5/18/2023 0 Comments The black massesThey are the sacrifice of the broken and the wounded for the sake of the comfort and amusement of the crowd. They are perversions of Christ’s longings for his people. Make no mistake, these are Black Masses that are celebrated too often. We watch, all too often without comment or conviction, as those who are Christ’s own body are broken and beaten, starved and shamed, abandoned and abused. These and countless other blasphemies are happening in all of our communities. ![]() There are abuses of Christ’s Body that we tolerate because of their utter commonality and convenience.Ĭan we pretend that the breaking of bodies by torture is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that state-sanctioned execution is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that children’s hunger and starvation is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that leaving veterans homeless on our streets is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that breaking the backs of those we call illegal who work our fields is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that the exploitation of the underaged on our streets is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that killing innocent children in drone strikes is not blasphemy?Ĭan we pretend that despoiling the Creation for our children is not blasphemy? Yet, all around us, every day, there are countless Black Masses being celebrated. Are we being too quick to overlook blasphemies that occur with depressing regularity all around us every day? The opposition to the Black Mass was predicated on the fact that its very existence is a distortion of the holiness of the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. Yet, I find myself wondering if we are being too quick to celebrate. Indeed, there was an outpouring of reverence for the Sacrament that was heartening and powerful to behold. I was struck that the resulting outcry resulted in the event’s cancellation. It demonstrated that mocking the religious was within the limits of academic propriety even as a similar mocking of another tradition would be unthinkable in most academic climates. The very concept of a Black Mass is a mockery of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. ![]() The reaction to the proposed ceremony was immediate and fierce. Those following the religious news will have undoubtedly heard of the Black Mass that was to be offered at Harvard University. An excerpt from a sermon preached at Saint John’s Cathedral on Easter VI 2014
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