Crèche scene from Cathedral of the Madeleine, Utah
(photo by Br. Sixtus Roslevich while attending SEEK25)

Brother Benedict Maria, O.S.B., who is presently completing his program of preparation for priestly ordination at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, offered this homily in the Abbey Church on the Feast of the Holy Family, while back in Portsmouth on his Christmas break.

Obedience is not convenient. It's not convenient for us, and it wasn't convenient for Jesus either. It might surprise you that the Greek verb, ὑποτάσσω (hypotasso) – obedience, meaning to be under someone's authority – is used both in Colossians (our second reading) where Saint Paul was instructing wives to be subordinate to their husbands, and in today’s Gospel, where Jesus is being obedient to his parents, Mary and Joseph. Now, I know I might be stirring the pot a bit here, maybe more for some of you than others, but I want to remind you that whenever scripture challenges us with something inconvenient, there is always a deeper meaning to uncover. Obedience, in its truest sense, is not about blind submission, but a gift freely given and humbly received, that leads to great glory in heaven. Neither is obedience a weapon to be wielded nor a burden to be imposed. It is not a license to control or manipulate. Saint Benedict, in his rule says, “the first step of humility is unhesitating obedience.” He describes, among other things, monks obeying their superior as if the command came directly from God. And this makes sense to him, because Jesus himself said, "Whoever listens to you listens to me." Saint Benedict goes on to say that this obedience should be given gladly because, “God loves a cheerful giver.” If a monk obeys grudgingly, grumbling even in heart, then even though he carries out the order, his action will not be accepted with favor by God.

Now, those in authority must receive obedience with a servant's heart, emulating Christ who laid down his life for his bride, the Church. Joseph and Mary were icons of this mystery. They exemplify this dynamic of loving obedience. The gift of obedience was mutually exchanged in the Holy Family. This is the beautiful mystery embodied in the Holy Family. And this is what they offer to us in today's feast, helping us to grow in holiness and to raise our children with the same diligent love and care they gave to their son, Jesus. The stakes are indeed high, but the rewards are eternal. From the Gospel narration, we can see that it was not convenient for Jesus when he found out that he what he did was not being understood. From his parents' point of view, he went missing for three days. From Jesus' point of view, he was just hanging out with his Heavenly Father. I'm sure the children who are present here today will totally relate to this experience of Jesus, where you are 100% sure that you are doing the right thing, but your parents have different ideas. Jesus' response to this misunderstanding reveals a profound truth because he always obeyed his Father's will. This meant honoring the earthly authority of Mary and Joseph, recognizing the pattern of relationship established by God. Mutual subordination, and their loving obedience to one another, is what made the Holy Family truly “holy.”

This is opposite to our world, which worships the gods of convenience. If power, money, lust, and fame are the idols of this generation, then convenience is the altar where we sacrifice to them. The world is infected by this disease, and we also cooperate with it. Just think about how easily we fall into little convenience traps even during Christmas. It's convenient to skip caroling, to send a quick text instead of handwritten cards, to buy a generic gift instead of making something special. It's definitely convenient to avoid the hassle of travel to get together with your family. These are just little things that go with the season, but out there are even scarier, more horrific examples of convenience gone wrong, like the horror of not letting a child be born because it's inconvenient to raise them. The horror of destroying an entire country, its people, culture, and ethnicity because their existence is inconvenient. I'm sure you can come up with your own long list of things from the world, and maybe some in your life, where convenience has gone wrong.

But let us move our gaze to the Holy Family again, a family where each individual obeyed the Heavenly Father's will. It was not convenient for Joseph to take pregnant Mary into his house and make her his wife. It was not easy to obey the authority and travel to Bethlehem with his fully pregnant wife. It was not easy going from house to house to find a place for his wife to give birth. It was not easy for Mary to say “yes” to the will of the Father even when she did not know any man. It was not convenient to take her nursing child and escape to Egypt with Joseph. It was not easy for Mary to be obedient to the entirety of the Heavenly Father's will, first to let her son go, and later to stand alone at the foot of the cross. It was not convenient for Jesus to say “yes” to the Father's will in the agony of the garden. Jesus' ultimate act of obedience was his passion and death on the cross. The cross is unavoidable for us, as it was for Jesus in obedience; the pain is real for us, as it was for was Jesus in obedience. But through His loving obedience to the Father, he redeemed the world – and we can co-operate with Him.

So, why delay anymore? As we adore the newborn Christ child, let's come to him with open hearts, ready to obey his Father's will, a will that will unfold for us in this Eucharist.
Br. Benedict Maria preaches at Mass
on Feast of Holy Family

Abbot Matthew Stark, OSB
Homily from January 15, 2025 (Feast of Ss. Maurus and Placid)

This story is in Saint Gregory the Great’s Dialogues, which contain his account of Saint Benedict‘s life. The story is that the boy oblate, Placid, drawing water when he fell into the stream and was being carried off by the current. Saint Benedict knew this by revelation and called the older boy oblate, Maurus, told him what had happened and told him to go rescue Placid. And Maurus, having asked a blessing from the abbot, ran off, saw the boy, grabbed him by the hair, dragged him out onto land and saved him. He only then realized that he had been walking on the water. Saint Benedict says the miracle occurred because of Maurus’ obedience. Little Placid, however, said he saw the abbot’s cowl over him and thought that Abbot Benedict was rescuing him. Of course, I guess, both are responsible. The boy by his obedience, and Saint Benedict by his holiness. The story is taken as an example of obedience. For Saint Benedict, we know from the Rule, obedience is very important. In the chapter on obedience, he begins with the words: “The first- degree of humility is obedience without delay.” In other words, a humble monk is obedient. An obedient monk is humble. And if you think about it, that is very true, or should be. In chapter 71 of the Rule, a chapter is urging monks to obey one another, Saint Benedict says that it is by the road of obedience that the monks go to God. By the road of obedience, we go to God.

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Ab. Matthew Stark (1974)