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Third Sunday of Lent
10 March 2007
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of the greatest saints to ever make an observation of human nature was Saint Francis de Sales when he said, Those who love to be feared, fear to be loved. Authority comes from God, whether it be the authority of a parent, government, boss, teacher, or priest. But how that authority is exercised is important in determining not only its efficacy but whether or not it is being wielded worthily.
In Matthew 5.24 we read, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, then, go, be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Lent is a time, not only for penance and mortification, but also for self-examination and reconciliation. God has granted certain persons the gift of authority; but how often do we seek to enforce our own will instead of collaborating with others for the common good? How often do we lie and manipulate others to get what we want, and invoke authority to do so? Sometimes it seems as if Christians take as their model of authority Machiavelli’s Prince or Attila the Hun rather than Jesus.
The abuse of authority in families, workplaces and the Church destroys people’s lives and their interior peace. Often those who have not opened themselves up truly to the love of God, who are afraid to be loved by God and by others in all of their humble weakness, seek to be feared so they can mask their weakness. Such behavior is self-defeating, and out of charity we must always remind anyone in authority that theirs is a gift given by God, not exercised by rights, for the common good and for the building up of the Kingdom of God.
This Lent, let us ask ourselves this question: Do we serve or do we like to be served? An account of every action will be taken at the Throne of Grace at the end of our lives. And we will not be judged as to whether we exercised authority or not, but as to whether we loved, and in doing so brought others to love.
The Eucharist is an altar on which not only the Sacrifice of Calvary is commemorated, but on which we sacrifice our own illusions and our own false gods. When we take that Supreme Gift of the Body of the LORD, we must be sure that we are not also giving Him vinegar and gall on the Cross, or that we are disrespecting the image of Christ in our fellow man. Come to Mass, come to Holy Communion, but as Christians who do not fear to be loved, Christians who serve the Body of Christ with love and service.
In Jesus and Mary,
Father Christopher