Do whatever he tells you.

It is surprising the lengths one will go to in order to avoid revision. Even blogging it would appear. Nonetheless, part of my catch up reading has been going through some old homilies and one, in particular, struck me from Bishop George Stack. He ordained five young men to the diaconate, recently, and during his excellent homily, he preached on the obedience due to Christ. The full detail of the homily is available here. He says:

In the Last Will and Testament of Jesus (John 15:9-17), Jesus reveals what gives us access to his love and friendship – obedience. This obedience is not an imposition from outside. Not a restriction of human liberty. Not conforming to rules and regulations. Ob-audire – an attentive listening with mind and heart to the impulse of God’s spirit, heart speaking to heart in the silence of the heart. This is how we comprehend that at the heart of God there is a place for me: loved, sustained, healed, forgiven.

It comes, for those of us already ordained Deacon, as a reminder of the promises we have made. Obedience, I sometimes suspect, is often overlooked or misunderstood. We certainly do not debate it as hotly as, say, celibacy, and when we do, it is often in relation to 'do as the church says' rather than the true sense which Bishop Stack is talking about. The source of all obedience is, surely, Christ himself, especially in scripture. That Word is, however, in reality mediated through your Bishop. This is why we promise respect and obedience to your ordinary and his successors. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to expect your bishop to be just as committed to "Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practise what you teach." Obedience is, for me, not doing what the bishop says, but wanting, with all my heart, to do that which the bishop wills me to do in order to fulfil his own mission as the direct successor to the Apostle. Further, the will of the successor is to do the will of the Apostle, surely, and the will of the Apostle is but to follow the will of Christ. The will of Christ, evidently, is simply to do the will of the Father, who sent Him. Ergo my will must be conformed to the will of God.

When is it right to speak out?

Over the last few weeks, I have been following the developments of various issues within the Church which have brought not a little embarrassment and controversy both within and without the Church herself. I am talking about the lifting of the excommunication of the SSPX bishops, the fiasco in the diocese of Linz in Austria and also the article in The Tablet about Fr Tim Finigan.

What has pained me, in all of this, is the way in which some Catholics, in particular, have generally been keen to put over quite negative and critical views of the heirarchy. Having taken one promise of obedience, and soon to take another at my ordination to the priesthood, clearly, I have been concerned as to whether I ought to comment on this blog, or to remain silent 'in print' as it were. Karl Rahner, the Jesuit theologian, said of obedience in regard to the priestly promise made; “real obedience includes the courage to be a troublesome subject”.

It is right, and proper, that we all engage in the debate and put over our views. No one seeks to silence or stop criticism of our leaders. Nor do we seek to prevent healthy dialogue that brings about a strengthening of our shared life in Christ. What is not helpful, however, is when we are so frustrated that we act uncharitably toward one another and effectively draw lines in the sand beyond which we are not prepared to go. There are, nonetheless, times when it is only right and proper that we speak out in the loudest possible terms when we see injustice and harm being done. It is, indeed, the responsibility of all the baptised who share in the prophetic mission of Christ, and to proclaim the Gospel.

It pains me to hear the anti-Semitic views of Bishop Williamson and I very warmly welcome the Vatican's rejection of his ambiguous apology. Ruth Gledhill makes the point that in our modern world we need to hear the rejection of the offending words themselves, not merely the apology for having spoken them. Nothing less than a total repudiation of his views will be acceptable, and if he cannot change his mind, to correct his prejudices, then he ought to remain silent and pray for the grace to see the truth.

Though these may seem like difficult times, when we argue with one another over the detail, and all seems doomed to failure: Let us pray in thanksgiving to God that we enjoy such things as freedom of speech, the education to form, hold and express opinions and the opportunity to share our religion, in season and out of season, with a world increasingly secularised. We must reject that which seeks to destroy rather than unite us.