Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Lesson: For Christians, Humble Obedience Is a Virtue

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when Jesus says, "You have learnt how it was said," he is making a clear reference to the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses. That Law gave the Jewish people their unique standing among all the nations of the world because God himself had given it to them - God's finger had inscribed the tablets of the law.

For 1500 years, Israel's prophets and rabbis had interpreted it, applied it to changing circumstances, and exhorted the people to live it out. But never in those fifteen centuries had a faithful Israelite ever claimed authority over it.

After all, the Law had come directly from the Lord, so who could possibly have authority over it? So, when Jesus says, "… but I say to you…" implying an addition to the Law, his listeners are faced with something entirely new, someone who claims authority over the Law of Moses. He is requiring of them a new allegiance and making way for a New Covenant. The Sermon on the Mount was revolutionary not only in its ideas, but in the claims of the Lord who gave it.

And this claim, this implicit claim to have authority over divine law and, therefore, to actually be divine, has consequences. It means that his commands demand obedience. In the ancient world, obedience to a ruler was a familiar concept. In today's world, dominated by political democracies, it has become less so.

In fact, today's critical, self-sufficient, democratic mindset (so useful for politics) can even seep into the Church (where it's much less useful). But the truth of Christ doesn't change with fashions and referendums. In our relationship with Jesus and his Church, humble obedience to legitimate authority is a virtue, not a vice.

Obedience, for us Christians, is a positive virtue, not a necessary evil. It is such a central aspect of human life and spiritual maturity, that it even makes its appearance in the Ten Commandments, God's own list of our most basic moral responsibilities.

The Fourth Commandment tells us: "Honour your father and mother." This commandment singles out the obedience that we owe to our parents, but it doesn't stop there. Parents are the first authority figures. God delegates to them his own authority so that they can raise children properly.

But all of human society is full of relationships of authority. Legitimate authority always requires our obedience, unless that authority is being abused and trying to lead us into sin.

Imagine if everyone tried to invent their own traffic laws, instead of following the laws instituted by the legitimate authority. There would be chaos on the streets and driving would be unsafe. With the Fourth Commandment, God is teaching us that we all need to live the virtue of obedience to legitimate authority, instead of the vice of self-centered rebellion and anarchy.

Here is how the Catechism explains this aspect of the Fourth Commandment. As we listen to it, let's reflect on how we are living it out: 2199 The fourth commandment is addressed expressly to children in their relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most universal. It likewise concerns the ties of kinship between members of the extended family. It requires honour, affection, and gratitude toward elders and ancestors. Finally, it extends to the duties of pupils to teachers, employees to employers, subordinates to leaders, citizens to their country, and to those who administer or govern it.

This commandment includes and presupposes the duties of parents, instructors, teachers, leaders, magistrates, those who govern, all who exercise authority over others or over a community of persons.

Jesus is the Lord, and if we claim to be his followers, we need to treat him like that by living authentically the virtue of obedience. And if we do, we will give him more room to bless us.

The Fourth Commandment, in fact, is the first one that points this out. As the Catechism explains: 2200 Observing the fourth commandment brings its reward: "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Respecting this commandment provides, along with spiritual fruits, temporal fruits of peace and prosperity. Conversely, failure to observe it brings great harm to communities and to individuals.

As we continue with this Mass, let's renew our faith in Christ, the Lord, and let's ask him for the courage we need to obey whatever he commands.