Thanks Fr. Glen! Rev. Glen Mullan Master of the Palace August 24, 2014 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) (Is 22:19-23; Mt 16:) “Master of the Palace” (Vizier, Prime Minister) was the most important position in the governments of ancient kingdoms, after that of the king himself. So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you... Without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt (cf. Gn 41:39-44). The clearest description of this office for the Kingdom of David is found in Isaiah, who denounces the self-seeking of the current office-holder, Shebna: “You shame of your master’s house! I will thrust you from your office and you will be cast down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim and I will clothe him with your robe and belt, and will commit your authority to his hand. He shall be a [true] father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Is 22:18-22). The robe, the gold chain, the ring, and above all the key symbolize this office, which is one of authority. The Master of the Palace possesses the “keys” to the house. He therefore has full control to open and close, permit and refuse, or as Jesus will later say, to “bind and loose.” Shebna is rebuked because he built a monumental tomb to honor himself. Meanwhile, the nation was under external threat of attack, and internal religious complacency and decay. It is the duty of the Master of the Palace to carry out the work of the king on his behalf, and that work consists in the protection and promotion of the common good. It is a work of service that requires acumen combined with self-sacrifice and dedication. For his failure, Isaiah promises that Shebna will meet his end far from his beloved monument, twirled about and tossed like a useless ball, into the wide open field among his destroyed chariots (22:18). This particular office is of crucial importance to Christianity, because it is how Christ structured his Church. Jesus established a Kingdom, of which he is the King, crowned and reigning gloriously at his Father’s right hand. And as we just celebrated in the Church’s feastday of August 22nd, at his right, “arrayed in gold of Ophir” (Ps 45:9), is his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, reigning as Queen of heaven and earth. However, Christ the King is reigning in heaven. But on earth, where the Kingdom of God is being established through the building up of the Church, the Heavenly King rules by means of his “Vizier,” whom the church calls a “Vicar.” A vicar is the assistant who rules or acts “in the person of” his superior who is the ruler. In the Church, all authority is “vicarious,” which means it is the authority of someone else. The first and most important Vicar in the Church is the formally called “Vicar of Christ,” because he is the “Master of the Palace” for the Kingdom of God on earth, who holds the office of the keys. This office was established by Christ for his Kingdom in today’s Gospel: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church... To you I give the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). This is the office of “Pope.” On earth, no one possesses a higher authority than the pope. Bishops too, and priests, are also vicars of Christ, who act “in the person of Christ” particularly during the celebration of the sacraments. A bishop or priest is a father and teacher, not in his own person, but in the person of Christ, on behalf of Christ. The authority Jesus delegates to Peter (and his successors) is his own personal authority, and it is absolute: “To you I give the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” St. Luke (Lk 10:16) and St. John (Jn 20:22-23) also present Jesus in different contexts giving his personal authority and Spirit to the college of apostles for ruling and celebrating sacraments. It is in this way that Christ “builds” his Church. He establishes in the Church his own infallible power and authority, entrusting these “keys” to various frail human beings whom he chooses and ordains for this ministry. “The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Until the end of time when the King returns, the pope on earth, and the other bishops and priests in union with him, will carry out his work in his name, and will not be overcome. The Catholic understanding of Christ’s authority in the Church, as set forth in Matthew 16, is often challenged by Christians who do not accept the role of the pope as Christ’s vicar, nor the vicarious role played by priests and bishops. After all, it is argued, Jesus said to call no man on earth your father, teacher, or lord, for you have only one Father in heaven, only one teacher and master, the Christ (cf. Mt 23:1-12). But in this other passage from Matthew 23 Jesus is not undoing or denying what he said in Matthew 16. Instead, Matthew 23 is Jesus’ version of Isaiah’s denunciation of Shebna, as we heard in the first reading. Jesus has entrusted divine authority and power to frail and imperfect men such as Peter. And when these men fail through weakness and repent, as Peter did, Jesus rehabilitates them. But when they misuse their authority and stubbornly refuse to be humble, Jesus is severe in denouncing them. In Matthew 23 he excoriates religious leaders who act in their own name, and who like Shebna seek self-aggrandizement. “Obey the scribes and Pharisees,” he tells us, “for they occupy the seat of Moses. But do not imitate their example, for they are hypocrites who like to be seen and honored...” Woe to the scribes and Pharisees who like white-washed tombs practice good appearance on the outside, but on the inside are filled with dead men’s bones and all manner of uncleanness (Mt 23:27). The office of vicar is not to be abused. The “higher” one is in the church, the more he ought to be a servant. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12). We have been blessed in the past century and a half with excellent popes, who were true fathers to the household of God, protecting the flock and serving the common good to the point of heroic self-sacrifice. Several have been canonized or beatified, including Pius IX, Pius X, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II, and more will likely follow. Not all of the 266 popes have lived up to their title, “Servant of the Servants of God,” however, and throughout history there have been more than a few papal “Shebnas,” “Shame of their master’s house.” Likewise, there are many good and holy bishops and priests in the Church, but the household of God continues also to suffer the scourge of petty Shebna’s: priests and bishops who like to be seen, and honored; who love positions of authority and building monuments to their name. Who forget they are vicars, servants, stewards, and not the master. Every clergyman must remember that he is always a #2, never actually the one in charge. “I am the bishop!” “I am the pastor!” therefore mean little, in the context of what Isaiah and Christ teach in the scriptures. More important than who “I am,” is who Christ is: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Every clergyman is therefore a vicar, the personal representative of someone higher, with a solemn obligation to carry out the King’s work in self-sacrificing obedience. Therefore, calling the vicar “father” or “teacher” actually says more about the one the vicar serves faithfully, than the vicar himself. It is not his own name he proclaims, but the identity of the Master. In that confession, the Church finds its unity, and its indestructibility.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 02:51:29 +0000
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