12/16/2013 – Monday of the 3rd week of Advent – Matthew 21:23-27

      We hear a Gospel today that addresses authority as we are more than half-way through our Advent journey.   In fact, Jesus authority is being questioned and challenged by the chief priests and the elders of the people. Jesus thinks that they don’t even deserve a direct answer, since they are playing games with him and won’t show any respect for him. 

       I thought about authority in my own life as we celebrated on of my favorite saints over the weekend, St John of the Cross.  John tried to reform the Carmelite order as a protégé of St Teresa of Avila, but he was met with resistance and punishment, since this was right after the Protestant Reformation and during the time of the Spanish Inquisition.  John of the Cross today is considered one of the most significant poets of the Spanish language and was name a doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, decades before his mentor St Teresa of Avila was named to such a distinction. John was treated cruelly by his religious order, with the punishment and treatment he received from them leading to his death.

     I think we all have difficulty sometimes in role of authority in our lives, in knowing when we need to assert ourselves, and when we need to challenge authority.  When we see injustices take place or when we see our earthly authority figures defy God’s authority, that is when may of us feel called to action.  How are we allowing God to have authority in our lives this Advent season?