Download SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY

SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY
First Friday Teaching
September 4, 2009
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the session, the participants will
be able to:
• understand what submission to authority is;
• understand why there is a need to live
submission to authority;
• identify different behavioral manifestations
of submission to authority; and,
• examine how they live submission to
authority.
OUR COMMITMENTS
I dedicate myself to the following:
A. I WILL LIVE AS A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
3. I will participate regularly in the worship
life of my Church.
B. I WILL MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE TO THE
LORD FOR SERVICE
5. As a member of the BCBP, I will follow the
directives of those who have responsibility
over my service.
THE COMMUNAL CHARACTER
OF OUR VOCATION
All men are called to the same end: God
himself. There is a certain resemblance
between the union of the divine persons and
the fraternity that men are called to establish
among themselves in truth and love. Love of
neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1878)
“It is not good for man to be alone. I will
make a suitable companion to help
him.”
Gen 2:18
“I believe in life everlasting”: To live in
heaven is “to be with Christ”. Heaven
is the blessed community of all who
are perfectly incorporated into Christ.
CCC , 1025-1026
NATURE OF SOCIETY
The human person needs to live in society. A
society is a group of persons bound together
organically by a principle of unity that goes
beyond each one of them.
(CCC 1880)
UNITY OF ORDER
In Christ we who are many form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others. We
have different gifts, according to the grace
given us.”
(Romans12:5-6)
UNITY OF ORDER consists in:
(a) subordination of ranks according
authority; and,
(b) interdependence of all its members.
to
UNITY WITH THE POPE
Unity is not the result of human policies or
hidden mysterious intentions. Instead, unity
springs from the conversion of the heart,
and from sincere acceptance of the
unchanging principles laid down by Christ
for his Church.
Particularly important
among these principles is the effective
communion of all the parts of the Church
with her visible foundation: Peter, the Rock.
Pope John Paul II
WYD1995
ON THIS ROCK,
I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH
…[Y]ou are now citizens together with God’s
people and members of the family of God.
You, too, are built upon the foundation laid
by the apostles and prophets, the
cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.
(Ephesians 2:19-20)
PURPOSE OF SOCIETY
By means of society, each man is established
as an “heir” and receives certain “talents”
that enrich his identity and whose fruits he
must develop. He rightly owes loyalty to the
communities of which he is part, and
respect to those in authority who have
charge of the common good.
CCC,1880
COMMON GOOD:
GOAL OF SOCIETY & AUTHORITY
By common good is to be understood “the sum
total of social conditions which allow people,
either as groups or individuals, to reach their
fulfillment more fully and more easily.” The
common good concerns the life of all. It calls for
prudence from each, and even more from those
who exercise the office of authority.
CCC, 1906.
WHERE DOES AUTHORITY
COME FROM?
WHERE DOES AUTHORITY
COME FROM?
Moses heard all the people complaining as they
stood around in groups at the entrances of their
tents. He was distressed because the Lord had
become angry with them, and he said to the Lord,
“Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you
displeased with me? Why have you given me the
responsibility for all these people? I didn’t create
them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me
to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like
babies all the way to the land you promised to their
ancestors? Where could I get enough meat for all
these people? They keep whining and asking for
meat. I can’t be responsible for all these people by
myself; it’s too much for me! If you are going to
treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that
I won’t have to endure your cruelty any longer.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Assemble
seventy respected men who are
recognized as leaders of the people,
bring them to me at the Tent of my
presence, and tell them to stand there
beside you. I will come down and
speak with you there, and I will take
some of the spirit I have given you and
give it to them. Then they can help you
bear the responsibility for these
people, and you will not have to bear it
alone.
Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for
tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The
Lord has heard you whining and saying that
you wished you had some meat to eat and
that you were better off in Egypt. Now the
Lord will give you meat, and you will have to
eat it. You will have to eat it not just for one
or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty
days, but for a whole month, until it comes
out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This
will happen because you have rejected the
Lord who is here among you and have
complained to him that you should never
have left Egypt.’”
Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000
people, and you say that you will give them enough
meat for a month? Could enough cattle and sheep be
killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea
enough for them.?”
“Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered.
“You will soon see whether what I have said will
happen or not!”
So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord
had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and
placed them around the Tent. Then the Lord came
down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of
the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the
seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they
began to shout like prophets, but not for long.
Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad,
had stayed in the camp and had not gone out
to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit
came on them, and they too began to shout
like prophets.
(Numbers 11:10—30)
WHERE DOES AUTHORITY
COME FROM?
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy
God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in
Galilee named Nazareth. He had a message
for a young woman promised in marriage to
a man named Joseph, who was a
descendant of King David. Her name was
Mary. The angel came to her and said,
“Peace be with you! The Lord is with you
and has greatly blessed you!”
Mary was deeply troubled by the angel’s
message, and she wondered what his words
meant. The angel said to her, “Don’t be
afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.
You will become pregnant and give birth to a
son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most
High God. The Lord God will make him a
king, as his ancestor David was, and he will
be the king of the descendants of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end!
Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin. How,
then can this be?” The angel answered, “The
Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s
power will rest upon you. For this reason the
holy Child will be called the Son of God.”
(Luke 1:26-35)
Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw
the Spirit of God coming down like a dove
and lighting on him. Then a voice said from
heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with
whom I am well pleased.”
(Matthew 3:16-17)
ALL AUTHORITY COMES
FROM GOD
God has not willed to reserve to himself all
exercise of power. He entrusts to every
creature the functions it is capable of
performing, according to the capacities of
its own nature. This mode of governance
ought to be followed in social life. The way
God acts in governing the world, which
bears witness to such great regard for
human freedom, should inspire the wisdom
of those who govern human communities.
They should behave as ministers of divine
providence.
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE
AUTHORITY – RESISTANCE
Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized
him for it. They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?
Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” The Lord heard what they said.
(Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)
Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “I want the
three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence.” They went, and
the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the
Tent, and called out, “Aaron! Miriam!” The two of them stepped
forward, and the Lord said, “Now hear what I have to say! When there
are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak
to them in dreams. It is different when I speak with my servant
Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. So I speak to
him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my
form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE
AUTHORITY – RESISTANCE
The Lord was angry with them; and so as he departed
and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam’s skin was
suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and
turned as white as snow. When Aaron looked at her
and saw that she was covered with the disease, he
said to Moses, “Please, sir, do not make us suffer
this punishment for our foolish sin. Don’t let her
become like something born dead with half its flesh
eaten away.”
So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, heal her!”
REASONS FOR RESISTANCE TO
AUTHORITY
1. To avoid responsibility (Numbers 11: 1015)
2. A false notion of humility (Judges 5:11-16)
3. A reaction to a previous culture (John 6:5158)
4. Pride (Mk 6:1-3) (MK 7:5-13)
So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law
asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do
not follow the teaching handed down by our
ancestors, but instead eat with ritually
unclean hands?” Jesus answered them,
”How right Isaiah was when he prophesied
about you! You are hypocrites, just as he
wrote:
‘These people, says God, honor me with their
words, but their heart is really far away from
me. It is no use for them to worship me,
because they teach human rules as though
they were my laws!’ “You put aside God’s
command and obey human teachings.”
Mk 7:5-13
“ My child, if you don’t give up your own
judgment, if you are proud, if you devote
yourself to ‘your’ apostolate, you will work
all night – your whole life will be one long
night – and at the end of it all the dawn will
find you with your nets empty.”
St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, 574.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS
AUTHORITY – SUBMISSION
• Submission is yielding to another’s desires
without resistance. Submission to another’s
wishes is an attitude of the heart done
willingly.
• Our first submission should be unto the
Lord. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew
22:37)
SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITIES
1. To parents – Ephesians 6:1-4
2. Between husband & wife – Ephesians 5:2133; Col.3:18 – 19
3. To church elders – 1 Peter 5:5
4. To government authorities – Matthew
17:24- 27; Romans 13:1
5. To business authorities – Col. 3:22, 4:1
SUBMISSION TO
BCBP AUTHORITIES
1. To obey directives, policies and rules
established by the BCBP leadership.
2. To cooperate and assist the leadership of
the BCBP
3. To be involved and if required, to
respectfully disagree with their leader’s
position
4. To
be
open
to
corrections
and
admonishments in what relates to the
BCBP culture
5. To care and support our BCBP leaders.
MARY: MODEL OF SUBMISSION
She is that good instrument, completely identified with the mission
received. Once she learns of God’s plan, she makes it her own. Her
plans are not something added on. In the just fulfillment of these
plans, she completely disposes her intelligence and will and all her
energies. She is never an inert puppet: not when she sets out
joyfully through the mountains of Judaea to visit her cousin
Elizabeth; not when truly exercizing her duty as mother, she seeks
and finds the Child Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem; not when she
causes our Lord’s first miracle; not when she appears – without
being called – at the foot of the Cross on which her Son died… By
saying ‘Be it done’ she freely disposes her entire person to the
fulfillment of her calling. This calling does not seem foreign to her:
God’s interests are her own interests. She does not run the risk that
Her plans might pose an obstacle to the plans of God; her plans are
perfectly identified with his.
(In Conversation with God, Francis Fernandez, vol. IV, p. 332)
“If you are one of those who launch out into the deep,
set the course straight and firm… If you give
yourself to God give yourself the way the saints did.
Let no one and nothing occupy your attention and
slow you down: you belong to God. If you give
yourself, you give yourself for eternity. Let neither
the roaring waves nor the treacherous undercurrent
shake the concrete solidity of your foundations.
God depends on you: He leans on you. Put all your
energy into and row against the current… ‘Duc in
altum’. Launch out into the deep waters with the
daring of those others who loved Christ.”
Jesus Urteaga, Man the Saint, pp.130- 131
SUMMARY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
We are called not only to believe but to belong.
Society, like the human person, has its end in God.
God bestows authority in some persons so that
they can direct those under them towards
attainment of the common good.
In the BCBP, submission to authority is a way of
life.
Submission to authority must be animated by love
and manifested through openness, obedience and
active support to our leaders.
AREAS FOR EXAMINATION:
1.
Do I pray for those in authority: the Pope, the
bishop, the clergy, the government leaders, BCBP
leaders?
2. Jesus said: “On this Rock, I will build my church” .
Peter’s successor, the Pope is the visible head of
the Church. Am I united to the Pope?
3. The Church “belongs to God”; it is the “People of
God”. Do I participate regularly in the worship life
of the Church?
4. As a BCBP member, do I follow the directives of
those who have responsibility over my service?
5. Do I preserve unity in BCBP? How?
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1. Chapter 17, “A Place to Belong,” The
Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren.
2. The Human Community, Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1877-1912.
3. “The Power of Obedience”, In
Conversation with God, Francis Fernandez,
vol. IV, pp.537-542.