Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
We all have role models. We have people that we look up to, who help shape our behavior. We may not want to be exactly like them, but there’s at least one aspect of their life that inspires us to be a better person. It may be a coach in athletics; a teacher in school; a family member. For me, a priest, there are two men who stick out, living right now, that I admire greatly. There are many people I admire, but the two that always stick out in my mind are Pope Benedict and Archbishop Dolan.
Now please, don’t misunderstand me: I do not want to be pope or archbishop of New York. But I greatly admire Pope Benedict’s humility, his fidelity to the truth, his compassion, and his ability to keep going at 85, when most of his confreres have been retired for quite some time. In the midst of this, he keeps fulfilling, to the best of his ability, the Petrine ministry entrusted to him. I hope that I can emulate his humility, fidelity to the truth, compassion, and perseverance.
I greatly admire Archbishop Dolan’s gregariousness with people, his ability to connect, his ability to preach the Gospel, and not water it down, yet still draw people in. I admire his sense of humor, and how he can remember both a face and a name of people he has met years ago. I hope that I can one day grow to communicate the Gospel so clearly and effectively as he does in his homilies, and draw people in to a relationship with Christ. Most people have someone who has helped them to grow in their relationship with Christ: whether it was the priest that baptized them, a priest who listened when they were in trouble, or a dynamic preacher. But it’s not just in religion. We hold up on a pedestal all those who should be worthy of a greater level of respect, either by office or by personality: athletes, presidents, and movie stars.
However, when they do not live up to that level of respect, if our life of faith rests on them, then it is easily shaken. Remember the movie, some may call it a classic now, “Field of Dreams”? The background of that story was the disappointment of Ray at the alleged throwing of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago Black Sox. Or think about the respect that is lost by presidents when they go astray. Or even movie stars who claim to live a good life, and then we find out that they were cheating on their spouse, or living a lie.
We cannot put our faith in a merely human person. We cannot rest our faith on a religious leader, no matter how famous and holy. Humans are too feeble, and right at the edge of sin and scandal. Our faith must rest in only three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If our faith rests on anything or anyone else, then it will be shaken, because it is not built on a solid foundation. We have only one teacher, and he is the Christ.
“‘The scribes and the Pharisees haven taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.’” How scandalous this must have sounded to the Jews of Jesus’ day. The scribes and the Pharisees were the Jewish all-stars. They helped to interpret the Law to make sure that the people were following God’s will and not sinning. But, between their teaching and their example, they fell short. It’s as if Jesus is telling the crowd and disciples to follow their instruction, but to not put their faith in these scribes and Pharisees, because they will fail. Their actions will betray them. And in the first reading, God, through Malachi the prophet, chastises the priests for not living up to their vocation, to make the people holy, but instead have fallen into great sin themselves.
I do admire Pope Benedict and Archbishop Dolan. I respect them a great deal and look up to them, especially Pope Benedict as the Vicar of Christ. But my faith is not in them. I want to be like them in some ways, but only because they are living examples to me of being like Christ. Jesus is the only one who is worthy of our faith. He is the only one who can shoulder that burden.
In the measure that any leader, religious or secular, lives and preaches the message of Jesus can we look up to them as an example in faith. This even goes for Fr. Mark, Fr. Joe, Fr. Jake, and myself. But we cannot be the sole reason for your practice of the faith. We cannot bear the weight of your complete faith. We will try to teach you the truth; we will try to be a good example for you; we will do our best to model the life of Christ for you so that you can live it out in your own vocations. But none of us—no one—is the object of faith except God.
We all have people who have shown us what it means to be Catholic. We all have people, especially the saints, who inspire us to do better, to keep striving for holiness. We should pray for those who help lead us to faith and are examples of a life in Christ. But God alone is worthy of our faith, and we want to make sure that our faith is based on Him, so that when disappointments come, whether from religious leaders, athletes, movie stars, or anyone else, they make shake the house of faith that we have built, but they will not destroy it, because our foundation is in Jesus, the rock of faith upon which a sturdy foundation can be built and will survive, no matter what the trials and tribulations.