In this Sunday’s gospel, we have another parable about a vineyard. In this story, the owner sends his two sons to work in the vineyard. The first says, no, but later changed his mind and went anyway. The second said, sure dad, but decided not to go. The question was which of the sons did his father’s will? The clear answer is the one who did as his father asked. Jesus told this story in response to the chief priests’ and elders’ question concerning his authority to teach. He turned the question around and focused on how two sons respond to their Father’s authority. Jesus responds to his Father’s authority by healing the sick, curing the blind and raising the dead. Jesus does what God does. That is his authority. What is the proper response for us to the Father’s authority?
The Protestant Reformation and Authority We are 500 years away from the Protestant Reformation. At the heart of the Reformation was the question of who spoke with authority. Martin Luther taught a doctrine shared by Catholics and all believers having to do with the priesthood of all believers. Luther reworked the doctrine to teach that since we all shared in the priesthood of believers, we could all interpret the plain meaning of scripture for ourselves. He believed that the common understanding of scripture would unite Christians.
Authority and Arguments In Luther’s own lifetime that understanding broke apart. The Calvinists broke with the Lutherans over issues of predestination and the validity of sacraments. Anabaptists were persecuted by Lutherans because they took Luther seriously as to their right to interpret scripture on their own. They, however, disagreed with most of Luther’s interpretations. The King of England seized power over the English church so that he could divorce his Catholic wife and marry another woman. Of course, everyone fought with the Catholics and the Catholics fought back. All of this strife was about the nature of authority and the voice of authority. John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest who left the English church of his birth, entering into full communion with the Bishop of Rome did so out of his conviction of Christ’s intent and the human need for a living voice of authority. In a human setting, the endless arguments over authority have to stop somewhere.
The problem with the arguments over the last 500 hundred years is that they parse interpretations, edicts and offices. Real authority only comes from God and it is always present in trust, mercy and hope. St. Therese of Lisieux (1872-97) has been dead 120 years this Saturday. She died at 24 years of age and was next to unknown in her lifetime. Yet, St. Theresa of Calcutta was devoted to her and St. John Paul proclaimed her a doctor of the church. When her relics tour, millions from Russia to the United States turn out to venerate her. Why? Because she understood real authority.
14-year-old St. Therese and the Murderer We don’t want arguments about God we want God. Therese’s first encounter with the power of God is when she and her sister began to pray for a notorious French triple murderer named Henri Pranzini. In 1887 Pranzini brutally murdered a prostitute, her maid and 12-year-old daughter. It was in all the papers in Europe. Therese was 14 and she tells her story about the notorious murder in Story of a Soul,
I heard talk of a great criminal just condemned to death for some horrible crimes; everything pointed to the fact that he would die impenitent…. I felt in the depths of my heart certain that our desires would be granted, but to obtain courage to pray for sinners I told God I was sure He would pardon the poor, unfortunate Pranzini; that I’d believe this even if he went to his death without any signs of repentance or without having gone to confession. I was absolutely confident in the mercy of Jesus. But I was begging Him for a “sign” of repentance only for my own simple consolation.
My prayer was answered to the letter! In spite of Papa’s prohibition that we read no papers, I didn’t think I was disobeying when reading passages pertaining to Pranzini. The day after the execution I found the newspaper “La Croix.” I opened it quickly and what did I see? Ah! my tears betrayed my emotion and I was obliged to hide. Pranzini had not gone to confession. He had mounted the scaffold and was preparing to place his head in the formidable opening, when suddenly, seized by an inspiration, he turned, took hold of the crucifix the priest was holding out to him and kissed the sacred wounds three times! Then his soul went to receive the merciful sentence of Him who declares that in heaven there will be more joy over one sinner who does penance than over ninety-nine just who have no need of repentance. I had obtained the sign I requested.
God and Authority For Jesus, the Father was his authority. He did what the Father sent him to do. For Therese, the authority of God was founded in her confidence that God heard her prayers as she gave herself and her prayers to the authority of God's Divine Will. She had ‘childlike confidence’ in his mercy, even for a triple murderer like Pranzini. Her life was the lived reality of her hope in his promises. How is the authority of God made present in this world? Through endless arguments and lip service or confident trust in him, whose mercy endures forever? I vote for St. Therese’s view. I want God, not arguments.