Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
As I watched older friars, I learned the meaning of such words as obedience, submission, subordination, obsequiousness, passive aggression, willingness, thoughtfulness, kindness, and cooperation.
If the words are clearly defined -- and they're not -- the behaviors of obedience are not so easily recognized. Nor are the right attitudes readily assumed. It takes practice, patience, persistence, and years -- and large dollops of the Holy Spirit.
If anyone has mastered the virtue of obedience, I've not met them. Give me another ten years to get it? I don't think so.
The scriptures give us an unattainable ideal in the story of Jesus Christ. Saint Paul's paean in Philippians 2 says, "...he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." Further reflection on the Lord's passion and death only deepens our sense of wonder as we see a healthy, charismatic leader with a commanding presence and a huge following betrayed, abandoned, denounced, falsely accused, condemned by government officials, religious leaders, and an angry mob; and then tortured, mocked, stripped, and crucified. The Gospel of Mark suggests that even this man's faith abandoned him as he cried in utter despair, "Why have you abandoned me?"
Despite some minor differences, the evangelists largely agree on what happened. They describe the utter abandonment of a man who can have no reason to hope for justice, vindication, or deliverance. His obedience "even to death on a cross" has proven futile, and -- if there is any humor in the story -- comically absurd. The wise of this world still laugh at the story.
But our faith in the Lord's vindication remains as does a cloud of faithful witnesses. Hearing Saint Paul's teaching "be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ" we cannot but help remembering the cross of Jesus and the reverence it demands of us. The most courageous husband, wife, or couple could not hope to precisely imitate the Lord, and yet they emulate him as they practice Saint Paul's spirit of subordination and obedience.
In my own life as a friar and priest, I've become familiar with the Spirit of cooperation that cues me when to act and when to wait, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to suggest and when to demand. Sometime it works out beautifully; sometimes the whole scheme falls apart. And who knows but that may have been the way God wanted it. We shake it off, laugh it off, confess our sins, and learn from the experience.
I remember Father Ambrose Finnegan's story, which might have been the way it actually happened: Arriving rather late at the closing of a Forty Hours Devotion, the pastor greeted him with, "Oh there you are! You're on!" Poor Finnegan was pushed out unexpectedly and unprepared into the sanctuary, before the bishop and many of his peers, and toward the pulpit.
He paused, bowed before the Tabernacle, and prayed for an obedient spirit, "Lord, I don't mind if you make a fool of Finnegan, but please don't make a fool of yourself. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...."
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.