We Must Obey God Rather than Men

Gospel Reflection for May 4, 2025, the Third Sunday of Easter - John 20:1-19

After this, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner.

There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing.

But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you any meat? They answered him: No.

He saith to them: Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.

That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,) and cast himself into the sea.

But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread.

Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught.

Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken.

Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. And none of them who were at meat, durst ask him: Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

And Jesus cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner.

This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.

When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep.

Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.

And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me. (John 20:1-19 DRA)

Since I recently reflected on the first part of this passage, for this Third Sunday of Easter I would like to focus on the second part, wherein Our Lord corrects the threefold denial of St. Peter by reaffirming his love, communion and papal authority in Himself. The first reading from Acts provides an intriguing parallel, or historically-speaking a follow-up, to this Gospel reading, narrating the witness of St. Peter and the apostles to Christ in the earliest days of the Church. As in the Gospels, St. Peter is shown to be the leader of the apostles, one with a special authority over them and over the whole Church as the Vicar of Christ on Earth. He is the only apostle given a new name (Mt 16:18; Matthew and Paul were only their aliases, not new names), the only one given the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” (Mt 16:19) the one who first entered the tomb of Christ despite not arriving at it first (Jn 20:4) and, in this passage, the only apostle to jump into the sea and arrive at the shore first of all. Acts simply continues this demonstration of his priority over all other Christian disciples – despite his many personal failings in faith, such as sinking into the sea through his doubt (Mt 14:30), denying Christ three times and, even after Pentecost and Acts, publicly favoring Jewish over Gentile Christians and thus requiring St. Paul to correct him “to the face.” (Gal 2:11-12)

As the College of Cardinals begins the conclave to elect a new pope this week, the readings for today are especially appropriate. One line in particular from Acts should be in the heart of every voting cardinal and whoever among them is chosen to become the new leader of the Church: “We must obey God rather than men.” Indeed, this is a credal confession for every Christian, but most of all for those who represent Christ to the world in the priesthood and especially the episcopacy and papacy. When people, Catholic and non-Catholic, think of the Church, and when they look for an example of Catholic faith, their first reference among earthly examples tends to be the pope and, after him, the bishops and priests. When a lay Catholic, even one in high office such as Biden and Pelosi, misrepresent the Faith, it is a grave scandal, for which they deserve severe correction. But when a priest, bishop or pope teaches or leads a life contrary to the Way of Christ, they falsify the Faith and become a stumbling block to those in whom His Spirit is working to lead into full communion with His Body.

In the modern Church, especially since the Protestant Revolution and the Enlightenment, a phenomenon called “ultramontanism” or “hyperpapalism” has slowly solidified until now, the pope often sees himself and is treated as an absolute monarch, the lord of Tradition who can reinvent the Faith anew as he sees fit, whether in its doctrines or immemorial liturgical practices. This mentality has led many to defend anything the pope says or does, as though the limitations on papal infallibility given by Vatican I in fact taught the opposite, that he is not only infallible in faith and morals when teaching definitively and ex cathedra but that his every word and action is protected by the Holy Ghost from all error. This is not only incorrect but a grave error, a kind of soft idolatry by which the pope is held above Christ and the Tradition He has given to the Church.

In truth, being Catholic means following Tradition. The purpose of the pope, and by extension all bishops, is to preserve and hand on Tradition, including the Deposit of Faith in divine revelation, the God-given dogmas which follow necessarily from it and the practices which have grown organically over the centuries from the time of the apostles, and to correct those who violate Tradition. They are not given supreme authority over Tradition to do with it what they will, much less to accommodate the fads and ideologies of the times in a vain attempt to make the Faith seem “relevant” and “pastoral” for modern man, nor are we required to defend everything they say and do. Tradition is not an abstract set of ideas drawn up by a committee, like the founding documents of the United States, dependent on a particular time and wholly detached from what came before. Rather, Tradition is perennial and universal, elevated above every type of “inculturation” which contradicts what came before and above every false philosophy popular at any given time.

By humbly receiving and faithfully obeying Tradition, we obey God rather than men. Employing the gift of the sensus fidei, by which all Catholics in communion with the Church and receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are able to discern what is in accordance with Tradition and what is not, we can fulfill St. Paul’s command: “But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thess 5:21) As the Church teaches,

Alerted by their sensus fidei, individual believers may deny assent even to the teaching of legitimate pastors if they do not recognise in that teaching the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd. ‘The sheep follow [the Good Shepherd] because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers’ (Jn 10:4-5). For St Thomas, a believer, even without theological competence, can and even must resist, by virtue of the sensus fidei, his or her bishop if the latter preaches heterodoxy. In such a case, the believer does not treat himself or herself as the ultimate criterion of the truth of faith, but rather, faced with materially ‘authorised’ preaching which he or she finds troubling, without being able to explain exactly why, defers assent and appeals interiorly to the superior authority of the universal Church. (Sensus Fidei in the life of the Church, 63)

The pope is called to listen to and obey the sensus fidei. The rule by which all teaching and practice is judged is not the whim of a pope or bishop but the constant truth of Tradition: the authoritative canons and anathemas of councils throughout history, the official definitions from popes, teachings from offices such as the Pontifical Biblical Commission (before it was reduced in authority by Paul VI) and the liturgical traditions of East and West which derive from the apostles and have been nourished and tended by the saints. If the pope or any other Christian disobeys Tradition, the ears of the sensus fidei should close themselves to such deceits of Satan and remain ever faithful to what has been received and what God has given as the best means to attain salvation.

As the conclave begins this week, may we remember these important caveats and pray unceasingly that the cardinals will choose a new pope who will restore Tradition in the Church, purify her of all corruption, obey God rather than men and stand as a true icon of Christ to the world.

Join the Fellowship at Saint Tolkien!