Fourth Sunday of Advent

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

Lectionary: 10

Through him we have received the grace of apostleship,

to bring about the obedience of faith,

for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,

among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ….

We We don’t often hear in American conversation an expression like the “obedience of faith.” Nor does obedience appear among the three theological virtues, seven virtues, or nine fruits of the Spirit. It is, however, the foundation of all religious life. The Church discovered a critical need for obedience when some hyper-religious monks and hermits, attempting to live by the Gospel more strictly, demonstrated outlandish and dangerous practices which no one should imitate. Eventually the best candidates for sanctity gathered into monasteries, elected leaders, created written rules, and – to avoid unnecessary disagreement – practiced silence. They gave their abbots and abbesses absolute authority to direct their activities; and they tried to keep it simple. When I entered religious life, not as a hermit or monk but as a friar, I entered an American community that said little about obedience because everyone thought they knew what obedience is. It was like the relationship of children to their parents, students to teachers, and enlisted men to officers. When told to do something, you should do it and ask only questions that might clarify precisely what you should do. You didn’t need to know why you should do it, and it was better not to ask. But, I also found, there was a lot of rule-stretching and gamesmanship among apparently devout souls. You or your parents remember the question of eating meat on Friday. We don’t eat chicken, pork, beef, whales,horses, cats, or dogs but we do eat fish, frogs, crawfish, turtles, alligators, and mussels. Why they’re not meat has never been explained. Now imagine a monastery with far more rules about fasting and food; even more gamesmanship and rule-stretching. It was religious, but not spiritual. In that Church, the best rules of thumb are, “If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question.” And, “It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.” So what is this “obedience of faith?” Saint Paul says he is bringing about the obedience of faith for the sake of the Holy Name of Jesus. Today’s gospel recalls Saint Joseph’s obedience of faith when the Angel Gabriel spoke to him in a dream. We know he had some questions about his betrothed wife Mary. She was “found with child” before they lived together. But the angel insisted, “...do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." It was only a dream but Joseph knew it had come by way of the Holy Spirit, just as Mary had become with child by way of the Holy Spirit, and he obeyed. As Saint Matthew says, When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. When the same Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was astonished and asked a question – “How can this be since I have no relations with a man?” – but she did not question the authority of God or the word of His messenger. I don’t believe Mary and Joseph’s obedience is quite the same as we Americans like to do it. They did not suppose they could obey God’s word by stretching the rules, parsing sentences, or gamesmanship. And they could ask questions for clarification, deeper understanding, and greater appreciation. They harbored no resentment about the imposition of God’s authority or the Angel’s abrupt message. If anything, they were delighted that the Messiah, who would save his people from their sins, would soon be born. And they should be his parents, regardless of the unheard of manner of his conception. Their child Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered, and set a standard far beyond that of Mary and Joseph. He became obedient even unto death, even death on a cross. It was later in life when I began to understand the virtue of obedience. It has to do with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Church and the Franciscan Order, and the Spirit of God's law. It is never enough, and never satisfying, just to follow the rules or do it by the book. We have to bring two attitudes into our obedience. First, we must bring a severe skepticism about what we like, prefer, or want. Just because I want it doesn’t make it good; just because I feel it doesn’t make it true. If anything, I should think long and hard before I do anything I want to do. And I should ask, “Is this good thing what God wants me to do?” Saint Ignatius of Loyola reminded us, the devil tempts good people with good things. That’s how he persuades us to ignore God. We think we know what is good without even asking God. Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, and so they ate the forbidden fruit. It’s true that God wanted them to be like himself; he created them in his own image; but disobedience could not make them godlike. Neither the Son of God nor the Spirit of God disobey God the Father; neither should those created in the image of God. And secondly, we must conform our desires to God’s will and then obey with enthusiasm. When Saint Francis finally saw what God wanted of him – which was to own nothing, travel homelessly from place to place, wear no shoes and carry no money – he shouted, “This is what I want, this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart." From that moment, he never looked back. When Gabriel told Mary about the old woman’s pregnancy, she didn’t take that as a bit of heavenly gossip. It meant something; it meant go to Jerusalem and see this marvelous work of God, and share with her the dawn of a new age in human history. And she went without hesitation. She didn’t even ask, “How safe is it for a young woman to venture out on the highway?” She just went. Catholics practice, by American standards, a severe form of obedience. We don’t miss Mass on Sunday because we should be there; we’re told to be there; and we want to be there. We’re told what to believe, and we’re told to study Catholic doctrines with reflection, prayer, and contemplation until we understand how beautiful and wonderful they are. Even as the skeptics are asking ignorant, irrelevant questions about our beliefs, and then accusing us of being simple and naive; we are thanking God for revealing mysteries that were hidden before the coming of the Messiah. We come to Christmas and Bethlehem with the obedience of faith. We come willingly, with enthusiasm, neither counting the costs nor predicting the consequences. No one can imagine the good he has in store for us, but we’re sure it will be far beyond anything we can comprehend or describe. And it will be wonderful.