TRUE OBEDIENCE IS TRUE FREEDOM

The ordination class 1998 of the diocese of Cleveland got together this week to celebrate 10 years, enjoy each others company, pray, learn, and have some fun. Actually, they are still there. I left early since I am moving in a couple of days and am anxious about getting my life together.

One day was devoted to prayer and reflection. Bishop Lennon provided his priests with the book, “Priests for a New Millennium”. Each of us took a chapter and gave a 50-minute reflection on it for the rest of the class. My chapter was, “Collaborators in Ministry: The Bishop and His Priests” by the Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch, bishop of St. Petersburg. What follows is an outtake from the presentation.

It would be nice if obedience were easy. It would be nice of each of us saw ourselves as loyal sons to worthy fathers. It would be easy if we were all philosophically, ecclesially, and theologically of a single mind. But we are not. Every time we get together with brother priests there is a debate about the bishop and whether or not we like him or not. In the end it does not matter one jot if we like him or not, he is our bishop and the fourth commandment is as equally binding on us in our relationship with our bishop as it is between true sons of paternal fathers. We are called to obedience. We promised it.

It is not blind obedience however but intelligent obedience. We are not brainless twits merely doing what is programmed in us from on high. God does not ask us to have that kind of slavish obedience to anybody on earth. There are limits to authority on earth. Not even the pope can declare that all priests must stick their finger in their eyes. But when a bishop, within his authority, asks us to do something, we have promised to do so. There are proper channels in which a man may make his objection known to a certain proposal, but to do so publicly can be disastrous. (Reader: If you become uncomfortable with any part of this reflection, re-read this paragraph first before making a comment.)

I’ve lived in rectorys where there priests even when they disagreed still respected the authority of the pastor and the house hummed. This is almost instantly read by the parish and whole parish enjoys the positive, holy energy. Unfortunately I’ve also lived in a parishes where one of the vicars not only disagrees with the pastor, but does so in a very public and derisive way. As a result, the rectory becomes divided, the staff becomes divided, and the congregation begins to take sides.

The same thing can happen with inappropriate dissention from a bishop. And when we model dissention on the diocesan level, we in turn show others how to divide the community at the parish level, perhaps recoiling on ourselves. To that end I propose this course of action for us. It is not easy, perhaps impossible at times, but an ideal toward which we should reach.

1. Never speak ill of your bishop. Now, we will have discussions and will disagree with him (or anybody for that matter), but we need not tear the man apart himself. That not only harms our pledge of obedience, it is just plain not Christian.

2. Be careful how you implement a directive from “down town.” Though at times it may be necessary to state that we must do a particular action because it has been mandated, we should not act as though we are hard put upon ourselves, but try to do what is asked of us in as positive manner as possible.

3. Intentionally pray for your bishop. If he is acting contrary to what you think is in the best interest of the diocese, pray for him. Maybe he will change. Or maybe you will.

4. Practice with the bishop how you want others to react to your directives.

5. Do not expect the bishop to be your father figure. If he is: Great! If not, we are not in this vocation to be coddled by the bishop. The Church at its core is not an institution, but there are definitely institutional aspects to it. Institutions do not love you. Do not expect it to.

6. Help each other. The bishop cannot do everything for you. Let us reach out to each other.

7. Give the benefit of the doubt to the bishop. There are things he cannot tell you just as there are things you are not free to tell people about situations in which you find yourself. "If they only knew," we think. It may be the bishop is in a similar pickle.

8. Pray that you will be a good priest as his representative to his people.

Idealistic? Perhaps. But it beats just being angry all of the time. And working toward unity, cooperation and collaberation will come closer to solving problems that constantly nagging toward division. It may make for an unsavory meal from time to time, but in the long run most of our problems will have been forgotten – nobody will care – and the only thing there will be to show for it is that we did not grow in Christian love as much as we could have.