Authority II

I went searching for information on authority, because it interests me, and I believe it's very important to have a proper understanding of it at this time, in this world we live in.  Everything is in chaos. Laws are enacted that we, as Catholics and Christians, cannot abide by. Those that are supposed to be in positions of authority  are questionable.  What are we supposed to do?  Is there anyone in charge?
It just seems there has been a complete breakdown in society as to who is who and what is what.  It's confusing to me.  Everyone is doing their own thing, even in the Church itself.  People in positions of authority are teaching their own interpretations of Church teaching or dismissing it all together.  No one appears to be shocked or scandalized by sin...everything is acceptable.  Everything is tolerated. We are to have open minds and not judge anything because we are supposed to be tolerant as a sign of our Christianity.  I know the truth, believe the truth, and try my best to live the truth, but it's like living as a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.  I guess I'm trying to make sense of the whole mess.  I can see, now, why the Holy Spirit is so very important in these days.  I pray for an increase in wisdom and discernment daily, because I have been shown that it is not going to be possible to survive spiritually without it. "Even the elect will be deceived."  The importance of this has been stressed to me numerous times in prayer. It was pointed out that it is pride that would have us believe that we can suffer trials without the use of the Sacraments, which are God's grace made manifest on earth, through His Church. 

Simply, you run the risk of being lost if you are not taking this time of mercy that has been given to us as a gift from God  to gather every available grace that is being offered through prayer and the Sacraments in order to carry you and others through the very difficult times that are approaching.  We should be using this time wisely to be healed spiritually and emotionally.  When chaos and confusion strike unexpectedly and forcefully, you will need to draw upon these graces in order to remain level headed and strong in your convictions.  When these things come upon us, who will you be listening to?  Whose direction will you be following?  When everything falls apart, as I've mentioned in my previous posts, you may be tempted to go down the wide and easy road to Hell.  This is why God is training us in our trials now....allowing us to be brought to our very lowest now....allowing our faith to be tested severely now.  It is training for the future and it is a gift.  It is for the salvation of our souls and the souls of others.  Many of us have received in prayer that we will be called upon to lead others....in order to do that, we must be firmly rooted in faith, hope, love and have a complete knowledge of who is in charge.  A knowledge of which God we serve, because there will be many false gods demanding our obedience. 

From Monsignor Charles M. Mangan ,Catholic Online:

What do we mean by the virtue of obedience?

The eminent Jesuit theologian Father John Anthony Hardon, S.T.D. (1914-2000), in his helpful Pocket Catholic Dictionary (New York: Image Books, 1985), offered the following definition of obedience: “The moral virtue that inclines the will to comply with the will of another who has the right to command.” (Page 291)

Therefore, a person who is rooted in obedience submits his will to the one who possesses legitimate authority over him.

In his Summa Theologica (II, II, Question 104, Articles 4 and 5), Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274) declared that God is to be obeyed in all things, while human authorities are to be obeyed in certain things. Father Hardon explained: “ . . . obedience to God is without limit, whereas obedience to human beings is limited by higher laws that must not be transgressed, and by the competency or authority of the one who gives the orders.” (ibid.)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the virtue of obedience, even calling it, as we did above, a duty. “The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and good-will.” (1900)

How does one fail in regard to the virtue of obedience? Theologians have traditionally distinguished between sins in excess and sins in defect relative to a virtue.

A sin in excess against obedience is servility, which is marked by adherence to a directive that is contrary to a higher law or precept. One would be guilty of servility if he obeyed a civil law that is at odds with God’s moral law.

A sin in defect against obedience is disobedience, which is the transgression of an order that falls within the competent authority of the superior and is, therefore, a legitimate directive. One is disobedient if he purposely fails to do or omit something commanded by his lawful authority.

There has been tremendous abuse of authority in the past by those in the Church and the world who took advantage of  the obedience of others.  This is true.  There are many instances in our history that show blind obedience can be detrimental and harmful.  I think it proves that the virtue of obedience must be practiced in a healthy manner....it is not just obedience alone that is necessary, but obedience as part of a healthy spiritual life, and a healthy understanding of authority, and also an understanding that God alone is the Ultimate Authority.

Wicked and Illegitimate Authority

When I think of a situation where authority was obviously abused, say Hitler, I try to understand how people could blindly follow him, and condone and approve the murdering of a specific race of people.  How did that happen?  Were people so poor and ignorant that they didn't know better? Was it their fear and poverty that created an environment in which wicked authority could prosper?  Were they afraid for their own lives, so were willing to sacrifice the lives of others to preserve or improve their own?  Were they so afraid of disapproval that they simply gave in, against their conscience, and allowed men, women and children to be tortured and murdered?  Did they allow the wicked and illegitimate authority to convince them it was necessary? 

In a speech at Koblenz, August 26, 1934, Hitler said: "National Socialism neither opposes the Church nor is it anti-religious, but on the contrary it stands on the ground of a real Christianity . . For their interests cannot fail to coincide with ours alike in our fight against the symptoms of degeneracy in the world of today, in our fight against a Bolshevist culture, against atheistic movement, against criminality, and in our struggle for a consciousness of a community in our national life . . . These are not anti-Christian, these are Christian principles!"

However, the year previous he had this to say about Christianity:

Historian Paul Johnson wrote that Hitler hated Christianity with a passion, adding that shortly after assuming power in 1933, Hitler told Hermann Rauschnig that he intended "to stamp out Christianity root and branch."

As Hitler grew in power, he made other anti-Christian statements. For example, he was quoted in Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, by Allan Bullock, as saying: "I'll make these damned parsons feel the power of the state in a way they would have never believed possible. For the moment, I am just keeping my eye upon them: if I ever have the slightest suspicion that they are getting dangerous, I will shoot the lot of them. This filthy reptile raises its head whenever there is a sign of weakness in the State, and therefore it must be stamped on. We have no sort of use for a fairy story invented by the Jews."

It appears he had the ability to use Christianity when it served his purpose, yet despised it in truth. Sounds too familiar. We are being sold the same bill of goods today, only in a more modern and enlightened way. It is Nazism repackaged and resold. As an example, we are being deceived into believing that abortion is a necessary "right" because no one should be "punished" with a baby. Babies are perceived as threats to our way of life, our ecology, and a burden that should not be "forced" upon anyone. We then justify taking these dead babies and using them to improve our way of life and preserve our health through vaccinations, embryonic stem cell research which falsely promises to cure disease and improve cosmetics.  We do this in the name of a god who does not want people to suffer needlessly and who wants us to use every means, even the life of another, to achieve this goal.  Maybe it is easier to accept the murder of defenseless babies, because we don't watch them being made to march down our streets to their deaths.  It's a quiet, hidden atrocity...one that is easily overlooked.  The goal is still the same, it's for the good of all; just under disguise.  Soon, we will all be asked to pay for this murder of innocents under the guise of "health care" so that the lives of women will not be burdened or threatened.   Are we going to contribute to this because it is government mandated for the good of all, or run the risk of severe persecution by condemning it and refusing to participate in the death of innocent babies.  Who will we pledge our obedience to?  This is just one example of the challenges we will be faced with in discerning our obedience to authority.  It is going to require tremendous grace and courage to stand against it in obedience to God.  Are you equipped to do that? 

The Rev. Joseph A. Pellegrino, Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL has his homilies posted online.  I thought this part of his homily on the authority of Jesus was very helpful in discerning rightful authority in our lives:

"He taught with authority, not like the Scribes and Pharisees."

"A statement carries authority according to two aspects-who is speaking and what is being said.  Jesus spoke with authority.  What he said was true.  Who he was who spoke gave weight, credibility, and authority to his teaching.  Who we are most often speaks louder than our words.....

He was not two-faced.  He was not hypocritical.  He did not have a dark side of his life that he kept hidden.  He didn't just speak the truth-he was the Truth Incarnate.  Jesus gave orders to unclean spirits, and they obeyed him.  It wasn't the words that kicked the devil out, it was the Person who spoke those words."

So the need for clarification in your life as to who is your Ultimate Authority is very important.  There is a definite need right now to focus...focus on what is truly important and what is truth.  It is as if God is allowing such severe trials in our lives to wake us up.  To look!  Look up!  We will lament the time we wasted on trivial, unimportant things when these things come and we find ourselves unprepared in strength and virtue to meet the challenge. This is no time to be looking at your neighbor and thinking no one else seems to be concerned....I'll get to it later.  Noah I'm sure was feeling the pinch...building an ark in preparation for the flood God had shown Him, in the desert no less.  It takes tremendous perseverance to stick with this task of preparation in obedience to God.   It has been so long since the spiritual life was taken seriously...it's almost foreign to us. This is why this time is a gift, a time to learn the ways of God, which to some are nearly like learning a foreign language.

God is going to shake the fence and He desires that you do not fall off it.  He desires you come off it willingly.  He desires that you do your part and take advantage of the graces being offered, the time being offered, to do all that is within your power to put oil in your lamps.  Do not be like the foolish virgins! They fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom and were locked out of the banquet.  The devil is doing everything in his power to distract people right now.  He doesn't want you prepared, because he knows if you are prepared, that will be more souls saved.  He wants you to be sleepy with worry, anxiety, confusion, chaos, boredom, marriage problems, worldly endeavors.....he doesn't want you to learn that foreign language, the language of God, because then you will be easily led astray.  You will be easily deceived if you don't know God, and if you don't know His Voice.

A priest once asked me if I knew what the opposite of love was.  I naturally said "hate".  He said "No, the opposite of love is apathy.  Love and hate imply that you care, apathy does not care at all, it is indifferent. It is tolerant. It compromises, because it doesn't care."  We should do all in our power, and by the grace offered by God, to overcome our apathy in these days.  It could easily be our apathy that is our demise.