Obedience Over Sacrifice

What follows is my opinion and my opinion alone. It is not an opinion shared by many clergy. That, it in and of itself, does not make it wrong. It does make it unpopular. I always welcome anyone who can point out where my line of reasoning went off the rails. Take what you read with a big grain of salt.

“One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the greatest of all?” Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is out God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12: 28-31

You shall love your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. A traditional definition of love is: To will the good of another. We love one another when we will each other’s good. This definition cannot apply to God as he is the source of all goodness. So how do we love God?

In John 14:21 Jesus tells us that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. To love God is to be obedient to God. It is to do what God tells us to do. In 1 Samuel 15:22 we read that obedience is more pleasing to God and sacrifice. If man had been obedient to God sacrifice would have never been necessary.

In Matthew 16: 17-19 Jesus establishes the Church and gives the authority to govern the Church to the Twelve. He gives Peter primacy over the Twelve. Luke 10:16 we read that Jesus tells his disciples that who listens to them listens to Jesus, and those who reject them rejects Jesus and those who reject Jesus also reject the Father.

So, we have been instructed that the greatest commandment is to love God. We love God by being obedient to God. To be obedient to God means to be obedient to those whom God has given his authority to. Jesus gave his authority to the Twelve and the twelve passed that authority on to their successors. Through apostolic succession, Jesus’s authority resides with our bishops today. To love Jesus is to be obedient to the teachings of our bishops.

When I was ordained, I had to take a promise to respect and obey my bishop and his successors. I must be obedient to my bishop when it comes to matters of faith and morals and we believe that the magisterium cannot err in matters of faith and morals. I must obey my bishop as if he were Jesus himself. My opinion on something, no matter how well intentioned it may be, does not make it right for me to be disobedient.

In 2 Kings 5 we read the story of Naaman, the Hittite. Naaman was a great general who had leprosy. Naaman sought healing for his leprosy from Elisha, the prophet. Elisha instructed Naaman to wash himself in the Jordan river seven times and he would be healed. Naaman was angered by this instruction. How could he be healed by such a simple action? Naaman was set to do great works to receive his healing. What was being tested was not Naaman’s greatness, but his obedience. When he was obedient to Elisha’s instruction, he was healed of his leprosy.

And so it is with us. Once in formation, we were told that the devil will use any tool he can to get us to sin, even things we attribute to God. The example given was Eucharistic Adoration. It is good to spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. But too much of a good thing can become sinful. How can spending time with Jesus ever be sinful? It becomes sinful when it causes us to fail in our other responsibilities and obligations. If I am a man with a wife and family at home depending on me to provide, spending an hour a week before the Blessed Sacrament is a very good thing indeed. To spend eight hours a day, every day, to the point I lose my job and means of providing for my family is sinful. It is not what Jesus is asking of us.

This is the point where what I am about to say will be controversial and viewed as wrong by many.

Reverence is another thing the devil can use to get us to sin.

One of the great arguments in the Church today is what the proper way to receive communion is. The traditionalist among us will tell you that the only way one should ever receive our Lord in the Eucharist is on your kneels, on the tongue. To receive standing and in the hand is irreverent and should never be allowed. They wish to force their felt reverence on everyone else. This is something I disagree with. True reverence does not begin with an outward appearance, but an inward disposition. Reverence begins in the heart. It is less important what you do with your body than what is in your heart. If you have the love you are supposed to have for Jesus in your heart you will receive him reverently regardless if it is in the hand, on the tongue, standing, or kneeling. No outward appearance makes up for a heart that lacks the love that is necessary to receive Jesus.

The bishops in the Church in America have issued an instruction on how we are to receive communion. The instruction is to receive standing, in the hand. To receive any other way is to do so in disobedience to our bishops. Disobedience to our bishops, who have the proper authority given to them by Jesus, is what makes reverence sinful. It is not only sinful, but it sets one apart from the Church. Communion means in union with. You are not in union with the Church when you consciously do something that sets you apart from the Church.

The bishops, in their wisdom, did not mandate how we are to receive the Eucharist in communion. They allowed for the option to receive kneeling and on the tongue for those who will be disobedient because they feel more reverent receiving some other way. To mandate how we are to receive would make the disobedience grave sin. To allow the option to receive on the tongue makes the disobedience venial. Regardless of grave or venial, it is still disobedience.

Obedience is more pleasing to God than sacrifice. Obedience is more pleasing to God than the feeling of reverence.

I have always been a in-the-hand kind of guy. I do receive on the tongue when I am on the altar but that is because I am in a different place when I am on the altar. If I am receiving with the people I almost always receive in the hand. I could not explain why until one year when I was on retreat, I sat across from a painting of our Blessed Mother holding the baby Jesus. I want to hold Jesus with the same love Mary did.

And that is the thing. We have a God who is so humble and so loves us that he allows us to hold him in our hands. If we have learned anything from Eucharist miracles, it is that when we hold the Eucharist, we hold the very heart of Jesus. As a parent I can tell you that our children are our very hearts. When I hold the Eucharist, I hold the heart of the heart of God.

True reverence stems from understanding that, not our outward body position. Show that you love Jesus by following the instruction of those whom he has put in charge and do not be upset if something they have asked us to do appears to be simple. It is our obedience that is being tested, not our self-feeling of reverence.