The Hierarchy of Being
The ontological hierarchy of creation reveals to us who we are in relation to God. At the top of the hierarchy is God Himself, below Him the angels who were created to serve in Heaven, below them human beings who were created to care for the world, and below us the animals who are under our protection. When creation itself is ordered in such a way, we should recognize that anything that is naturally meant to follow the Will of God will be ordered in the same way. Consider the Church and her hierarchy: at the top we have the Pope, under him we have the bishops, under them we have priests, and under them we have the faithful. Consider the family: at the head (according to the organization laid out by St. Paul) is the father of the house, under his protection is the mother, and under both of their protection is the children.
Hierarchy often makes us uncomfortable. Those who are predisposed to be in positions at the top may be uncomfortable with that fact out of some disordered sense of humility. Those who are predisposed to be in lower positions may be uncomfortable with it because they are subject to the authority of another. This completely misunderstands the purpose of a hierarchy in the first place; Those who are at “the top” of hierarchies are not meant to be tyrants or slavemasters, but instead are meant to be protectors and providers for those beneath them who cannot provide for themselves in whatever way that may be. A good way to look at this is to pay attention to the authority that God gave to humanity - it was dominion over the earth and all of its creatures, not domination. But even when we consider the immense power and responsibility given to us as human beings, we are still subject to the power and the authority of creatures above us, namely the angels, and all of us are subject to ultimate authority of the One True God. In that ultimate authority, what does God do? Does He dominate the angels, abuse humanity, torture the animals? No. He loves, cares, serves, and protects His creation, so much so that He lowered Himself to our level on the ontological hierarchy. This is the level that unites the mystical rationality found only in Heavenly things and the beauty of a physical world through the bodies of His beloved creatures. In his divinity, Christ still uniquely exercised his divine authority on earth, as we hear in today’s Gospel of him casting out demons, who are fallen angels capable of overpowering humans. He commanded, and they obeyed, not because he was human, but because he was divine - it was in his own name that they were driven out.
As one of us, Christ revealed that our place on the “Hierarchy of Being” is perfect. We were placed in this position because God wanted us to bring the created world, of which we were placed in charge, back to Him perfected. When we showed Him we were incapable of doing so on our own through the Fall, He did not punish us arbitrarily, restart His process of creation, or wipe us out; instead, He did what all leaders must do in such a situation. He worked within those who needed help the most to show them how to rise to their capacity. Just as a good father would work with a good mother to help their children prepare for their own eventual responsibilities, God came to us with the help of His angels to sanctify us and to help us to return to our original created capacity. However, He did so by becoming one of us. Christ taught as one with authority because he was the One with authority. He lowered Himself to serve and protect His creation, which as ones with our own authority, we are also called to lower ourselves for those under our care.
Today's Readings: