king, or to a parliament and its prime minister, or perhaps to an elected president—even the Church has developed a mechanism for selecting its leaders, who then exercise God given authority. At the most basic level, God’s authority is delegated as a man and a woman exchange wedding vows—delegating to one another God’s authority over their very bodies, their life here on earth, and the children which they may beget according to God’s generosity.
Saint Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Romans (and recognize here, please, that Paul is speaking about the authority of even the pagan government of Rome—at least insofar as it works to preserve the common good):
Let every soul be subject to higher powers. For there is no power but from God: and those that are ordained of God. Therefore, he that resists the power resists the ordinance of God. And they that resist bring upon themselves damnation. For princes are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you wish, then, not to fear the authority? Do that which is good: and you will have praise from it. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, fear: for he does not carry the sword in vain. For he is God’s minister: an avenger to execute wrath upon him who does evil.[3]
But understand that, in all cases, whether the selection is made by right of birth, by popular vote, or the decision of a representative assembly—by the spontaneous choice of the people of Rome or by a red robed college of Cardinals—or by the creation of a new family in holy Matrimony, the authority that is conferred can only flow from God. Indeed, the primary criterion for measuring the legitimacy of any authority is the degree to which it is guided by God’s laws—by how closely it brings the will of God to bear on its subjects.
In God Himself we see several aspects of authority. God is first of all the Creator; then the Lawgiver; and, finally, the Judge. In varying degrees, He communicates these aspects of His authority to the people and nations of the Earth. God is also the Teacher and the Sanctifier, and He communicates these aspects of His authority to the faithful and to the hierarchy of His Church.
Let us look at these delegations of authority, one by one:
Creation, of course is fundamental, and God reserves most of the responsibility for creating and conserving the universe to Himself. But, in one very special aspect, He has created in such a way as to delegate the pro-creation of His creatures. This is why all of Christendom must understand the need for the integral family.
God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, saying: «Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.»[4]
This grant of authority is, of course, conditional. It may not be abused merely for man’s pleasure, nor may man treat his children as nothing more than slaves or possessions. Man has responsibilities toward his family: to protect their lives as his own, to look after their well-being—both physical and spiritual, to see that his children develop is such a way as to continue society after he is gone. Likewise, though he has dominion over the Earth and its lesser creatures, his authority is one of stewardship and not of wanton wastefulness
Secondly, God is the ultimate Lawgiver. Again, He reserves some of that authority to Himself. The laws of nature—the law of gravity, for example—must be the same for all people in all places, otherwise chaos would result. But God does delegate to human authority, particularly in the matter of putting His Moral Law into the conduct of civilized life. Even in the wild, man should recognize the fundamentals of the natural moral law; not to kill, not to steal, not to cheat, not to lie, and so forth. Daily life just doesn’t work if those basic natural laws are violated very often. But it is more difficult to live in society with others—living among hundreds, thousands, or even millions of other people requires a bit more—even with the best intentions, a thousand or a million individual interpretations of the moral law are bound to clash. Then too, societies of people need some degree of standardization—imagine the chaos of everyone driving on whatever side of the road they pleased, at whatever speed; or even trying to get along without uniform weights and measures, or currency standards.
As ultimate Judge, God reserves the judgments of eternal life to Himself, but delegates considerable authority to men and nations over the enforcement of their earthly laws. He does so precisely because those earthly laws are supposed to be based on His own Natural Moral Law. In the Old Testament He proclaimed judicial procedure for His people, and stern penalties for those who chose to violate His laws. In the New Testament, God’s Son taught us that those stern penalties ought to be tempered with reason and compassion, but nonetheless, left mankind with the situation Saint Paul described to the Romans—the authority was still to carry a sword.
God is the Teacher, the ultimate ground of all truth and wisdom. Yet He has chosen to communicate these through public revelation, which must be communicated by men to other men. To this end, He became man in the Person of Jesus Christ, and He spent, roughly, the last three years of His life explaining His truths to His Apostles, finally delegating His authority to them, saying:
Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall he condemned.[5]
Finally, God is the Sanctifier, the ultimate ground of all piety and holiness. Here again, He chose to work in this world through the ministry of men. He promised His Body and Blood, so that those who would eat and drink of Them might have everlasting life[6]—but, then, He gave power over His Body and Blood to the Apostles and their ordained successors:
On the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples and said: «Take ye and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice ... Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.... Do this for a commemoration of me.» For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he comes.[7]
He gave the same men the power to forgive sins, and the power to “bind and loose” on earth and in heaven—to Peter specifically, He gave the “keys of the kingdom of Heaven.”[8]
We see, thus, that God has delegated some of His authority to mankind; to men, and families, and nations, and to His Church. Just as Jesus was subject to Mary and Joseph, for the Father had placed Him in their care, under His delegated authority, we too have the obligation of obedience to those to whom God has delegated His authority over us.
Yet the laws of society, and the authority they have over citizens, are again conditional. The laws of the family, the laws of the nation, and even the laws of the Church must stand up to the standard of conforming to the Will of God. Laws cease to be laws, and those in authority loose their legitimacy, when the will of God is ignored or positively contravened. The common good can never be found in the sanctioning, or in the requiring, of immoral behavior.
Obedience is a wonderful and necessary virtue, but it must be exercised with the fact firmly in mind that all law and all authority flows ultimately from God. It is never adequate simply to obey without any reference to the known will of God. (“I vas chust followink orders!” has an awfully hollow ring to it.) Authority, real and true, flows through those who, like the Boy Jesus in today’s Gospel, are honestly going about His Father’s business.
NOTES:
[1] Gospel: Luke ii: 42-52.
[2] Bernard of Clairvaux, Homily on the passage “Missus est,” Nos. 7-8 in the third nocturn of the feast.
[3] Romans xiii: 1-4, (in the nocturn of January 9th, although not read this year due to the occurrence of the feast).
[4] Genesis i: 27-28.
[5] Mark xvi: 15-16.
[6] Cf. John vi.
[7] Matthew xxvi: 26-28; Luke xxii: 19; 1 Corinthians xi: 23-26.
[8] John xx: 23; Matthew xvi: 19; xviii: 19.