Homily for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Over the past several weeks, the Lord has been speaking about the Pharisees, and the hypocrisy in their lives which could destroy the efficacy of their leadership. He has done so by means of veiled warnings in the form of His Parables, but today He removes the veil, and speaks His warnings directly:
“… do what they tell you, but don’t follow their [bad] example.”
“… they don’t practice what they preach.”
“… their works are performed to be seen.”

He warns that the Pharisees’ legitimate authority, properly extended to them through study, formation, and appointment can have that legitimacy compromised, or even lost by means of their living in a manner inconsistent with their calling.

However, in instructing His listeners not to follow the Pharisees’ example  — and — to avoid the misuse of titles, the Lord is not seeking ecclesiastical anarchy but, instead, to purify and perfect those persons who are called to leadership.

Perfection and holiness might remain beyond the horizon for some, if not many, Church leaders, both then and now. The Lord was well aware of this when He chose imperfect men for His Apostles:
+ Peter, who denied
+ Judas, who betrayed
+ Thomas, who doubted —

Their growth toward purification and holiness would eventually come to fulfillment at Pentecost, at least for those who made it to Pentecost. This means, then, that authority in leadership comes from the Holy Spirit: enlightening and strengthening the teacher in faith, despite his personal deficiencies or weakness.

Genuine ecclesial authority is not experienced in a vacuum, but in collegiality. Those who choose to “go it alone,” to live as an entity unto themselves, often wander away from truth and orthodoxy. The greater the ego, the less likely the Lord can get through to His people. Then, ministry and leadership devolve into leader-worship, and the leader seeks the adulation of God’s people, rather than the furtherance of the Gospel.

A certain leadership can evolve from sheer charisma, but true authority evolves from the charism of fidelity. As Saint John the Baptist said of Christ: “I must decrease and He must increase.”

The development of Authority given to Church leaders was in the making even from the time of Moses, “the first Rabbi,” as it were, to whom God entrusted His Law. Handed down from generation to generation, the Law became a living document entrusted to those who were set aside and formed for this task.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus alludes to this, telling the people to “do everything and observe everything they tell you, because they have succeeded Moses as teachers.” Jesus then reveals Himself as the one authentic Teacher: the New Moses, when He says: “Only One is your teacher, the Christ.”

This is not a rejection of the authority first given to Moses, and then later to Peter, but actually, an identification of authority grounded in relationship with God, or with Jesus Himself. Moses had an intimate relationship with God the Father; Peter, an intimate relationship with God the Son.

The Holy Spirit was then given to Saint Peter, with the same divine assistance promised to Peter’s successors: the Popes, and to the successors of the Apostles: the Bishops, when they teach revealed Truth in collegiality with the Pope and the Order of Bishops by virtue of their Ordination.

All of those called to leadership in the Church: Pope, Bishop or Priest, must grow in relationship with Christ:
+ as the center of their identity
+ as a means of living one’s life
+ as the source of their teaching
+ as the basis of authority in leadership.

Dissociation from Christ through acedia breaks this one-ness, this unity that assures genuine authority in an otherwise ordinary man. A Pastor cannot lead from a life that lacks prayer or study. If he attempts to do so, his ministry will be more about himself, and less about Christ, even if he has the talent to pull it off. The result will bring about a crisis of faith in the parish. A Pastor may be popular by sheer force of his personality, but a Priest is only effective to the degree to which he remains close to Christ.

Remaining close to Christ, abiding with Him in prayer, study and the Sacraments, a Priest will not preach his own message, but deliver the Truth of Faith to his parishioners with Prudence, intelligence and Charity. As Saint Paul said in today’s Second Reading, the faithful pastor’s preaching will proclaim “God’s good tidings” and will be received by the people “not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.”

It is to the word of God, spoken and lived genuinely and pastorally in the priest’s life that the Faithful can make a religious assent of the intellect and will. This is because his life and preaching are rooted in the word of God found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, and promulgated with the authority of Christ Himself.

This is the source of respect which the people will extend to their priest. He becomes for them a spiritual father, speaking from the authority granted by the Holy Spirit upon his Ordination…, which is why people extend to him the respectful title of “Father.”

So, pray for priests:
+ that they may be fulfilled and sustained in their love for Christ
+ that this relationship might be the basis for their identity
+ that the authority that comes forward from this identity will be lived in love for his people, and that this love will bring some efficacy to his ministry
+ that in his life and pastorate, his parishioners might come to know the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 

And, as we do at every Sunday Mass, pray for priestly vocations, especially from our own families and from our parish. God is listening.