Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Tuesday February 8, 2011

Walking the walk

In the film “Dead Man Walking, a middle-aged but contemporary religious, Sister Helen, played very plausibly by Susan Sarandon, encounters a murderer on death row, Matt Poncelet, condemned to die by lethal injection for the vicious rape and murder of a young woman and her boy friend.

At the request of Poncelet, Sr. Helen accepts the very difficult role as his “chaplain” to accompany him on his final journey from death row to his execution.

The film is clearly about the issue of capital punishment but without the typical stereotypical politicizing often employed by film makers to moralize an audience into a position, pro or con of moral outrage.

However, a secondary and, in my opinion, a far more important theme in the film, was the delicate relationship that Sister Helen assumes with the convicted killer and the script that she adopts not only as a professional counselor but more so as a religious woman committed to a Christian moral code.

She, a social worker among the poor in Louisiana—sensitive to the plight of the killer and his victims, seemingly naive about the underworld of crime, and guileless in the art of punishment, wears her Christianity well and gives ample testimony to the strength of her religious convictions.

At the same time, she readily confesses her inexperience with the complexities of a criminal’s life and a prisoner’s cell, and clearly reveals the conflict between her empathy for the man on death row, and her sympathy for the families of the young victims sacrificed for lust.

How does a woman committed to the teachings of Jesus and dedicated to the ideals of the Gospel in religious life combine truth and compassion; justice and mercy?

How can she do what Jesus did for the good thief, the woman taken in adultery, his own executioners talking the talk and walking the walk with this unrepentant sinner clinging to his denial, seeking only to save his life in the face of the most convincing testimony of his guilt.

How could she dare enter the home of the victims, extend a hand of friendship and a heart of compassion to people whose spirits had been murdered along with their children, and whose faith had been tested beyond human endurance?

But what has this belabored introduction to do with the texts at hand? What is the point?

Isaiah’s words addressed originally to the hardened hearts of Israel
were not easily understood much less readily accepted by people who had become quite comfortable with their lot in life.

Addressed to us this weekend, they are no less easily understood in a more complex world and surely no more readily accepted in a more complicated economy, whatever our lot in life.

Who among us is going to take that homeless man we pass in Morristown or Manhattan into our house this evening and give him a corner of our home much less a corner of our heart?

When Isaiah speaks of bread for the hungry, he is referring not only to bread that is kneaded and baked for the table, but also to the bread of our lives: our time, our talent and our treasure, for those who are hungry for a just share of the world’s pie.

When he speaks of clothing the naked, he is referring not only to coats and cloaks for the body, but also to protection for the human spirit in an increasingly dehumanizing world.

When Isaiah speaks of shelter for the homeless, he is referring not only to a home but also to the emotional support of a human heart to shelter a human soul lost in the sea of life, rudderless and seemingly without destination, oblivious to destiny.

Jesus, the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah took the words of the prophet to heart as the will of the Father who sent him, and continued the theme of the Beatitudes as he spoke to the disciples and now to us:

“You are the salt of the earth… the light of the world.” In other words,
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.

If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill—or city hall. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Now, here comes the hard part. In a world of a down economy and high joblessness, how do we challenge those who drive the economy to be mindful of Jesus’ preferential option for the poor, the hungry and the naked—material, spiritual, emotional and psychological?

Some political parties think they have the answers and the Church itself has been elegant and even imposing in its articulation of a social doctrine and formulation of moral principles to guide us as we straddle a variety of economic philosophies attempting to make justice work in an often unjust world.

Yet, the Church itself as a human institution=has often allied itself with unjust systems and fallen prey to a hostile takeover by worldly interests.

Paul’s words have merit:

“You’ll remember, dear friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s Word, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.

I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.”

In other words, we must continue to allow ourselves to be formed by God’s wisdom, and energized by divine grace both of which are mediated by the one Jesus Christ who lived life with great simplicity, attended to the weak and the weary; the helpless and the hopeless.

We need to be in touch with our own struggle for wholeness and ever more conscious that all humanity is loved by God and that all the works of creation, made by God or human hands, belong to God and that we share responsibility for the lives of one another whatever our race, color or creed; whatever our social, economic or political status.

We can acknowledge our naivete, but we must take the risk to believe that we can make a difference. We can struggle with the Christian script, but we must try to find the right words We can recognize our inadequacy, but we must have the courage to act. We can confess our fumbles and failures, but we must be confident in the forgiveness of God.

No homeless person, no helpless stranger, no hopeless neighbor and no hapless human is beyond the reach of God. As the family of God, we continue to walk the walk with Christ crucified and talk the talk with Jesus risen from the dead.

We are destined to be one family for the love of God. Whatever our political affiliation or religious persuasion, we have been empowered by God to make practical our faith by proclaiming what we believe and living faithfully what we proclaim.

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