20210415 CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE
15 April, 2021, Thursday, 2nd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 5:27-33 © |
We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit
When the officials had brought the apostles in to face the Sanhedrin, the high priest demanded an explanation. ‘We gave you a formal warning’ he said ‘not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt of this man’s death on us.’ In reply Peter and the apostles said, ‘Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’
This so infuriated them that they wanted to put them to death.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 33(34):2,9,17-20 © |
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man
but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn20:29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 3:31-36 © |
The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him
John the Baptist said to his disciples:
‘He who comes from above is above all others;
he who is born of the earth is earthly himself
and speaks in an earthly way.
He who comes from heaven
bears witness to the things he has seen and heard,
even if his testimony is not accepted;
though all who do accept his testimony
are attesting the truthfulness of God,
since he whom God has sent
speaks God’s own words:
God gives him the Spirit without reserve.
The Father loves the Son
and has entrusted everything to him.
Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life,
but anyone who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life:
the anger of God stays on him.’
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 5:27-33; PS 34:2,9,17-20; JOHN 3:31-36]
In the first reading, we read of the civil disobedience of Peter and the apostles with regard to their freedom to preach and teach about Jesus. When brought before the Sanhedrin and questioned as to why they disobeyed their warning “not to preach in this name”, they answered boldly, “Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be a leader and saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Just as there is a right to civil disobedience, there is also a right to religious disobedience. Gone are the days when religious leaders were deeply respected and obeyed without question. Even though in the Catholic Church, technically, bishops, priests and religious must obey their superiors, this is not always done in the name of doing God’s will and not submitting to blind obedience. The problem is that everyone is telling their superior that this is the will of God and expects the superior to agree with him or with her. Even if the superior does not agree, they will persist in doing what they believe to be the right thing to do.
How, then, do we handle civil and religious disobedience? Right from the outset, we must state clearly that there are valid grounds for civil and religious obedience. This is particularly so when the legitimate authority is not acting for the common good, or when there is an illegitimate authority imposing their will and power over others. When civil or religious authority is corrupt or serving their self-interests and not for the common good or legalizing immoral laws that go against the conscience of the individual, there is a right to disobey.
Of course, such disobedience will, in some cases, result in persecution and penalties, as in the case of our Lord and the apostles. This was what we read in the first reading. The apostles refused to obey the authorities because they were prejudiced against the truth and the reality of the situation. They knew of the healing miracles performed by Peter and the apostles. “A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.” (Acts 5:16) They knew something was happening when they sent the guards to bring them from the prison for interrogation, but they were not found. “They were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.” (Acts 5:24)
Instead of trying to explain and investigate the truth of the matter, they sought to silence the apostles. They even refused to acknowledge the name of Jesus and take responsibility for killing Jesus. They told the apostles, “We gave you a formal warning not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt of this man’s death on us.” Indeed, their hearts were hardened, not just their minds. They were not objective. They were more concerned about protecting their office and position. What was important for them was not, as the apostles claimed, whether “it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be a leader and saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel.” Indeed, when the hearts and minds of authorities are hardened and not ready for dialogue to find the truth of the matter, it is difficult to establish common ground and at least agree to disagree.
Of course, we can go to the other extreme position when in the name of freedom and autonomy, there is a total disregard for all laws and those in authority. In fact, this is the greater danger today because we are living under the dictatorship of relativism and the dictatorship of consensus. Today, people no longer seek the truth of what is truly right or good, since relativism champions the lie that truth cannot be found and that no one has the truth. At most, we can only decide by consensus. But we all know very well too, how consensus is reached today, through the power of media, especially social media. Fake news, half-truths, often backed up by powerful tycoons and those in control of the media manipulate public opinion and sway the people towards the direction that they want. Indeed, our young people, especially the very young, are being indoctrinated by the promiscuous and amoral values of the world, so much so that they have lost their ability to judge and discern what is good for them and for society. Just as there is consensus for good, there can only be consensus for evil.
The consequence is the pressure to conform to the opinion of others. Today, many Catholics are afraid to distinguish themselves in public and in the social media. We fight shy of our faith for fear of criticism, labelling and discrimination. We are pressured to conform to society’s values, whether it concerns euthanasia, abortion, transgender, same-sex union, or adultery. This pressure comes in a subtle manner. We are afraid that our position in society would be compromised if people know we are Catholic. How true, as Catholics we dare not talk much about the spiritual things that humanity needs. Even in Catholic schools, we do not talk about eternal life and faith in God. We only talk about living life to the fullest on earth. Yet, the truth remains that unless there is eternal life, there is no way to speak of fullness of life on earth because there is no goal to arrive at, no perspective to determine our identity, destination and purpose in life.
How, then, can we be sure that that we are walking in the truth? In the gospel, the evangelist spells out what valid testimony is. John the Baptist declared, “He who comes from above is above all others; he who is born of the earth is earthly himself and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven bears witness to the things he has seen and heard, even if his testimony is not accepted.” Indeed, Jesus who came from God and knew Him, spoke to us the truth about God. “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) Jesus told Nicodemus earlier on, “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” (Jn 3:12f) In today’s gospel the evangelist sums up this truth, “though all who do accept his testimony are attesting the truthfulness of God, since he whom God has sent speaks God’s own words: God gives him the Spirit without reserve. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him. Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life: the anger of God stays on him.”
Indeed, true testimony presupposes that we have heard with our own ears and seen with our own eyes. Peter and John told the Sanhedrin earlier, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19f) But for Christian witnessing, not only do we need to have a personal experience of the power of God in our lives, we must also have the witnessing power that comes from the Holy Spirit. St Peter said, “We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” It is because of the Holy Spirit that they had the courage to witness with power and conviction. They were not cowed by the threats of the authorities or even be sent to prison or flogged. They could not stop telling what they saw and heard. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) We lack confidence in witnessing because we have not seen and heard our Lord clearly yet.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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