As a recap, the spirituality of canon law “concerns how the law serves Christians in their journey towards holiness so that they may save their souls holistically and make heaven on the last day.”Last week’s post examined the first two reasons for obeying Church law: avoiding punishments and pleasing the superior. Today’s post focuses on the third.
The third and ultimate reason for obeying the law should be to do the will of God. Why?
Since the object, origin, and goal of Christian spirituality is God, who has called us to holiness, obedience to Church law should be done to avoid offending God and to improve our relationship with Him as we pursue holiness of life and the holistic salvation of our souls. This is the high point of the spirituality of canon law.
The relationship between obeying the Church’s law and seeking to please God does not always come to the fore. This is due to the restrictions the law ordinarily imposes and the actions the law obliges humans to do. A more probable reason is the imperfection of the law itself, seen in the making and interpretation of laws by the competent authority, who sometimes uses the law to victimise or unnecessarily restrict another’s rights and freedom.
Although this third reason rarely comes into play, it is the reason that should supersede the other two because it is highly unlikely that those who seek to please Christ (the owner of the work and the master of the vineyard) through obeying the Church’s law will displease, disrespect or disobey superiors. If it appears so after one has obeyed the law, the superiors themselves may need to revisit the law to understand the text and context (the spirit of the law). They may also need to reevaluate the laws governing their office, their intention as they serve in that office, and how they carry out the obligations attached to that office.
Indispensability of the third reason
While obedience to avoid punishment and to please the superior will certainly be present due to our human nature, obedience as doing the will of God is indispensable. Why? Seeking to improve or maintain our relationship with God helps us obey the law whilst not focusing on the superior’s shortcomings or the unpleasant behaviour of those governed or served. As earlier stated, it is highly unlikely that those who seek to please Christ through obeying the Church’s law will displease, disrespect or disobey superiors.
However, those who ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY seek to please their superiors will continue to be overburdened with the weaknesses of superiors, which affects how the superiors make and interpret the law.
Furthermore, focusing only and exclusively on the superior undermines spirituality and the salvation of souls. The reason is that the weaknesses of the superior make the journey of holiness more difficult for subordinates. Regarding the vocation to the priesthood and religious life, focusing only and exclusively on the superior not only distracts one from the primary focus on God who calls but also undermines the vocation journey because of the trauma and challenges emanating from the weaknesses of the superior. Hence, obeying as a way to promote the relationship with God helps one see the superior as one who is also called to the same vocation and one who is also weak.
In other words, if obeying the superior becomes the end goal, one would struggle to reconcile the beauty of the vocation to the priesthood and religious life with the superior’s shortcomings, sometimes sustained by institutional bottlenecks and prejudice. Since some superiors can sometimes be vicious and vindictive, obeying as doing the will of God while pursuing holiness helps one to see beyond the superior, irrespective of the challenges faced. It helps priests and religious manage their mental health when being abused by superiors or when denied their rights as stipulated in the Code of Canon Law, provincial and diocesan norms, statutes of the congregation, or other institutional norms.
Such a mentality helps priests and religious to continue in their apostolate without punishing innocent people in a bid to fight back against the superior. One emphasises that the apostolate is God’s and not the superior’s. Hence, one should not refuse to carry out one’s assignment within the apostolate because of the superior’s action. The superior makes life unbearable for the priest or religious, not the people expecting one’s service. Hence, it is immoral and unjust to punish innocent people for the offences of others. Jesus says: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt 18:6).
Regarding those governed, obedience as keeping the will of God is also indispensable because
those who only and exclusively observe the law to please the governed will continue to be discouraged by the governed’s stubbornness, ingratitude, and disinterestedness.
Here,doing the will of God through obeying the law is essential to avoid the weaponisation of sacraments as a response to the attitude of the governed. This happens when a priest refuses to administer the sacraments, especially those of initiation and healing, to certain groups or parts of the parish because they did not financially contribute to the parish, challenged his authority or impeded ecclesiastical governance.
If one considers the obligation to keep the law in celebrating the sacraments for the people as an act to please God, it helps one recall that Christ saved us even when we were sinners. One emphasises that although salvation Christ wrought is communal, individual involvement is necessary to make it personal. When Jesus went to the synagogue in his own country to preach, the people were astounded and took offence at him. Jesus then said to them: “Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them” (Mark 6: 4-5 NRSV).
The spirituality of canon law asks: Why did Jesus still heal some people even when he was rejected? Were these sick people healed part of those who rejected Jesus? Would they reject Jesus and still beg Jesus for healing? Did Jesus forcefully lay his hands on these sick people without their consent? Would they have been cured if they did not believe in Christ’s power?
Hence, St. Paul emphasises individual salvation when he admonishes us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). As St Augustine says: “God created us without us…but will not save us without us.”
Therefore, one must note that the Church does not impose group sanctions when it concerns the administration of sacraments. The Church does not weaponise the sacraments because they are the means of saving grace. If an outstation opposes a priest, it is certainly not all members of that outstation that support the action. Hence, depriving the entire outstation of the sacraments in reaction is not only illegal but immoral. Since the faithful who did not oppose the priest are entitled to receive spiritual riches from their sacred pastors, the pastors are obliged to provide them because the individuals did not infringe any law or impede ecclesiastical governance.
Providence dimension
Focusing on the apostolate and the owner of the work (master of the vineyard) rather than the superior helps us to activate and maintain God’s providence in our lives. When we recognise we are working for God, we dedicate ourselves to the task God gives us through our superiors, regardless of what our superiors do to us or the behaviour of those we serve. When God sees our hearts and our dedication to him, he strengthens us to weather the storm. It could be through people who suddenly come into our lives and support us or empowering our family to support us.
Indeed, there are several testimonies among priests, seminarians, and religious. In 2024, I researched divine providence among seminarians, priests, and religious differently. In all instances, over 70 percent of the sample population indicated that they experienced God’s financial providence in the last six months. Psalm 37:25 states: “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
As this is a new journey, criticisms and recommendations will be helpful. Kindly reach me on WhatsApp or through email: chidiebere.obiodu@existentialtheology.com
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
