Memorial of Saint Monica

Lectionary: 427

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!"

As we watch the monuments of traitors rebuilt and rededicated under the present administration, the words of today's gospel take on a peculiar resonance. Even as they deny the racism so deeply rooted in our standard operating procedures, cultural norms, and infrastructure, Mr. Trump and his minions lionize the ancestors who defended the most barbaric system of slavery in history. These current policies, and their violent actions against migrants -- who are arbitrarily stigmatized as illegal -- signal the end of American democracy and the hope it once represented. We can expect the Earth's hopeful expectancy to turn to other nations, perhaps China, for leadership. 

Catholics are necessarily confused. We have been betrayed by the Democratic party we practically built when it supported trade unions. But its identity politics supports only an inane parade of fictitious rights for people to think, act, and feel differently; and believe they are superior for their multiple identities. The promise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion creates only a nation of isolated, lonely misanthropes. We can expect, in the near future, their support of incestuous marriage. 

The Republican party has also disappointed Catholics with its violent resistance to Catholic immigrants from Mexico, Central, and South America. That racist, anti-Catholic bias is flagrant. 

Under the leadership of an American Pope, Catholics are returning to our own religious practices, including devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Mary, the Mother of God. We find in our teaching reverence for our human nature as it appears in every race. With our ancestors, we confess the sin of compromising with the hostile powers of this world. We have enjoyed the privileges which were arbitrarily given to us, especially education, homogenized neighborhoods, and European descent. We have taken care of our needs and desires first, and then noticed those of the "less fortunate." 

And, since the Second Vatican Council, which never intended the Reformation which followed, we have resolutely turned away from the practices of penance, especially the Sacrament known as Confession. We might be willing to discuss our problems with a priest, but we are not eager to name the sins we have actually committed, even those we knew were wrong at the time. And we have preferred the confessors who assured us our sins were not really sins; and we were the real victims of others' sins. Feeling that we were more sinned against than sinning, we were willing to forgive others; but not so eager to admit we had sinned.  

The Bible, written almost entirely by Jews, teaches us to recognize and do penance. Our fathers, despite the monuments we built and the tombs we adorned, sinned grievously. And we are their true children. We ask God to save us from the doomed world our fathers, our mothers, and their children built.