Silence Is Not An Option

Every once in a while, I am reading through the scriptures and a line or sentence sticks out. Sometimes they have become so familiar that I or we can easily gloss over some important things.

In the first reading Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonia. In it he writes that he tells other communities about the church there and highlights their, “endurance and faith in all [the] persecutions and the afflictions [they] endure.”

I know what I often forget, in part, because “church” has become so mainstream in our world is that the early church was incredibly counter-cultural – so much so that they were constantly at odds with local authorities and other groups in power. They weren’t trying to be a pain or merely be contrarian, they just organized themselves differently, had really different priorities and took public stands that offered an alternative to the status quo.

In our gospel today from Mt 23, Jesus is publicly saying, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees…” about their hypocritical behavior. He knows what they are supposed to stand for and sees instead how they are caught in ego and power games. He calls them “blind guides” and says that they are blocking the entrance to God’s kin-dom with their behavior. And they do not take kindly to his challenges.

These are both strong readings that put a little pit in my stomach because they remind me that following Jesus – as individuals and as a community – will inevitably put us in conflict with the status quo. Furthermore, we’re urged by our faith to be public witnesses related to what we believe. And being public brings with it disagreement and conflict – both things that I do not seek!

In the prophetic tradition of the Hebrew scriptures – a tradition that is carried forth by and embodied in the ministry of Jesus – the first and most powerful command given to the prophet is always, “Speak…” The prophet is ever-urged to speak the truth of the situation. And this is what usually gets them into trouble.

The great Brazilian archbishop Dom Helder Camara had a famous phrase, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.” The act of doing charity was welcomed and celebrated. The act of critiquing the systems that fail to care for people was not.

What we see today in our scriptures is that the early Christian community was not only “doing” an alternative to the dominant social order, they were also calling that order to accountability and alignment with kin-dom values.

That’s the pattern we see in the early church. That’s the pattern that we see in Jesus.

Many years ago at Corpus Christi church, I remember Fr. Enrique giving a homily on the prophetic tradition. In his usual profound and simple style, he said that the prophet’s role is to “announce” and “denounce”. We announce a different way of being into the world through our actions and we denounce the powers that support injustice, oppression and inequality.

What we might glean from today’s scriptures is that silence is not an option for us – especially in the world that we live in. There is no short supply of situations that we must continue to speak out against. And in doing so, we, too, will be subject to various forms of the persecution and suffering that Paul is writing about and celebrating in the first reading.

These are not easy messages, and yet they are necessary reminders. May we all dig deep and find the courage to both announce the good news in our lives and denounce all that blocks God’s kin-dom from emerging.