The Catholic Calendar for Monday, September 12, 2005
The Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Most Holy Name of Mary

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Timothy 2:1-8
Psalm 28:2, 7, 8-9
Luke 7:1-10

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Today's First Reading and Gospel refer to those with legitimate authority. It is a subject that has always fascinated me. When teaching Confirmation Class I often discovered that my students didn't really understand the origin of their parents legitimate authority over them. They failed to see that their parents had a holy responsibility and would be held accountable for their exercise of it.

Children, therefore, need to be taught that parental authority is legitimate because it is God who grants it and expects that it will be properly executed. On the other hand God expects that children will properly obey their parents, for in obeying them they obey Him.

Proper civil authority is also based on the authority which comes from God and presupposes that it's for the common good that laws are enacted and enforced. What then is the big deal about all this? It is no less than this: that all disorder stems from the fundamental failure to respect the authority of God and others who, by right, have legitimate authority. Until the Creator is obeyed, no lasting order will ever exist.

Let us pray that all will come to love God and follow all He commands. Then, let us pray for our leaders and those with legitimate authority who have been appointed or elected to serve others. They need our prayers to be true imitators of the Just and Holy One who alone is the ultimate authority over us all.

- Donna Raye Nelson, OCDS
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)