If you were to ask me, “What is the one of the hardest things about being a Catholic?” I would say obedience. But….if you were to ask me, “What is the most liberating thing about being a Catholic?” I would say the gift of obedience…hands down! How can something be hard and be a gift at the same time? So many things contain this paradox. Think of marriage, a new baby, a new job, working out, eating healthy and countless other things that have very hard moments. All of these things and so many more, hold this truth….that things can be hard, but still contain goodness.
Why is the call to obedience hard? Because it goes against our nature. Let’s take Adam and Eve. They were brand new human beings created by a loving God in His very own image and likeness. Given a perfect world where they never had to worry about illness, death, or hunger. It sounds perfect and it was. God said that Adam and Eve could eat from all trees and plants that they wanted to eat the fruits from, but one, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, this one would bring death. Life was good. Adam and Eve trusted in God’s goodness and were willing to obey Him even if it may have seemed a bit odd without an explanation of why it was deadly to eat of the fruit. But God does not call us to understand, He calls us to Obedience. Where did everything go wrong?? Doubt entered the picture, in the form of an idea presented by the serpent, “Did God really say that you would die if you ate from that Tree? Oh no, you will not die, but you will simply be like God. Hmmm, maybe God isn’t so good. Maybe He is withholding something good that could make you equal to Him? Maybe….you now know better than God?? Yes, maybe after you eat the fruit, you can be like God and determine what is right and wrong. Yes, all you have to do is simply eat from the Tree He forbade you to eat from and you will be happy.”
We all know the rest of the story. Adam and Eve believed the lies the serpent told them and disobeyed God. This broke their relationship with God. The relationship was founded on the knowledge that they could trust God and that He was good.
Obedience and Trust go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Obedience and Trust are also a two-way street. When we stop obeying someone, it’s always because, we stop trusting in them. We prefer our own understanding and reality. Our trust becomes eroded if we start to question the other person’s goodness and motives, and assume our motives and goodness are superior or equal to theirs. Yes, God requires our obedience and trust, but we also expect God to follow through on His promises. He has never broken a promise…unlike man. This is why He establishes covenants with us, to show He is trustworthy and faithful. Even if man breaks the covenants, God never will. Why because He is pure goodness! We obey God because we trust in God and His Goodness. Jesus very clearly tells us that “God alone is good”…and we are not! The fact that we are not is why we do not rely on our own feelings and thoughts about important things. The great deceiver, Satan, has the ability to influence our perception and minds with false narratives. We think we know what is best for us because we trust our logic and feelings. Logic and feelings are what led to the Fall. You can logic your way into Hell quit easily. That is very scary. The path to Hell is paved in following our feelings (and sadly even our good intentions). We all crave goodness, but we chase after things that cannot bring us true happiness. True happiness is knowing, loving and serving the Lord. Period. This is why God infuses us with the gift of Faith to combat our perceived realities. If we trust in the Lord with all our heart, beyond our own understanding, then we know that being obedient to His teachings will bring us eternal reward and union with Him. Why? Because He tells us it is so: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”-John 15:10. Since God is love, abiding in His Love IS being in union with Him.
So yes, obedience is very hard and contrary to our nature. But luckily, someone gives us His nature and His Flesh in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. This someone cannot help but be obedient to the Father. It is His nature. I am of course speaking of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, son of the Living God. We become born again into new creations at Baptism. These new creations are now a part of Jesus Christ’s Body. Where we fall short, He never does! We are grafted into the vine, and He will sustain us if we stay connected to Him. But we have to be fed with His life force or we will grow weak. This is where the Eucharist comes into play. “You will have no life within you if you do not eat my Flesh and drink my Blood” Jesus warns His followers in John 6. He goes on to say His Flesh is “True Food” and His Blood is “True Drink”. Being infused with Christ gives us the Grace we need to be obedient sons of the Father. Partaking of the Eucharist helps us stay strong and allows Jesus to flow in us. Where we cannot be obedient on our own, He gladly steps in with His Grace.
Again, obedience is very hard because it is contrary to our human nature, but it is possible with Christ. And having the Eucharist available to me in the Catholic Church helps me to stay on the path to Heaven because I am being constantly infused with Jesus Christ. But why would I say that obedience is one of the most liberating things about being a Catholic??
Because Jesus knew we would continue to mess up and the Church He left behind would quickly fall into disorder and be attacked by Satan. In His infinite wisdom, He left an insurance plan (so to speak). Before Jesus ascended to Heaven to reign with the Father, He said that He would not leave us orphans. He would send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us. And wow did we need it! If the Holy Spirit had not come, the apostles would never have left the Upper Room or have even started their ministries. Jesus even prophesied that Satan would try to tear apart the Church but promised this would never come to pass. Why? Because Jesus gave the Keys to the Church to the head apostle, Peter. Jesus said that while Satan said that he wanted Peter for his own, Jesus refused. Instead, Jesus prayed specifically to the Father that Peter would be protected and strengthened against this attack. This is highly comforting to me because the one person that God would never refuse anything to would be Jesus. The Beloved Son of whom He is well pleased. The Messiah who sacrificed Himself as the perfect victim to save mankind. Who God loves beyond all imagination. Our mediator. Our brother….Jesus Christ.
So knowing that Peter is protected and guided by the Holy Spirit and with Jesus’ prayers brings me great hope and peace of mind. Why? Because the Church that Jesus’ established was meant to last until the end of time (because Jesus said it will!) This means that it will always have a head apostle to guide it because Jesus determined that for the church to run effectively it needed one person to lead it on earth, guided by the Holy Spirit and protected with Jesus’ prayers in Heaven. Basically, this means that when Peter passed away, he was replaced with another apostle. We know that the apostles were guided to replace members that died because after Judas’ betrayal and death, they did not stay at 11 apostles, but elected Matthias to join them and bring the number back up to 12. So it makes sense that if the leader dies, a new one is elected. This new leader became the next head apostle….or as we call them today….Pope. The new Peter will be in charge of guarding the Church’s traditions and guiding his flock through all the new heresies, technologies, and trends that pop up along the way. We see this clearly portrayed in the New Testament when the issue of circumcision, eating Kosher foods, and even what to do with widows/orphans that popped up after Jesus ascended. The Good Shepherd would never leave His flock unattended. He left a good shepherd armed with a staff of wisdom and perpetually guided by the Holy Spirit to lead His flock towards heaven.
This is why obedience is so liberating. I can be a happy sheep! I do not have to decided everything on my own (because let’s face it, I would totally bomb and end up in a crevice or swept away in a rushing river!) God in His infinite wisdom has given me a shepherd I can trust. If he tells me that a certain path is bad, I do not have to waffle back and forth over what to do….I just do what he tells me too! Is it hard??? Yes! But is it liberating….yes!! Jesus tells us that the leaders will be judged harshly, not the little people. We are simply called to obedience. St. Paul says to always be obedient to people in charge of you (as long as they are not asking you to sin!). Why?? Because he says that they were put there for a reason by God. Our role is to be obedient and work with God’s Plan. That is all I have to do! Is it hard? Yes. Sometimes I don’t agree with my leaders….but that’s not my job. My job is to be obedient. They will be judged and not me for their short fallings. Does that mean I can do nothing if I really do not like my leader?? No! I can offer up my suffering and pray for them. That alone can cause beautiful things to happen because God loves an obedient heart and the prayers of the righteous are very effective.
So the next time you feel a little rebellion bubbling up in you, think of the joy your obedience will bring to our Lord. He has a plan and I am 100% sure it is better than mine and yours.
God bless!
Clinging to the Little Way 