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Who Can Lay a
Hand on the Lord’s Anointed and be Guiltless (1 Sam 26:9)
We finally come to a conclusion of this important series on charitable speech and slander. It has been an extremely important point in our spiritual lives, and has its root in the eighth commandment. We discussed the necessity of it, the consequences when we fail, the importance of thinking well of others as well as the conditions for a just judgment, and how to speak ill of others when necessity demands. The last installment in this unit has to do with a special portion of the Church, the clergy (bishops, deacons and priests). Who among us has not been scandalized by the clergy at one point or another? And even the pagans have taken scandal at the misconduct of some of our priests and bishops. The problem I wish to underline here is no riddle which could not be solved by applying the principles explained in the previous eight articles. Only that with the clergy, a further principle comes into play which heretofore has not surfaced: the fact that they are consecrated to God. What I say here also applies, therefore, in a slightly different manner, to those consecrated as religious. To deface or affront something sacred or blessed constitutes a sacrilege, which, done with full knowledge and full consent, is matter of mortal sin. Sacrilege is, specifically, a gross outrage against a hallowed person, place or thing. If someone ridicules a rosary, spits on a bible, disobeying liturgical norms in the Mass or, worse still, throws a blessed chalice into the sewer, he commits sacrilege. And even among mortal sins there are degrees, some worse than others. Curiously, priests have the potential of committing more and worse sacrileges than anyone since he handles the sacred things all day every day. Pray for your priests! A priest is consecrated in his flesh both by the imposition of hands and by the anointing with chrism. Body and soul he is set aside for the sacred mysteries. By his character, he makes visible exteriorly in the Church the priesthood of Jesus Christ, for which he is called “another Christ.” His mission is to save souls, especially by the sacraments of the Eucharist and holy communion. His offices are that of teaching, governing and sanctifying the faithful. Therefore, hitting him, swearing at him, and even slandering him bears with it the sin of blasphemy. Yes, that holds true, even when the clergy member is a total disaster and deserves ten times what you dished out to him. And don’t be too surprised: the only canonized parish priest whom I know is St. John Vianney. Most priests fall far, far below the ideal they should live up to. Don’t let that lead you, however, into sin; be more clever than that. Think of King Saul, anointed over Israel, but later he sinned and became possessed. He tried to kill the next king whom the prophet Samuel anointed, King David. Twice while he fled Saul, David had the opportunity to kill him. Yet David answered, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master [Saul], the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord,” (1 Sam 24:6) and “ Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?... But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.” (1 Sam 26:9,11) Applying what we discussed in our previous articles, we know that one can sin by slander, calumny, detraction, lying, and otherwise ruining a person’s good name without good reason; in the case of a priest, the mortal sin is double, for it includes sacrilege. We also know that, yes, there are times when we truthfully ascertain something about the evil of a person, and in our judgment, we have good will, knowledge of the truth, and competency to judge; in which case, we can apply all that was said in the last article about how to speak of the priest’s ills or evils without falling into sin: avoiding scandal to tender souls, building, excusing when possible, and refraining from any excess. Also, St. Francis’ exhortation to respond strongly and loudly, as if to a wolf among the sheep, is perfectly appropriate. And what is said here for priests goes for deacons and bishops as well, naturally. I continually get the question, “Fr. Ward, I know a priest or bishop who did x or is involved with y…” and they are justly scandalized, “… so what should I do?” I tell you this: what you have to do is figure out for yourself what you have to do. Much of what is said in this series will keep you faithful to Christ’s command of charity: avoid rash judgment, be kind in your response, investigate to be sure you’re right, solve the problem without causing another, etc. But for God’s sake, do something, and don’t just sit there and complain and gossip! And don’t wait for someone else to tell you what you are supposed to do. I just enjoin you to be especially careful, for when dealing with the clergy, the stakes are higher: the evil you can perpetrate may be greater due to sacrilege; but conversely, the good that you bring forth may also be greater. You will answer to God, and God alone, for how you treat your priests, be it ill or good. |
