A Docility

A Reflection on the Gospel of Luke 2:22-35 – 29 December 2023

Today’s readings may be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122923.cfm

     Many come to the Church with demands in terms of faith. Often unsaid, but in their conversations, you hear,

“Church leaders must conform to my way of thinking, or it is wrong. Those who agree with me and I, determine what truth and holiness is.”

     In this, many have arrogantly fallen into the realm of what is called the doctrine of “soul competency.” This doctrine, which Southern Baptist minister and educator E.Y. Mullins first articulated at the turn of the twentieth century, declares that the Holy Spirit works through each person, each soul, such that they are individually "competent" to relate to God without mediation through other humans or human institutions. In “human institutions,” read, “the Catholic Church.”

Doctrine, based on individual interpretation, obviously becomes a source of division and judgment, one against the other. Hence the innumerable divisions of the Protestant Church. For so many, their own interpretation of what God really desires, as translated by their own prejudices, becomes the pole from which they judge the holiness and fidelity of all others. This is just the opposite to what Scripture teaches. St Paul writes,

But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. (1 Timothy 3:15 NABRE)

     It is the magisterium of the one Church, the household of God, which defines our faith and morals, how we should behave. What is the Church but the Body of Christ with Peter at its head, with the authority to “bind and loose?” (Matthew 16:19) Our Lord in speaking to the disciples after sending them out to announce the Gospel, gives us the same instruction,

Whoever listens to you [disciples] listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Luke 10:8 NABRE)

     Our Apostolic Church, with human leaders like the apostles that came before, have many foibles and sins. Yet, we must trust, in faith, that Christ is working within the Church as He promised. In this, Christ calls the faithful to receive with “docility” the teachings of His Church (c.f. CCC 87). That docility requires that we seek understanding, remain “teachable,” to conform in unity with the Church. This is the same docility that we see in the Holy Family in the Gospel.

     In the Gospel today we are witness to the Holy Family’s arrival at the Temple to offer Sacrifice in accordance with the Law.

When the days of her purification for a son or for a daughter are fulfilled, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a yearling lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering. … If, however, she cannot afford a lamb, she may take two turtledoves or two pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and thus she will again be clean. (Leviticus 12:6,8 NABRE)

     Joseph and Mary were of a “humble state,” that is, too poor to be able to afford a lamb; though the Child that they held in their arms is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. They come to the temple to fulfill the law although, they could have rightfully stamped their feet and announced that they had no need to make a sacrifice, no purification was necessary. The offering of the sacrifice of the Holy Family, marked particularly by poverty, simplicity, and fidelity, declares a docility to the Temple Leaders and God’s Law. Mary and Jesus, who are sinless, are not obligated under the Law, yet they submit themselves to it. There is an understanding and trust in God and quiet docility to their faith and its teachings.

     The Holy Family is unwaveringly kingdom oriented. In this world, we are often single-minded in following our own discerned path, to be “like gods” (Genesis 3:5); making our own rules as they suit us. The Holy Family, in docility to the Law submits in understanding, even when they have no sin for which to atone. They submit to the holy, not the haughty life. They submit in fidelity to the institution which God founded. Shouldn’t we do the same?

      “The Church has no other light than Christ’s; … [it] is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun.” (CCC 748) Christ calls us to obedience to faith, not as we would have it, but as He gives it through grace to the Church for us through the Holy Spirit. If you are annoyed at the teachings of the Church, remember Jesus’ words, “Whoever listens to you [disciples] listens to me.” Do not reject the Church’s teaching but with docility of spirit seek understanding. At the same time, render assent. Yes, our Bishops are human and therefore have a sin-oriented nature, as do we all. Yet, though they are sinners, we must trust, in faith, that or Savior is working within them.

     Pray for our Church. It is Christ that makes the Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. When you don’t understand, trust the Holy Spirit! “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NABRE)

Endnotes:

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd Ed. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000. Print.

New American Bible. Revised Edition (NABRE). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011. Print.

Restout, J. I. (1970, January 1). The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 1759 - jean II restout. www.wikiart.org. https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-ii-restout/the-presentation-of-christ-in-the-temple-1759