Do we respect the authority of Jesus? Even unclean spirits did!

Jesus taught with authority. And by His authority, He commanded unclean spirits to flee. Jesus even gave “the Twelve … authority over unclean spirits.” [Mark 6:7] He did not give this authority to all of His disciples, just the Twelve that He chose. And the Twelve “drove out many demons” as we are told later in Mark 6:13.

Jesus chose certain people to give His authority. We cannot pretend to have authority from Jesus that He has not given to us. Jesus has given the priests and bishops authority that us laity do not have. Why? Ask Jesus. I will focus more on what it means to us. The priests and bishops have authority that has been given to them by Jesus. That is a large responsibility for them to live up to and we are to be respectful of their God-given authority.

This is very similar to a family. Parents have a large responsibility towards their children. The parents have authority given to them by the One who created their children and placed them into their family. The children are to respect the God-given authority their parents possess. If children would have the same authority as their parents, the family would be in chaos. And so it is with the Church.

The Church is not just similar to a family; the Church is a family. Jesus after all called the Church His bride. And we call the Church our Mother, so we relate to the Church as children, respecting the authority of Jesus and His bride. Remember, children who do not respect their mother often have to deal her husband.