On Obedience

A homily for the feast of the Holy Innocents — 28 December 2020

Pope Francis has declared this the Year of St. Joseph, so I want to highlight him in the Gospel today. He does not speak, he does not question what the angel has commanded him, because Joseph knows that this is the will of God, and so he is faithful and obedient. St. Joseph then, is a model for us to follow, especially in his obedience.

For us Americans, though, obedience is hard. We’re formed with this notion that rebellion is good (think of the founding of the United States). This rebellious attitude is held up as a model of virtue, when in fact, it very much is not. At least not in the way the American society views it.

You see, obedience is the virtue. In the Gospel, Joseph is obedient to the angel, a representative of God. Mary is obedient to Joseph as the Father of the Family and the representative of God in the family life. Christ himself is obedient to his parents, because parents are the representatives of God for their children. If the Creator of the universe can be obedient to Mary and Joseph, this gives us some clue to just how important obedience is in the eyes of God. In fact, this is why our priests, and even deacons such as myself, make a promise of obedience to our bishop.

Here’s the kicker, and really the difficult part of obedience, our obedience is not due ONLY to God, but to God through his representatives, not just in the family, and in the Church, but in society as well. The president, congress, courts, governors, mayors, and even police officers; for there is no power but from God. In the last 50 or so years this has become increasingly difficult for American society at large, and as such, this rebellious attitude has seeped into our family life, and into our Church life. As Catholics, as Christians, we must reject this rebellious attitude, and instead, like St. Joseph, embrace the evangelical counsel of obedience.

I want to make it very clear, though, that this obedience that God asks of us is not a blind obedience. There are limits to what we are to obey.

First, anything and anyone that asks us to violate the law of God, is not to be obeyed on that particular point. The slaughter of the Holy Innocents, or abortion in our time, would be a violation of God’s law that we would be obligated to disobey. In this case, we would have to join with St. Peter in saying, “We ought to obey God, rather than man.”

And Second, our obedience due to superiors as God’s representatives is limited to their actual scope of authority. If the president was to issue an order that might not violate God’s law, but is a violation of the constitution, we would not be obligated to obey. If a police officer commands us to do something that’s a violation of the penal code, we are not obligated to obey.

So there are distinct limits to our obedience. But what good is obedience? Obedience, for you and I, especially when it requires us to go against our own inclination, becomes a sort of sacrifice. And it’s this sacrifice on our part that is pleasing to God, and a great benefit to our spiritual life. As it says in scripture, obedience is better than sacrifices (1 Kings xv. 22); in a sacrifice we offer the flesh of an animal, but in obedience what we offer is none other than our own will, our own self.

My brothers and sisters, St Joseph is our model of this virtue of obedience; so let’s join with him in this year dedicated to the Foster Father of Jesus in developing this virtue, by applying ourselves to observe faithfully the Commandments of God and of the Church, and to conform to the orders of lawful superiors with diligence, punctuality, and in a supernatural spirit of joy.