Conflict with Authority

The passage for today’s liturgy from the Acts of the Apostles heightens the drama between the apostles and the Jewish leadership.  Though they had been forbidden to do so by the chief priests and the Sanhedrin, the apostles had continued to preach repentance as they had been directed in the great commission Jesus had given them at the end of the Gospel.  When questioned about their activities, they made the bold claim that they owed obedience to God before the Sanhedrin.  Given the fact that the chief priests and the Sanhedrin considered themselves to be the mediator between God and the children of Israel, it is easy to understand why they became infuriated with the response.

Once again, it is important to remember that this culture was driven by the pursuit of honor and the avoidance of shame.  It is also important to remember that honor was looked upon as a “commodity.”  In other words, if you got more honor than you deserved, someone else had lost their just portion.  So if these fishermen from Galilee were claiming the honor of teachers of Israel, the chief priests and the Sanhedrin had lost what they considered rightfully theirs. 

Of course, the problem of obeying God’s commandments when human authority contradicts God’s will is something that is still a problem in our world today.  Like the apostles we can find ourselves at odds with civil or human authority.  While in most cases we won’t be thrown in jail when we are at odds with civil authority, we will probably run into ridicule and resistance.  Worse yet, we might simply be ignored.  At the same time, we must be mindful of the many people in our world who suffer torture and execution because they will not conform to their lives to that of the majority.  Martyrs are still a reality in our world today.

As we listen to the Acts of the Apostles today, we are reminded that our apostolate of prayerful support and the sacrifice of our suffering is applied to the needs of the world and the needs of the Church.  Keeping the intention of our correspondence group before our eyes is an important part of who we are and what we do.  We walk in the footsteps of the first disciples and the apostles of the early Church.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator