A Homily for the Third Sunday after Easter

+ Writing to the Church under the persecution of the emperor Nero, St Peter emphasised the need for the conversion of life no matter what villainy is used to suppress the Church of God. It was not only a question of personal sanctification, but it was also a fundamental aspect of overcoming the persecution “that those who calumniate against you as doers of evil, may consider your good works and glorify God on the day of His visit.” In an environment where confession of the Christian faith was often followed by a vile death – such as being burnt alive as a human torch – St Peter teaches that all people should act in the name of Christ-Jesus Our Lord.

Calumny was spread against the Christians on the grounds that they were a small, new, unknown sect, associated with but reviled by the Jewish community, who refused to allow their God to be worshipped in the pantheon amongst the other gods. Much of Roman governance and their acceptance by the conquered people was based on the fact that they had allowed their gods to be included in the pantheon to be worshipped along with the rest. Yet the Christians stood firm: Jesus Christ, the only Son of God has the exclusive right to worship. He is the True God, and we can have no other god besides Him.

St Peter goes on to elaborate this conversion of life. The prince of the Apostles puts before us an example of servitude – “be subject to all men according to God.” Whilst St Peter was putting out this instruction of humility, of obedience to all legitimate commands, he was the same Apostle to stand before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). He knows well that all authority is given from God (cf. John 19:11) and is still subject to Him. Never can man act, no matter what command is given him, against Divine Law. Use of authority to contradict Divine Law is a graver sin than the simple contravention of it.

What is prescribed for us by human lawgivers, according to their various ranks as civil or ecclesiastical authorities, ought to be laws which are ordered to our salvation. The subjection to all men upon which the Apostle insists is the following of all commands that assist in the proper ordering of civilisation. They exist so that all may live together in harmony and peace. They govern how to go about doing good and avoiding evil, knowing the various situations that can arise and based on the common experience of many generations. This is the basis of a civilisation relying on its traditions.

How much the more does the Tradition that goes back to Our Lord Himself as Revealed hold true. If, on a particular occasion, some human law must be overlooked, or expressly disobeyed, to uphold the Divine Law, this is perfectly justified, or even required at times. It is, moreover, a very different thing from denying the authority of the lawgiver.

St Benedict writes a chapter (71) in the Holy Rule dedicated to this Petrine teaching that we be “subject to all men according to God.” It is a rule of common observance that we are obedient, through the natural hierarchy, such that all may work together in mutual charity. It is an attitude that we are always focused on the needs of the others around us before our own needs, that we can put aside what is of secondary importance at any given moment to work for the other. This work, however, is first and foremost the work of our salvation and secondly for those around us.

Opening the Epistle of this holy Mass, and thus prefacing the exhortation to common obedience, is an exhortation to abstain from carnal desires. It is by ever satisfying his carnal desires that a man becomes self-focused and unable to look to the needs of the other. Whilst even St Paul acknowledges that we are weak and will often act according to them without willing to do it (Romans 7:15-20), the struggle to overcome our weaknesses, our vices, is a necessary part of the Christian life. Having such control over ourselves is a necessary part of bringing Christ to those around us so that we can do what is good and right. Then and thereby we can bring Christ to our neighbour.

In bringing Christ to our neighbour, we have a bigger challenge than those first Christians to whom St Peter was writing. Whilst the calumnies spread about the Church in the days of St Peter were not true, he did not have to contend with a society which confuses or even inverts what is good and evil. He did not have to contend with a society that thinks of morality in a purely utilitarian manner which ignores both the individual and the society. Now many around us think what is good is allowing people to fulfil their every desire without regard to their nature or consequences, without any treatment of what is true and false. No longer do they present many gods in a pantheon saying that we must worship all to make peace; rather they simply claim there is no difference and to claim there is a difference is unjust discrimination.

We are still called to that conversion of life that St Peter urged of his fellow Christians under the persecution of Nero—a conversion which enabled that very persecution to spread the truth of what Christianity is. Now, in contrast, there is a far greater urgency for the good works done in the name of Jesus Christ to overcome the reputation that is based on a twisting of the Truth. Our good works must be visible, without any being showy or in any sense compromising the Divine Law, seeking only the glory of God. +