Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

 Lectionary: 172

I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."

 A lthough she believed in Jesus Christ and studied the New Testament intensely, Simone Weil refused to be baptized. She said that she would take her stand with the ninety-nine whom the Church rejects as hypocrites, unbelievers, and heretics. Because she chose to suffer with those who are deprived of adequate food due to warfare and politics, she also refused to eat enough to live, and apparently died of anorexia. To her philosophical comrades, Weil was known as Mlle Absolute Imperative. 

Recently, I watched Wicked. Set in the Land of Oz prior to Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas. The story follows Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her friendship with her classmate Galinda, who becomes "Glinda the Good." I'd give the plot away if I told you that Elphaba chooses to stand with the talking animals who are driven from academia and civilization by the Wizard of Oz. The lovely green child with African-American features is feared by her family and fellow students, and finally chooses to become the Wicked Witch of the West. (Opening scenes of the film also suggests that she is not her father's daughter.) Bad has become mysteriously good, and good is condemned for its safe, suffocating conformity. 

I read Simone Weil's Waiting For God during a Viking cruise on the Rhine River, and watched Wicked on the long flight home. As a Franciscan, I felt ethically conflicted, and was struck by the irony.

Today I read of the Lord's preference for the one lost sheep over the "ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance," Should I stand with righteous loners like Mlle Weil with her Gazans, and Elphaba with her animals, or with the ninety-nine? They seem to be arbitrarily judged as self-righteous and hypocritical. Can anyone live up to Kant's Absolute Imperative and not die of hunger and loneliness? Does salvation require one to remain shun the Church and be found with Jesus? 

Dying in England during World War II, Weil would not learn of the Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council. Although she knew a very kind priest, she never heard of its preferential option for the poor and despised. 

Pope Francis reminded the Church of this challenge as he promoted concern for migrants and climate change. He recognized that exploitation of Earth's people and the Earth's natural resources are one and the same thing, and equally wicked. Although surrounded by splendor, he lived simply. (I trust that Pope Leo, although he has moved into the Apostolic Palace, is equally dedicated to personal simplicity, albeit without Pope Francis' flare.)

So where am I going with this musing? I believe the Lord wants his flock to stay together. Anyone who thinks they know where the Church is or should go, may find themselves lost in the desert; as are those who remain behind where they find a more  comfortable wilderness. Nor does standing outside the Church and judging it help.

Every disciple must personally decide to follow the Lord while remaining within the Communion, despite the risks of Glenda's narcissism and her society's fascist conformity. We must make room for the lost sheep; and sometimes that means we use our elbows amid a crowd of conformists, to clear a space.