Franciscan friar Richard Rohr once said that people are broken in two places: in their sexuality and in their response to authority. That’s a fair reading of the Book of Genesis' story about Adam and Eve, who first defy God’s rule and then betray one another. It’s the second fracture Rohr mentions that’s really the primary one: the break with authority. It’s particularly vital to heal that one if you expect to make any progress in the life of faith.

Begin by admitting it: Authority rankles. Infants squirm in the arms of their parents, and children from the age of 2 learn to say no. Life consists of an endless stream of authorities who tell you what you must and must not do: from teachers and pastors to police officers, popes, and governments. Every dull task winds up being assigned to you as a chore, homework, or employment. If you had only ten commandments to obey it wouldn’t be so hard, but you are walled in by so many Thou Shalts and Thou Shouldn’ts that it can feel as if the world’s expectations are suffocating you.

Would life really be better if you were not obliged to anyone for anything? Countless generations of hobos have jumped into boxcars believing that creed, and if life were a solitary proposition, if God had only created an Adam or an Eve and left it at that, maybe there would be a need for far fewer laws, perhaps only one. As the story goes, however, even if there’s one law and one person, that rule is going to be broken, and on a globe comprised of billions of people each breaking their handful of rules or cutting corners on this or that social agreement, chaos is the result.

Every saint recommends the way of obedience as the true road to happiness. Give in to holy authority and let it fashion you in the ways of holiness. That would be quite a different story than the one about Adam and Eve. Very few take that route, so it’s hard to dream what society would be like if more did; but you don’t have to wonder what you would be like if you embraced perfect obedience to holy authority: You only have to look to Jesus. From the beginning he proved himself to be the servant of God Isaiah described, that hoped-for champion of divine justice. In this week when you are particularly mindful of the vocation to which your baptism draws you, you might consider embracing only one objective: obedience. If you get that right, you stand a chance of getting everything right.

Related scripture links

Noah’s ark: Gen. 6-9; 1 Pet. 3:20-21
Baptism as purification in OT: Ezek. 36:25-26; Zech. 13:1
Go and baptize: Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:38
Saint Paul and baptism: Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12
Jesus is made sin for us: 2 Cor. 5:21

Catechism links

Baptism: CCC 535-537; 1213-1274