Good Friday

April 10, 2009

Homily for the Anglican Usage Mass

of the

St. Thomas More Society

celebrated at

St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church , 1013 Wood Street

Scranton, PA

John 18:1 – 19:42

            In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen

            My children have become aware of late that evil afflicts the world in which they live.  Several times at dinner recently, they have asked the question, “Why?”  Having seen in a movie about Pope John Paul II a representation of the terror bombings of Polish civilians, they asked me, “Why did the bad Germans kill little boys and girls?”  Having prayed since before they can remember for the unborn babies of all the pregnant women we know, they have asked, “Why do some mommies not let their babies be born?”  And having heard about a woman we know who is raising her children alone, they wondered, “Why do some daddies leave their wives and children?”  Our feeble answer has always been to remind them about the sinfulness of mankind, but today I will answer their questions with a bit more precision, for I will answer the question, “Why was Jesus, the Son of God and Lord of Life, killed?”  The answers to this question are the answers to all three questions my children recently have posed, and they serve to answer every question about why sin afflicts this world so terribly.

            The first answer is cowardice.  I know well that the moral sense of many people is degraded, but there exist in every age a great number of others who know well the difference between right and wrong.  Because the devil cannot change the eternal law that governs the differences between right and wrong, his tactic is to be brazen, to scream louder for the wrong than he thinks people are willing to scream for what is right.  Often he is correct in his calculations, as people cower before his arrogance.

            For example, we note in the Passion narrative that when Jesus was arrested, the officers who came to get Him brought weapons and far more people than were necessary to arrest a man who had been preaching openly in Jerusalem that very week.  The effect is to reduce resistance among those who might stand up for the rights of an innocent man.  The weapons were not needed to subdue Jesus, but those, even among the Sadducees and Pharisees, who might object to this miscarriage of justice.  And indeed, the intended effect is obtained, and the cowardice of many is observed at the feet of Satan’s overkill.

            Today is the day to think about when we have been cowards. When have we behaved like Peter, forswearing our love for someone repeatedly when we imagine our affections will be frowned upon?  When have we been witness to a miscarriage of justice while raising nary a word of objection?  Have we spoken up for the innocent children who have been abandoned by their father, who happens to be a friend?  People are accountable for the choices they make; so we must consider whether we recently have held anybody accountable for choices that will harm the innocent, just as Jesus was harmed.  

            Why was Jesus killed?  The first answer was cowardice.  The second answer is apostasy.  Apostasy is the denial of religious truth by religious people.  We see in the Passion narrative how the religious authorities refuse to consider that the Son of God is precisely who He says He is.  Jesus is quite open with them, declaring several times in the Gospel of John that He is the Christ and thus the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees owe their allegiance to Him.  In fact, it is their refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God that leads them to bring Jesus to Pilate to have the Son of God executed.  Had they seen Him for who He was, sin would have been averted and the innocent preserved.

            Apostasy afflicts us still.  The Lord saw fit to give us His Church after His resurrection from the dead, entrusting its governance to St. Peter and his successors.  More than a billion people have seen the wisdom of this arrangement, but many people, after confessing the Faith, want to take it back.  I read in the paper last week that there exists a website dedicated to working for the removal of Bishop Martino from the See of Scranton.  On what charge?  So he is not who he says he is?  Has he done anything to warrant his removal?  This is apostasy—the denial of Catholic truth by Catholics.  This is at the local level, but it occurs nationwide—the preeminent Catholic university in America wants to give President Obama an honorary law degree – this for the man who wants to rescind conscience protections for Catholic healthcare workers.  How will the Church suffer mockery should this yet happen!

            Today is the day we consider our own apostasy.  Did we remain silent as we heard our bishop mocked for simply fulfilling his responsibility?  Did we defend the Holy Father when we heard his comments about the spread of AIDS misconstrued to make him appear monstrous?  Have we taken it upon ourselves to decide which teachings of the Church we will observe and which we will not?  Have we encouraged others by our words and actions to be cafeteria Catholics?  How has our failure to observe the precepts of the Church caused the innocent to suffer?  How is our apostasy any different than that of the Pharisees and Sadducees who begged for the death of Jesus?

            Why was Jesus killed?  The first reason, cowardice; the second, apostasy; and the third reason, atheism.  We know that the final decision to kill Jesus was Pilate’s.  Yes, Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, the Jews delivered Him, but only Pilate, as governor, could consent to this injustice.  He could have stopped it, but he let it happen—more than that, he approved it.

            The reason he did so was his atheism.  The arguments of the Jews who petitioned him meant nothing, but his own position was important to him.  So he finally was persuaded to kill Jesus when he was accused of disloyalty to Caesar should he let Jesus live.  We know he did not make himself accountable to any transcendent authority because when Jesus spoke of truth; his reply was to ask, “What is truth?”  For Pilate, power was truth, might made right; so he did not have to consult with the author of the universe whether the innocent should die or not.  Expediency dictated that in this instance, the innocent should die, and so the Innocent One died.

            The Supreme Court of Iowa and the legislature of the state of Vermont both declared their atheism this past week.  Both decided without reference to common sense, transcendent truth, or even basic biology, that the union of two men is the equivalent of marriage between a man and a woman.  This atheistic decision tempts us to be cowards; to fail to stand up for what is right.  As Catholics, it tempts us to apostatize, to deny basic Catholic tenets in order to get along with the neighbor who might throw a temper tantrum or shun us if we point out the obvious absurdity of homosexual marriage.  If we are cowards in this regard or are apostates, we are also atheists. We consent to Pilate’s statement that truth is meaningless.  All that matters is who is in power.

            Today is the day we ask how we have been fundamentally atheistic.  When have we done what is wrong just because we could get away with it?  When have we assented to the dictates of those who have no regard for God or man?   When has our cowardice or apostasy so compromised us that we might as well be the arch-atheist Pontius Pilate?  In short, when have our cowardice, apostasy and atheism been the causes of Christ’s crucifixion?