As Catholics, we are called to be obedient, yet as Americans, we cringe in defiance at the mention of the word. Something in our cultural DNA is allergic to the concept and the virtue of obedience. In America, the poison of skepticism and smug cynicism has become something of a badge of honor to the average “well-informed American.” As cultural institutions betray their constituents with continual scandals, abuse of power, and still worse cover-ups, it is not hard to see why the American consciousness is so drawn to a bitter condemnation of authority and trust. Yet, as Catholics, we are called to obedience.
Our most Beloved Mother, as always, lends us her perfect example to glean what wisdom we can. This month, we are asked to dwell on Our Lady of Sorrows. It is the most Sorrowful Heart of Mary that reveals what the virtue of obedience requires, and why obedience, above all other virtues, unlocks the treasures of the kingdom of heaven.
God, from the beginning, has had a divine plan for the unity and salvation of creation. Our Lord desires our participation in His plan. He will not force us against our will. He instead gently invites us into obedience.
Christ is primary in exemplifying perfect obedience to the will of God the Father. Paul beautifully illustrates this when he writes, “Though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)
Yet, in Mary, we see the perfect example of Christ’s first disciple.
“Let it be done unto me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38). These are the humble words of the handmaiden of the Lord. Yet what is she saying yes to? She, in this moment, assents to the nightmare of every mother: the complete, utter, unjustifiable rejection, humiliation, and affliction of her beloved baby. She neither numbs herself to this fate nor descends into bitterness. Her heart remains unified in love and mission with that of her Son, suffering alongside Him for the renewal of mankind. She is the first to yoke herself in obedience to Christ’s mission and therefore the first to suffer with Christ.
Mary, who has every reason to despise fallen humanity and set herself against them, instead clothes herself in humble submission to the Father’s will. She does not surrender her reason; she instead directs it towards its source with trust. She places herself as a creature before her Creator, not seeking to dominate but to receive. As the eye would be foolish to take credit for light and impotent in causing it, so too reason utterly fails in ordaining providence or manipulating providence to its preferred ends. The eye is made to receive light, as human reason is made to receive, not manufacture, knowledge. Mary’s disposition is, likewise, to receive her mission with the trust that God knows what He is about.
In the ultimate trial of trust, we find Mary unwavering. She stands in the sea of bitterness at the foot of the cross, unmovable. Her eyes are not turned to the ground in desolation and despair, nor do they lift to the heavens in a vain curse; rather, they behold her only Son. They let in all the pain and agony; they do not falter; instead, they say to her Son, “Mama is here.” At the foot of the cross, we are all called to stand alongside our Beloved Mother with our gaze steadfastly beholding the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
It is in the beholding of Christ crucified that we receive our mission of obedience. We see the commandment of love embodied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, … and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Christ is not satisfied to let these words be merely spoken in breadth and sound, but He, The Word, speaks them in His very flesh.
We, too, are called in every moment to the obedience of love—in the small deaths of our mundane daily rhythms, in our relationships with family and friends, and in the deep valleys that we are at times called to travel through. Mary, our Sorrowful Mother, is always inviting us to stand beside her at the cross that we may never forget that her Son humbled Himself first, obeyed first, and loved first.
Our Lady of Sorrows,
Pray for us!