Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

June 2, 2012
Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.  Jude 17, 20-23

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things?  Or who gave you this authority to do them?"  Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question.  Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.  Mark 11:27b-29

Piety

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, Make me an instrument of Your peace; Where there is hatred let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love, For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned And it is in dying that we are born To eternal life. Amen.

Study

Clearly the Pharisees wanted to know the authority under which Jesus taught, preached, drove out demons and healed the sick..  One implication in their question was that if they recognized the authority by which Jesus operated, then they would become followers.  If they did not, then they would reject Jesus.  However, there was no guarantee that the Pharisees would accept any answer which Jesus provided.

Rather than fall into that trap, Jesus slipped out by springing on them an even tougher question. The Lord’s avoidance of a confrontation with the Pharisees foreshadows his attitude and actions when he stood before Herod and Pilate on trial for his life.  Although the stakes in today’s Gospel story were not as high as they would be on Good Friday, this is another incident which sets the wheels of betrayal and execution in motion.

Jesus’ words and deeds give us an example of obedience to a higher authority -- and bypassing the temporal authority of the “state” and the ecclesiastical authority of the “church.”  

Action

Authority...how do you deal with it?  We are surrounded with modern-day examples of the clash of authority between the church, state and individuals conscience.  Melanie detailed many of these in her reflection yesterday.  

Now, added to that we have the reaction of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to the sanctions imposed by the Vatican.  One account of that is here.   (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/catholic-nuns-push-back/2012/06/01/gJQAR69k7U_blog.html?hpid=z6).    

Dionne concludes that he would like to think that the Holy Spirit is operating through the nuns.  Maybe the Holy Spirit is testing us by operating through the nuns AND the bishops so that all members of the church may work together as instruments of peace.