This last week we celebrated the feast day of a very important Saint: Saint Gregory the Great. Saint Gregory was pope at the beginning of the 7th century and he’s one of only two Popes to be given the title “the great” the other being Pope St. Leo the Great.
Saint Gregory was born into the world of politics—he was the son of a Roman senator. Because of his great administrative talents and moral integrity St. Gregory came to occupy the highest civil office in Rome, that of Roman Prefect, when he was only 30 years old. And yet, Gregory desired to devote his life more fully to the service of God, and became a quiet, simple servant of the Lord as a Benedictine monk.
God, however, had other plans for Gregory. He was asked by the Pope to leave the monastery and become the Pope’s personal representative to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. And Gregory was so talented in administration and preaching and teaching that when the Pope died, all of the priests and people of Rome acclaimed him to be the new Pope.
He is called “the Great” not just because he was a talented leader. He is called “Great” because he poured himself out in service to the Church in an exemplary, yet humble way. He knew that true human greatness is not found in athletic trophies or political office or wealth, but through humble service to Christ.
And I came across a wonderful commentary by Saint Gregory on the prophet Ezekiel, where Ezekiel is receiving instructions by God for his role as a prophet. God says to Ezekiel “You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.”
A watchman—St. Gregory explains is one who stands on a high place so that he can see the enemy coming from afar. When I visited Scotland at the beginning of the year, I visited Hadrian’s Wall, marking the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire. The Roman Soldiers appointed watchmen would patrol the top of Hadrian’s wall and watch the forests to the north from which the enemy was likely to approach. The watchman would stand vigilant, ready to alarm the encampment, not if, but when, the enemy approached.
And the enemy was formidable. The Romans at Hadrian’s Wall called the tribesmen up in northern Scotland there, the pictae—from which we get the word picture. The pictae would paint themselves in camouflage and would attack at night. And so the Romans at the edge of the empire had to be extra vigilant, extra watchful because the enemy was cunning and dangerous. After all, the pictae had kept the great Roman Empire from expanding further north.
“You, Son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel.” God is speaking here to Ezekiel. As a prophet, Ezekiel was tasked with watching and pointing out the spiritual enemies of God’s people—those spiritual idolatries which so tempted the Jewish people and kept them enslaved in sin—kept them from the spiritual greatness God wanted for them. So Ezekiel had to watch and issue God’s warnings to the people. Such is the role of the prophet—to be watchmen. And every Christian is baptized to be a prophet--a prophetic watchman--to stand vigilant against evil--to warn souls and protect souls--to urge souls to turn to God.
Christian parents are to be prophetic watchmen for their children, too right? Parents are to guard their children from things that are harmful to their minds, bodies, and souls. I can hear my parents saying, “Don’t run with scissors, don’t play in traffic, put down the video games and read a book” Now, parents must be even more vigilant about the popular ideas their children are being exposed to on the internet and classrooms—ideas, that if followed, lead children away from the life God wants for them. And there are terrible pressures in our society now on parents, which tell parents, pressures to just let the kids do what they want. But children need to be protected, their brains and their virtues are not fully formed; not to mention that the enemy today is camouflaged—they smile, they talk about inclusivity and equality and compassion, but rooted in error, they lead so many young ones astray to distrust and hate of right religion.
Pope Gregory explained how the bishop in his diocese is a watchman. Next week, there will be a flyer in the bulletin from the bishops of Ohio regarding the upcoming vote on the Amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November. Unlike issue 1 back on August 8, for which Catholics were free to exercise prudential judgment regarding their personal politics, the November issue is not simply a political issue. As one of our local pastors has said, “it is not a matter of Right vs. Left, but right vs. wrong” for the change to the constitution being proposed would open up unfettered access to abortion up until the time of birth as well as impacting parental consent for abortion and transgender issues. The Watchmen are telling us that we need to fast and pray to defeat this repugnant issue.
In the Gospel, this weekend, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” Obeying or disobeying the good watchmen with their sound and stern teaching will have eternal ramifications.
In his commentary on the watchman, St. Gregory also talks about how difficult it is for the watchman to remain focused on his job. Pope Gregory lamented how as Pope, not only did he have to deal with all the problems of the church but also what he called “worldly men”— who did not always have the Gospel as their main priority.
If it was difficult for the pope, a former monk, and man most learned in scripture and prayer, to remain vigilant against distractions, how much more do we need to practice those virtues of the watchmen: focus, vigilance, discipline, balance of work and rest so that we do not grow drowsy in our duties.
It’s hard to remain vigilant when we are surrounded by the worldly. Have you ever been visiting family out of town and it becomes apparent that they aren’t planning on going to Church that weekend? It takes a real effort to fulfill our religious obligations when those around us don’t. It takes a real effort to follow the commandments when it seems like everyone else is disobeying them. When everyone else is shoplifting and pirating, why shouldn’t I? When every one else is disengaging from society just to play video games all day, why shouldn’t I? When every other young couple is cohabitating, why shouldn’t we?
So like the watchman, we must constantly be on guard against that creeping worldliness that seeks to lull us to sleep in our Christian duty to guard our community, our families, and our souls from evil.
May the Holy Spirit help us to be watchful, and vigilant, sober and alert, with hearts unhardened to the voice of the truth and goodness of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
