An Amputated Foot

I WAS amused recently to read of a burglar spared jail on condition that he moves back home, and helps with the housework. The judge told the young man to make his bed, do the washing up and respect his parents. His mother welcomed the sentence, but the young man complained, “I think he was a bit strict, saying I have to tidy my room or go to prison.”

Respect for parents is, of course, one of the Ten Commandments: Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God has promised you. There is a lot in the Bible about this matter. I like to remind my own children of Ben Sirach’s advice in Ecclesiasticus: “Help your father in his old age, and be patient with him even when his mind is failing.”

 

Anthony’s horror

 

I expect you all know the story of the young man who went to St. Anthony to make his confession. Among his other sins, he confessed that he had once kicked his mother so hard that she had suffered a nasty fall. Anthony, probably thinking of the Biblical text, “If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off,” muttered under his breath, “The foot that strikes father or mother deserves to be cut off.” Unfortunately, the young man heard him, and was so overcome by feelings of guilt that he went straight home and tried to hack off his foot. It is not clear whether he cut it off entirely, or merely mutilated it, but the news flew through the city and reached St. Anthony. Maybe some people thought that this was the sort of penance that he imposed!

Anthony was horrified. He ran to the young man’s house, offering anxious prayers to God. He took the injured foot and re-set it in its proper place, making the sign of the cross over it. The foot became firm and whole, and soon the young man was able to stand on it again. In fact he leaped about praising God, and showered Anthony with profuse thanks.

 

Respectful listening

 

There is quite a contrast between the young man who thought the judge too strict for asking him to tidy his room, and the one who tried to cut off his own foot because he thought that was required! Yet the two cases resemble one another, because they concern family life and in particular respect between children and parents.

Respect must go two ways. Writing to the Ephesians, St. Paul first tells children to obey their parents, but immediately goes on to tell fathers not to provoke their children. Obedience is not just slavish conformity, but ‘respectful listening’, and those who bear authority should listen to those under their care, even though in the end they must make decisions, which they expect to be carried out. Our Lord tells us clearly that, in God’s kingdom, those who rule must regard themselves as servants, not masters. The Good Shepherd leads by example, not by bullying.

 

He went down

 

In his commentary on the Gospel for the second Sunday after Christmas, the story of the finding of Jesus by Mary and Joseph in the Temple, Anthony  considers St. Luke’s final sentence: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.” In his usual way, he takes the words “He went down” not simply as a geographical detail – the journey from the capital city to a country village. It suggests the whole process of the Incarnation, in which the Word of God, the almighty Creator, reveals Himself in the life of a human child growing to maturity. Pride seeks to magnify itself, humility is happy to remain unnoticed. Our Lord took no short cuts on His way back from earth to heaven.

In His childhood, Jesus was subject to Mary and Joseph, to a village craftsman and his wife, to His mother and the man who stood in place of His Father. “Whoever heard anything like it?” asks Anthony. “Let no philosopher, then, disdain to obey and be subject to a fisherman; no wise man to a simple, no educated man to an uneducated, no prince’s son to someone of lowly birth.” In his day, as in our own, bishops and priests may not have had the academic distinction of a university professor. They may not have come from the same social circle as the high and mighty of this world. The professors and the princes may have looked down their noses at their priests. In so doing, says our Saint, they fail to follow the example of Christ.

 

A fresh start

 

I imagine that the judge, in the story I began with, saw before him not just ‘a burglar’, but a young human being who had the potential to make a fresh start. Prison might simply harden him; a mother’s care and the support of his family might work more effectively. But there should be conditions. How many parents sigh over the inability of their offspring to keep their rooms tidy, to help with household tasks; in short to learn to share with their parents the responsibilities of running the household!

Many young people today, because of the economic situation, still live with their parents even in their twenties and thirties. Older couples may find they need to have aged and infirm parents living with them. There are many tensions to be overcome in such situations, a great need for patience and tolerance. At the Last Supper, our Lord told his Apostles, “I will not call you servants any more, I call you friends.” The word for ‘servant’ in some ancient languages is the same as that for ‘child’. As children grow up, both they and their parents need to change the relationship. Our Lord might have said, “I will not call you children, but brothers and sisters.” Young people often say, “I don’t want to be treated like a child.” Fair enough: but maturity brings responsibilities. As soon as you begin to behave like an adult, you will be treated as an adult.

I hope that, on reflection, the young man appreciated the judge’s mercy and discernment, and took the opportunity given him.