Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2010
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 13:1-15
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
Thanks to the secular media, we have heard much this Holy Week about the spectacular failures of some of my brother priests in Wisconsin and Italy, men who victimized not only children but children who were deaf, children with physical handicaps, the most vulnerable of the vulnerable among those already born. And not only has the media reported these events that took place thirty five to sixty years ago, some outlets have seen fit to blame the sins of these wicked men on our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. The articles are so inflammatory, so inaccurate and so vicious that in an extraordinarily unusual move, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under William Cardinal Levada, issued an official statement decrying the lack of objectivity in the reporting. If you have not recognized the media onslaught of the past week as an attack on the Church and every one of her priests, the Holy See has, and she has responded. Tonight I will respond, as well, in solidarity with all the other innocent priests of the world who do not deserve to be tarred with this broad brush and who cannot stand silent when our spiritual father, the Vicar of Christ, is being savaged by a faithless and angry mob, much like the one that demanded the death of Jesus almost 2000 years ago.
We must recognize the latest assault on Holy Mother Church for what it is, a demonic attack meant to distract us from the true role of the Church’s priests, as well as to cast doubt on the efficacy of their ministry.
Well, what is that role? And what is that ministry? In our Gospel this evening, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, the apostles, the first bishops ever given by Jesus to the Church. He tells them that just as He has washed their feet, so they must wash the feet of one another. We know that the means by which we have been washed clean by Jesus is in His blood He shed upon the cross. Thus, the washing of the feet represents Christ’s death for the salvation of the world. In telling the apostles, the world’s first priests, that they must do the same, Jesus is telling us that the role of the priest is to lay down his life for the salvation of the world.
Indeed, though the media will never report it, this self-sacrifice on behalf of the world’s children is precisely what the vast majority of priests undertake on your behalf on a daily basis. They give up many of the comforts that their lay brothers enjoy in order that they may serve the Church better, in order that they are radically free to meet the needs of Christ’s faithful followers, as well as those of the followers who are not so faithful. Jesus said that just one of the disciples would betray Him, just one. That’s less than ten percent—and the same holds true today! The Judas priests who have broken their vows, disobeyed the teachings of the Church, and victimized the innocent, just like Judas did, still represent far less than ten percent of the Church’s priests. Not every priest is a saint, certainly, but most of them are a lot more like Jesus than they are like Judas.
The fact that the role of the priest is to lay down his life in order that the faithful might be purified indicates what the devil hopes to achieve in driving wedges between the faithful and their priests. Satan desires to deprive the faithful of the sanctifying grace available to them through the sacraments that are offered to the faithful by the Church’s priests.
If the devil can convince Catholics that priests cannot be trusted, the faithful may be inclined to drift away from the Church and thus deprive themselves of the very means of salvation. Here we must recall that the washing of the feet took place within the context of the Last Supper, a powerful reminder that the primary means by which the priest washes the feet of others is through his celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the re-presentation of the Lord’s redemptive sacrifice of Himself on Calvary. Jesus said, “If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you.” The devil understands that if he can separate Catholics from the Mass, he is separating Catholics from Jesus Himself, and if he separates Catholics from Jesus, he is separating them from the very life Jesus desires for them.
How then are we to respond to the enemies who for the past two weeks have been attacking the holy priesthood that offers to the world the means of salvation? How do we stand in solidarity with our priests who are in communion with the focus of this attack, our Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict?
First, we remind the world of the very reason the priesthood is so reprehensible to them. We state without apology that the priesthood is not about pomp, privilege, and power, but about the washing of feet, the sacrifice of oneself for the sanctification of the faithful. To dispense with our priests would be to dispense with life itself, for we cannot live without the Mass. Thus, to demonstrate our solidarity with our priests and our gratitude for their many sacrifices, the first thing we can do is never, ever miss Mass. Pack the churches every Sunday, indeed, every day, and we will show the devil and his minions that his effort to separate the faithful from the Church is failing. By the same token, skip Mass, and you will encourage the enemy.
Second, make a distinction for the ignorant masses of people who imagine married priests are the solution to the scandal of that minority of priests who have sexually abused minors. Celibacy does not make a man a pervert any more than marriage makes a man an adulterer. Both of these sins exist, but they are denials of these institutions, not the natural fruits of them. Do the enemies of the Church really believe that a molester of children would be faithful if only he were married? No. They do not. This is a smokescreen meant to obscure the real thing our enemies hate. They hate the sacrifices most priests make, and they want to dilute the quality of the vast majority of the men serving in the priesthood. I will explain.
The idea that we will strengthen the priesthood by making the sacrifices less costly contradicts the very nature of the priesthood. Priests, as the foot washing makes clear, are called to give themselves completely, and telling them the sacrifice does not have to be so big is not truth in advertising. Besides, marriage as a solution is based on a lie, the lie that the married priesthood is somehow easier to live into than the celibate variety. Setting aside the fact that the Church does not need priests who desire an easy ride, I can assure you that being married and being a priest is not easy. Yes, the celibate priesthood is an incredible challenge, but so is the married priesthood. They are two sides of the same coin; we are both priests. So if one is faithful in celibacy, he will be faithful in marriage. Likewise, if he is unfaithful in celibacy, he will be unfaithful in marriage. Thus, to stand in solidarity with your priest, explain to your neighbors that marriage will not make the priesthood easier, and we do not want priests looking for an easy ride, anyway, emphasizing that celibacy is a gift to the Church because the willingness also to sacrifice the freedom to have a family makes one radically free to serve our family, the Church, freer than I am as a married priest.
The third thing we can do to stand in solidarity with our priests is to avoid the sin of our first pope, St. Peter. In his weakness, fearing for his life, St. Peter denied he knew Jesus three times on the night of our Lord’s betrayal, that is, just hours after Jesus had washed his feet. The sound and fury of the mob caused Peter to stumble, but remember that this happened before Peter had seen the risen Christ. We have no such excuse! If we deny our innocent Pope or our innocent priests, we do so having known the resurrected Jesus on the other side of the Passion, the Lord who silences the mob and the devil by His victory over sin and death. Therefore, remain steadfast and stand up for Jesus and His Vicar, as well as for all the faithful priests across the globe, whenever you hear them grossly maligned by those ignorant or in denial of the Truth.
Finally, take comfort also in knowing that every faithful priest knows that the violent rhetoric directed at the servants of God is something he knew to expect for the rest of his life on the day he was ordained. Thus, as you stand up for him, know that he will continue to kneel down for you and work for the sanctification of the world by washing the feet of the disciples of the Lord.