In obeying superiors we are obey the Lord.

Tuesday, 3/18/14

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives us a lesson on obeying our superiors. He said, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things that they tell you, but do not follow their example.”

Jesus told us to obey all legitimate authority, even if we do not agree with them. The old rule is that we must obey in everything but sin.

I like to base the need for obeying authority on the second chapter of the Bible. When God created his first human, he said, “It is not good for him to be alone.” So, we are meant to live in society. And, a multitude of people with differing opinions can only coexist in society if they let someone have the final word.

When we obey superiors we are only obeying God who wants us to live in harmony. In the Letter to the Ephesians Paul tells children to, “Obey your parents in the Lord.” So, in obeying them you are obeying the Loed.

The commandment does not tell us to obey good parents. No, we obey all parents, because in obeying them we obey God. That’s what we read in Chapter Thirteen of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, “Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God.

In 1950 Rome told the Jesuit Henri de Lubac to stop teaching, and they took the books he wrote off the shelves. When he was disgraced, living in a narrow room, he was asked if he felt like leaving the church. He said no. He said the Catholic Church was his beloved family.