HOMILY WEEK 02 02 – Year I
Just Theatre:
Optional Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
(Is 1:10-31; Ps 50; Mt 23:1-12)
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Brother Tom Novak OMI of Winnipeg, makes social justice a main thrust of his ministry and was involved with a drama group called Just Theatre. They centered all their performances on an issue of justice.
Today’s readings, using a little imagination, are like a play with four main themes: repentance, humility, charity and justice. The three main characters in this play are Isaiah, the Psalmist and Jesus.
The message this play imparts is that repentance and forgiveness can never be separated from humility and are completed by charity and justice. Put simply, we are to repent, be humble, caring and just.
As the curtain opens, Isaiah comes on stage first to share a vision about the Word of God. He poetically pleads for us to repent, to let go of sin, to seek justice and to do good to the poor and oppressed. Isaiah assures us that although our sins are like scarlet, they shall become white as snow. If we are willing and obedient, then we can receive God’s forgiveness, and we shall live. He even goes so far as to say that we will be redeemed by justice and that those who repent will be redeemed by righteousness – a very bold statement indeed.
The Psalmist then makes his or her entrance to music and singing, and adds to the message of Isaiah – God’s saving power will be shown to the upright, to the just. He upbraids those who think piety and sacrifices will make them holy, instead of charity, just deeds, gratitude and going the right way. These latter will see the salvation of God. One could suspect that James wrote the script, because of his stark claim that faith without works is dead.
Then Jesus steps on stage to chastise the scribes and Pharisees for their false pride, their showy piety and burdensome religiosity they hide behind instead of caring for others and acting justly. One could say they are addicted to religion, worshipping not God, but their own self-made religious laws and practices they could actually use to excuse themselves from the messy work of caring for the orphans, widows and aliens. In that sense, they are like the priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan who excused themselves, for religious purposes, from caring for the injured man by the side of the road.
Then, in the last line of the play, Jesus slips in a very important teaching to counter all that prideful religiosity of the scribes and Pharisees – be humble, for those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who are humble will be exalted.
This play should have a sequel. This sequel would feature Jesus alone on the stage giving us a monologue – reciting Matthew 25 from memory, to emphasize the gravity of the message of the readings – that what counts for Jesus and for the Kingdom of God is not showy piety or self-centered religiosity, but caring for others, especially the orphans, widows and aliens, through works of justice.
Matthew 25 is pure, just theatre: those who will inherit the kingdom are those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoners. It is very striking that what we so often seem to focus on in church life today (rubrics, protocol, worship, morality, devotions) important as they are, are not even mentioned as the criteria for entering the kingdom of God.
This should give us pause to reflect on our lives – are we perhaps missing the mark? Are we living Matthew 25, or conveniently not taking its message seriously? Even one step in the right direction is a start. Blessed Frederic Ozanam, found of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, began his work by delivering his own supply of winter firewood to a woman who was recently widowed. One act of charity at a time, he and his friends looked after the poor of Paris. Eventually, their fervor and authentic practice of the gospel caught on. Now some 800,000 members in 140 countries are following along his same path of concern for the poor.
Saints Perpetua & Felicity
Vivia Perpetua, a noblewoman, and Felicity, a slave, whom we honor today, were killed for their faith on March 7, 203, in Carthage, a Roman province of Africa. Perpetua decided to become a Christian knowing it might involve her death while still nursing her baby. As her husband is not mentioned, it is assumed she was a widow. When her father tried to dissuade her, she replied she could not be anything but a Christian. Perpetua’s diary and accounts by eyewitnesses provide a vivid picture of the martyr’s experiences. The persecution of Christians by Emperor Severus included several catechumens, among them Perpetua with her infant son and the pregnant slave Felicity. They were baptized while under arrest. Perpetua had visions of what would happen to them, which only deepened her resolve. Felicity gave birth to a baby girl two days before their execution, who was adopted and raised as a Christian by one of the Christian women of Carthage. After being flogged, they were led to the amphitheater along with other Christians, exposed to the wild beasts and beheaded. Perpetua and Felicity stood side by side, and are now the patron saints of mothers, expectant mothers, ranchers and butchers.
The Eucharist itself is like a two-act play: the liturgy of the Word, and the liturgy of the Eucharist – the first calling us to greater justice, and the other empowering us to act with greater justice and love for the poor and needy around us.
May our celebration empower us to make of our lives a dynamic play of repentance and humbly working for greater justice in our world. The one biblical writer who said it best and most succinctly was Micah: we are to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with our God.
