"No"

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

While children are cute and innocent, there comes a point in their lives where that cuteness gets clouded a little, and that innocence starts to wear off a little.  And that point in their lives, I think it’s safe to say, comes when they learn how to say a particular short word, and what that word means, and that word is “no.”  All of the sudden childhood changes and it can often become a battle of wills between child and parents.  And perhaps that word is so easily learned because parents are so often saying it to their child, more often than not to keep them safe.

Today our first reading and Gospel focus on the virtue of obedience.  That word is probably a difficult word for some, if not all, of us.  We are Americans!  We are independent!  We do what we want!  The very word obedience may swell within us the very desire to say the word “no!”

But Moses reminds the Israelites, who are near the Promised Land, that God will raise up a prophet like Moses from among them, and they need to listen to that prophet.  “Whoever will not listen to my words,” says the Lord, “which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.”  This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus, from the family of Israel, a prophet like Moses (Matthew makes this very clear in explaining Jesus as giving a new law, the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount).  At first they think John the Baptist might be that prophet (the priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask him, ‘Are you the Prophet?’).  But then they think that Jesus is the Prophet.  In John 6 they say, “‘This is truly the Prophet…’”  But the people struggle with the obedience part.  Not long after they acknowledge Jesus as this Prophet that Moses prophesied, Jesus tells them that they have to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have life within them, and most of them walk away.  They do exactly the opposite of what Psalm 95 said today: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Ironically, though, as our Gospel demonstrates, the demons are obedient to Jesus.  As soon as he comes by, without addressing the demon at all, the man with the demon cries out at Jesus.  Jesus then rebukes him, and commands him to come out of the man, and the demon leaves the man.  There was no arguing, no delaying, just simple obedience.  The creature, in the presence of its Creator, recognizes what it has to do and obeys.

Here’s the scary thought: the demons obey God better than we do, at times at least.  Those whose entire purpose in their existence is to work against God, can often times be more obedient to God than those whose entire purpose in their existence is to be with God.  St. Benedict, the Father of Western Monasticism, begins his rule for monks with obedience.  He writes, “Listen carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart…that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.”  Even that first word, “Listen,” is connected to obedience, as the word obedience comes from the Latin ob and audire which means to listen to someone.  We obey when we listen to someone else and make their will our own.

Again, as Americans we pride ourselves on not listening to others, not obeying, but being independent.  And independence is sometimes a good thing (like the Declaration of Independence).  But when we decide not to listen to God, when we decide not to obey at all, independence becomes nothing more than the rule of my will over everyone else’s, and leads to anarchy, chaos, and violence.  

Recently the term Cafeteria Catholics has been coined for those who only obey when it suits them (which means it’s never true obedience).  Cafeteria Catholics pick and choose which teachings of the Church they want to follow.  These Catholics stopped listening, and therefore stopped obeying.  They argue, “But the Church is just made up of old men!”  But they forget the words of Jesus to the Apostles in the Scriptures, “‘Whoever listens to you listens to me.  Whoever rejects you rejects me.’” and “‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’”  Certainly we can wrestle with Church teachings, trying to understand, trying to listen for the voice of Jesus in them.  And some things (like celibacy and fasting rules) are Church disciplines which can change over time.  But other teachings (too many to mention here, and more than simply what is contained in the Nicene Creed) are given to us by Jesus through His Church, which we are bound by justice to obey since we are the creature and they come from our Creator.  If we truly believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to protect the Church from teaching anything contrary to what He wants (even though those who lead the Church are still sinful men), then we need not fear to listen to Jesus and conform our wills to His.  That is one of the great gifts of a Catholic education: we can teach children expressly how to listen to the voice of Jesus, and how to obey that voice when we hear it.  But, even if we ourselves generally agree with Church teachings and obey them to the best of our ability, everyone, because we are fallen and live in a fallen world, struggles to listen to God and obey God in the daily moments of our lives.  

So today let us recommit ourselves to obedience to God in all things, not saying “no” like a toddler to his or her parents, but saying with the Blessed Virgin Mary, “‘May it be done to me according to your word.’”

Whose Authority?

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last week I announced that I was going to DJ the St. Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance.  A number of people wondered if I was serious; and though I might get some help, I certainly am!  A number of people asked if the dance was only going to have country music; it won’t.  I do also appreciate other genres of music.  The 9th grade confirmation class asked if I was going to play “All About That Bass,” a current song that is not, despite its title, about a certain register on an instrument or in a voice.  

Musical taste is always a funny thing.  Some people only listen to one kind of music.  Some people listen to many.  Some have genres that they’ll never listen to (like rap or country), while others go back and forth between different styles.  What I love about country music is that, more often than not, the words are profound, funny, or insightful.  What I dislike about many current songs, be they rock, rap, or R&B, is that you can’t even understand the words the artist is singing.  And if you do find out, well, you probably wish you didn’t understand them again.

Music shapes us.  When we listen to a song and we come to know it, it impacts us.  Sometimes the impact is small, especially at the beginning, but it often grows.  When we actually memorize a song, it becomes almost a part of us.  I often chuckle at students who tell me they hate memorizing poems or dates in history, but then can sing me all the words to “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift.  Where do most of the fights occur about the Mass (though not all of them)?  Music.  We hear hymns or other music and they become a part of us.  We are changed by what we listen to.

Moses tells the Jews in the first reading that they need to listen to this prophet that God will send who will be like Moses.  When God wanted to speak to His People at Mount Sinai, he spoke from a cloud, with earthquakes, fire, trumpet blasts, and thunder.  And the people were so scared that they told Moses that they only wanted to hear from God through Moses.  And so at this point in the Book of Deuteronomy in our first reading, Moses promises them another prophet who will also speak for God, to whom they will need to listen.  

Jesus, of course, is the fulfillment of the promise.  Though He is more than a prophet (He’s the Son of God), He speaks for God the Father and reveals God the Father by all He says and does.  And He is not scary (at least not at most times, though Peter, James, and John do find wonder and awe in the presence of God at the Transfiguration), and God speaks through Jesus: just what the people wanted.  And the people recognize that Jesus is speaking with authority, unlike the scribes.  Even the demons obey the words of Jesus; even they recognize His authority. To have authority, one must be the author.  Our English word “authority” even includes the word “author.”  Jesus speaks with authority because He is the Author of everything; He is the Author of Life; He created the world. 

To what or to whom to we listen?  To what or to whom do we give authority?  There are all kinds of businesses, groups, and persons that want us to listen to them and to recognize authority in them.  How easily we can buy into the lie that if we don’t have the newest phone we won’t be happy?  How much would Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC love us to base our life on their reporting?  How much would the New York Times or the Washington Post love us to view the world through their lens?  How much do certain TV shows or songs try to convince us that what they say is right is right?  There’s nothing wrong with buying a new phone, or watching cable news, or reading newspapers, or even watching certain TV shows or listening to songs in and of themselves.  But some of them (more and more I would suggest) are trying to change our life.  They are trying to claim what only belongs to Jesus: the authority of obedience.

Is it a wonder that so many people think sexual acts outside of marriage are not wrong?  We see it (even if not graphically) on primetime television and in popular music.  Is it a wonder than women are treated simply as toys to entertain?  So many movies, shows, and songs treat women as if their only purpose in life is to satisfy the libido of men.  But the more we listen to the world, and the less we listen to Jesus, the more our problems will increase.  Because Hollywood, the media, artists, and businesses don’t care about our ultimate happiness.  They may want to do more than just make money, but I can assure you that Apple, Clint Eastwood, and Taylor Swift don’t truly care about me.  They can’t because they don’t know me.  Jesus cares about me.  He wants me to be happy and be fulfilled.  He knows me, even better than I know myself.  He knows me because He created me, and sustains me in love.  And He invites me to listen to Him, to acknowledge His authority, because He is my Author, and wants to have me with Him forever in heaven, enveloped in love.  But I have to listen to Him.

I enjoy listening to music.  I enjoy watching movies and TV.  But I have to guard my ears and my eyes to make sure that I am not giving more authority to music and shows than I give to Jesus in determining the direction of my life.  To whom do we listen?  Whose authority do we recognize?