Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Lectionary: 394

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
and work out evil on their couches;
In the morning light they accomplish it
when it lies within their power.
They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and they take them....

Several weeks ago I attended Shakespeare's "King Richard III" in Louisville's Central Park. The protagonist makes no secret of his wickedness as he gleefully boasts of his intentions to the audience. Nor are most of his fellows in the play unaware of his malice. He openly plans iniquity and works out evil. He is despicable, if not despised, from the outset. 

But, at least for the nonce, the audience is amused and his fellows do not comprehend the full scope of Richard's wickedness. Though everyone knows something, no one knows everything until the end of the play. By then, they cannot deal with his continual lying, his conspiracies, and deceits. When he blames everyone and anyone for his troubles real and imagined, their reasonable replies and open contempt do not deter him. He just keeps going until even his allies desert him and he is mercilessly destroyed. His tragedy is that he thought nothing could ever contain his boundless ambition. 

I wish I could say I've never met anyone like him, but I have known one -- and known of several. Remembering my personal experience, hate is not too strong a word. If there is forgiveness it is sympathy for a tormented fellow creature, and not for a brother or friend. 

The scriptures and Church history are not unfamiliar with such persons. And in the counseling parlor I hear of others like Richard III. "They cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance." More than once, in the VA hospital, I heard of relatives who pillaged the dying  patient's home, thus avoiding the complications of the court, their inheritance, and his will. "Possession is nine tenths of the law." they might reply, in Richard's spirit, to any objections. 

When the Day of Judgement comes, Micah's prediction might be said of them: 

On that day a satire shall be sung over you,

and there shall be a plaintive chant:

“Our ruin is complete,

our fields are portioned out among our captors,

The fields of my people are measured out,

and no one can get them back!”

Thus you shall have no one

to mark out boundaries by lot

in the assembly of the LORD.

Micah referred to the march of history and the restoration of justice. He expected the destruction of the nation with its government and economy, and the triumph of the Kingdom of God. If theologically accurate, it might have been too optimistic as the Assyrians did not impose a just or fair regime on the conquered Israel. Richard III concluded with the triumph of King Henry VII and the establishment of the ruling House of Tudor, and not the Kingdom of God.

So where is the Gospel in all this dreary human history? 

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved in whom I delight;

I shall place my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not contend or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

Our faith is religious; it is reasonable and hopeful but, unlike Communism, it does not expect human history to finally work itself out in a just and final solution. Nothing must happen unless God wills it, and when God wills it cannot be predicted. It will not be when the proletariat triumphs, or when democratic and capitalistic systems are embraced by every nation.  

Rather, we beg the Lord daily to guide us toward a peace that is both just and merciful. We might foresee better solutions, we cannot imagine a final one. And we pray for that gift which the Lord offers to everyone, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (which) will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.