Thirty-First SUNDAY of ORDINARY TIME -- Year A

First: Ml 1:14- 2:2.8-10 Second: 1 Th 2:7-9.13. Gospel: Mt 23:1-12

THEME of the READINGS

How must the authorities of the people of Israel and of the Christian people behave? This question is answered by the liturgical texts. In the Gospel and in the First Reading we are warned about the behavior that they should not have, "... so I in my turn have made you contemptible and vile to the whole people, for not having kept my ways and for being partial in applying the law" (Ml 2:9); "The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses... Do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach" (Mt 23:2-3). In the Second Reading the figure of Saint Paul is presented as a model or guide to the Christian community: "Instead we lived unassumingly among you. Like a mother feeding and looking after her children" (1Th 2:7).

DOCTrinal MESSAGE

Authority exists in the Christian community and, what's more, it is necessary. The existence of authority is not justified, in the Church of Christ, on sociological or political grounds, though these reasons are certainly important. Rather, by the revelation of the risen Jesus Christ, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:18-19). The exercise of authority actually changes according to time and place, but the origin will always be the same: Christ. The ecclesial hierarchy (the Bishop of Rome, the other bishops, priests, deacons) that exercises authority in the Church is not a human invention, but one of God's providential plans.

Authority is also necessary to maintain and consolidate unity and communion of faith and life in all the members of the Church. It is also necessary in order to make more effective the ministry of preaching, in the life of divine worship and in that of the spiritual guidance of the brethren, avoiding any manipulation of the Christian message and worship. It is necessary to make Christ present in the community through the sacraments, so that with Saint Augustine we can say: "When the priest baptizes, it is Christ that baptizes;" and the same goes for the other sacraments of the Church.

Abusing authority. In the First Reading, we are warned about some of the acts of abuse committed by the priests that are responsible for worship in the temple; in the Gospel, we are told about the abuse on the part of the Pharisees, charged with educating and teaching the people. How could these instances of abuse indicated in the Gospel be translated into contemporary language? By way of example, here are some possibilities: In preaching, they frequently replace the Word of God with psychology and sociology; they give a bad witness of life to their faithful; there is some inconsistency between what they say and what they do; perhaps they are elitist, as they work with small selected groups, and they leave everything else to go its own way without religious care; they seek the praise of people and want to be considered as nice and intelligent, etc.

Authority as a service to the believers. "The greatest among you must be your servant." A service which springs from the love for one's neighbor, and a service that is exercised from the most sincere and genuine love. This is why to love and serve must go hand in hand and complement one another: neither love without service nor service without love. Some of the concrete ways of the service of authority have already been established by the Church, others will be inspired in us by God himself throughout life, provided that the attitude of giving and service has become rooted in our priestly heart.

PASTORal SUGGESTIONS

Examine our conscience as to the way in which we exercise our authority in the Church. Let us see whether we are truly convinced that authority does not indicate superiority, but divine vocation to give ourselves to others. Let us consider whether in the practice of our authority we exclude collaboration and participation, which in some way are opposed to authority, but that require and integrate it. Authority, in the Christian sense, does not create confrontation but instead creates a community; creates not distance but closeness among the faithful; it does not create fear but gives confidence instead; it does not manipulate nor does it lend itself to manipulation but instead obeys a higher order, God himself. This way of exercising authority requires a high degree of humility on our part (consciousness of our smallness) and a great, living and generous faith. On the other hand, the exercise of Christian authority is not improvised nor does it spring up naturally; rather it requires of us an ascetic effort and an assiduous commitment, until it becomes normal behavior.

Respect for authority and acceptance by the faithful. The Christian faithful must be respectful of those who have been vested with authority: with the person and his way of being, his actions and decisions in the pastoral ministry. They must also accept with a supernatural spirit the teachings of such persons in the domain of Faith and morality, for they are not teaching us anything of their own but the Faith and morality of the Church. However, they must not command such respect on the grounds of their intelligence and brightness, their human leadership, etc, but because they represent Christ and make him present among us. This is why it is a great truth that one must respect oneself first, and try to be as worthy of Jesus Christ as possible, for it is he who is represented by those who exercise authority.

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOA.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].