QUESTIONING AUTHORITY
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 3rd Monday in
Advent is, “Questioning Authority.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel from Matthew 21: 23-27, the chief priests and the elders question
Jesus about his authority to say and to do the things he was saying and doing.
They ask him, “By what authority…?”
The word in Greek in the Gospel text for authority is, “EXOUSIA”.
It means the right to exercise authority, power, right –
to make the rules.
It means trying to nail down by what right does someone
possess authority, power, rule, right – to try to make others behave the way
the one who gives the orders wants things to be done. It has to do with a right
that is recognized by the community. It’s all about public credibility. It’s
dealing with legitimation.
THREE QUOTES
Let me throw out three quotes.
First quote: I’ve often heard that St. Thomas Aquinas
said, “Authority is the weakest form of argument.”
By what authority is he saying this?
I never asked that question before. However, since I’m
thinking out loud about “authority” in this homily, I’d guess that he’s making
that comment from experience. Did he
hear too many thinkers and theologians make comments on their own and he
disagreed with the commentator – because they couldn’t prove their statement
with good enough arguments to satisfy Thomas.
Second quote: “Liberty
is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the
possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying “No” to
any authority – literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even
political.” Ignazio Silone in Essay in
The God That Failed [1950]
We have the gift of being about to doubt and ask
questions and to say, “No!”
We also have to face the consequences that come from our
thinking and doing stuff outside the box.
The third quote is from Abigail Adams. In a May 7, 1776 Letter to John Adams she says,
“While you are
proclaiming peace and good will to men, emancipating all nations, you insist
upon retaining an absolute power over wives.
But you must remember that arbitrary power is like most other things
which are very hard, very liable to be broken – and notwithstanding all your
wise laws and maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to
subdue our masters, and without violence throw both your natural and legal
authority at our feet.” Abigail Adams,
May 7 1776, Letter to John Adams.
MAJOR ISSUE
So authority – using it – questioning it – exerting it –
is a major issue in life.
Authority issues appear every day – in all kinds of ways.
By what authority can someone demonstrate – block traffic
– or what have you.
I know that in the United States we have First Amendment
rights to express and articulate one’s opinions – but I also know that one can’t
scream “Fire!” in a crowded movie house.
By what authority can someone grab another – try to stop
someone – Taser another – etc. etc.
That’s the stuff in the public arena.
Here is an example that deals with the issue of authority from
the private sector.
This past Thanksgiving at a big family gathering, we were
playing cards – Shanghai Rummy. In the last hand the question came up: do you
have to have a lay down card or does every card have to go into one’s hand to
go down and end the game. One person said every card has to fit; another said –
you have to have one last card to throw out to end the game. Who was
right? An argument began. We found out during
the argument that followed that one person was playing Brooklyn rules; another
person was playing with Scranton rules; another was playing Maryland rules.
Who had the authority?
Everyone – as long as all agree on the rules of the game
– before the game begins – or when we commonly decide on how we’re going to
play the game.
CONCLUSION
Common sense, common discussion, common agreements are
what is key to the issue of authority – not yelling, not bullying – but the
common good.
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