How does one get to be given such an honorific as “Master”?
In some martial arts it comes as a result of reaching a certain level or
superiority in your discipline. But in the Catholic church you achieve it by
being ordained. Getting yourself through the seminary and jumping through the
required holy hoops. A priest is automatically referred to as “reverend” and “Father”
and given all forms of unearned respect. Herein lies the inherent danger.
People give to priests a respect they neither earn nor
deserve.
There is an innate human need to have Rabbis or teachers.
But Jesus told His disciples to not allow themselves to be addressed as ‘teacher’
or ‘Father’ because He said, “You have only one Father and He is in heaven” and
“you are all brothers.”
So why do we persist in addressing priests as “Father”? I
use the preface to my name to distinguish myself from the 7,819 other Kevin Lee
on Facebook and the over two thousand Kevin Lees on Twitter so my real friends
can find me, but I never referred to myself as “Father Kevin Lee” in
conversation except when I needed certain doors opened.
So why do we need priests and gurus and Masters and other
experts to teach us what we ought to know already? It’s because many of us
humans lacked good fathering in our childhood and are still looking for leaders
and father-figures.
This is a human weakness and implies an immaturity when we
seek the advice or guidance of others instead of seeking to communicate
directly with the Divine.
I also fall into that category of immature humans who seek a
father figure or teacher here on earth. I used to seek out spiritual ‘gurus’
and ask advice about what they thought I should be doing with my life. I made
the frequent mistake of assuming that because this person or that looked ‘holy’
or lived what I deemed a holy life, they were closer to God than me. I often
bestowed that trust in priests or religious brothers that, superficially at
least, displayed a peace or tranquillity that I attributed to being at one with
God.
How sad I was when I was regularly betrayed or proved wrong
about those I entrusted my spiritual belief in.
One by one they showed their flaws and the cracks that I was
not looking to discover, but God pointed out to me. I say it’s sad because it
was something I was disappointed to discover. I want to believe that there are
men and women who are totally altruistic and seeking only to serve God through His
earthly children. But one by one my illusions have been shattered. As I got to
know people who knew them more intimately that myself I saw them for who they
really were and slowly their rocklike façade eroded and that pristine image I had
created for them gradually dulled.
I still believe that there are holy men and women walking
this mortal path but I am yet to meet them. I do have some close approximations
to perfection whom I have gotten to know over the years but I will reserve my judgement
of them until I learn more about them. The reason I say this is because even
those I was convinced were holy and living examples of Jesus for me in the past
have all shown their true colours in later years and proved my theory that true
holiness does not exist on this planet, or in this generation.
Even the saints I have admired have shown a darker side to
me in my later investigations of their lives. For instance, although I admire
Padre Pio and revere him for his holiness and sacrifice, I have met older
Italians who knew him and described his fierce temper in the confessional or
his judgemental dismissal of those who did not make a perfect confession to
him. I even heard from an Italian parishioner whose mother knew him well that
he hit some women with the cord he wore around his waist because they were
talking in church.
I had decided to write about more of the saints at this
juncture but my Guardian Angel prompted me not to. The reason, as he explained,
is that I have made my point and my opinion of another’s sanctity based on
another’s observations hardly serves as proof. So I leave it at that. I do
expect I will keep searching for a holy person who will inspire me to want to
try harder to follow Jesus’ example and live a life on this side of the grave that
better approximates the kind of existence Jesus demonstrated is possible.
I wish I could know a human being who is so in touch with
God that he or she could lead me to a better knowledge and purer love of the
eternal life. If you know such a person, please, please tell me!
Blessings on your day!
