Homily for Ordinary Time 4
February 1, 2015
By Whose Authority?
A friend
of mine who is a priest in Alabama told me a funny story one time. He had
gotten a request to go and bless someone’s house, so he went out to the house,
but when he got there, he was met by three African-American women who he didn’t
recognize. They invited him in and asked him to bless the house, explaining
that they had been having some strange things happening – hearing creepy
sounds, feeling “presences”, and having things move around on their own in the
house. So the priest blessed the house quickly, a little creeped out by being
in a “haunted house”. As he was preparing to leave, the women were most
grateful, but he asked them, “Are you parishioners at my parish? I don’t
recognize seeing you at Mass.”
They
replied, “Oh, no, Father. We’re Baptists.”
The
priest was startled and said, “Really? Then why did you call a Catholic
priest?”
They
said, “Well, don’t you guys deal with stuff like this? You know, demons and
ghosts and all that? We love our pastor, but he doesn’t do this kind of stuff!”
The
priest said he got a good laugh out of this, but it also reminded him of the
authority of the priest – and the Church – to continue Christ’s work on earth.
Today’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus casting out a demon. Demons must obey
Jesus because Jesus has the authority to tell them what to do. If someone
without authority tried to kick out a demon, they would probably just laugh in
his face. In fact, that happened in Scripture – in the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 19, some men were jealous of St. Paul’s ability to cast out demons in
the name of Jesus. Seven sons of the Jewish High Priest tried to cast out a
demon in a possessed man, in the name of Jesus (who they didn’t believe in).
The demon responded to them, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”
Then the possessed man, filled with an evil strength, jumped these seven guys
and beat them up so badly that all of them ran from the house, naked and
bleeding. (It’s right there in Scripture – you can’t make this stuff up!). They
didn’t have the authority to do this – only Jesus has the authority to cast out
demons.
But
Christ wanted to continue His ministry even after He ascended to Heaven, so on
the day He ascended into Heaven, He passed onto His Apostles “all authority in
Heaven and earth.” (Matthew 28). He told Peter, the first pope, that what he
“bound on earth would be bound in Heaven.” In other words, Jesus passed on His
authority to Peter and the Apostles – the Pope and the Bishops.
What
does that authority allow the Pope and Bishops to do? It allows them to teach
in the name of Jesus Christ. We call this the Magisterium – the teaching office of the Church. When the Pope and
Bishops, united with each other, teach something as definite, we believe that
they are protected by the Holy Spirit from making a mistake. They are teaching
with the authority of Christ.
I have a
dear friend who is a devout Baptist. About two weeks before my ordination to
the priesthood, he invited me to go hiking. I can’t turn down a hiking trip –
ever – so I agreed, and we got up to beautiful view and sat down for a snack,
when he pulled out his bible and said to me, “I think you’re making a terrible
mistake by becoming a priest.” And then he proceeded to try to convince me to
become a Baptist. I thought to myself, “Oh geez, here it goes…” and I briefly
entertained the thought of pushing him off the cliff (just kidding), but we
began a rousing discussion about the Bible and his understanding of it. He is a
holy man, and loves Jesus deeply, but the problem with all of the Protestant
churches is that they have no authority to interpret the Bible accurately!
There are over 32,000 different Protestant denominations, all using the same
Bible for their faith. The reason for their division then, if they all use the
same Bible, is the fact that no one can agree on an authoritative
interpretation of it! Which parts do we take literally, and which parts are
symbolic? For example, my friend was telling me that his church teaches that when
Jesus said, “Eat My Body and drink My Blood,” He meant it symbolically only.
But what gives him or his pastor the authority to interpret that passage that
way, especially since for the first 1500 years after Christ, everyone interpreted that passage
literally? Not everyone who reads the Bible has the authority to interpret it
properly.
Only
when Christ gives us the authority, do we have the authority to teach according
to the mind of Christ. And He gave that authority to the Holy Father and
bishops. None of us – myself included – have the authority to change church
teaching to suit our preferences! It boggles my mind when people say to me
something like, “Oh, I don’t go to church every Sunday, but I’m sure God
understands.” Oh? Where do you get your knowledge of what God likes or doesn’t
like? So God doesn’t mind if you break a commandment? I’m pretty sure they’re
just saying that to make themselves feel better. We must always look to the
Church to understand what truly pleases God. If we try to get to God on our
own, outside of the Church, we will end up shaping God in our own image!
And the
Church has no authority on its own – it has to be faithful to the teachings of
Christ and the H
oly Spirit. That’s
what many in the media don’t understand. If you read any of the media coverage
of the Pope’s recent trip to the Philippines, the mainstream media was very disappointed
that the pope reiterated the Church’s unchanging teaching that artificial birth
control is gravely immoral. The media was hoping that the Pope could just go
against the consistent, timeless teaching of the Church which was handed down
from the Apostles. But that is silly – the Church is not just another
institution that can “update” itself according to the whims of the world. No, the
Church hands on a tradition that was handed to her by Jesus and the Apostles, because
She has the authority to continue the ministry of Christ in the world. In the
Gospel, Jesus used His authority to cast out demons. Today, the Church uses her
authority to cast out the demons of sin in our lives so that we can live in
freedom and joy as sons and daughters of God.
Trust
and follow the teachings of the Church. If we do not, then we make ourselves
our own authorities – and just like that didn’t end well for the seven men in
the Acts of the Apostles who tried to cast out demons on their own authority,
it won’t end well for us either! Trust the Church like you trust Jesus – both Jesus
and the Church want your deep happiness, true freedom, and eternal salvation.
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