Encountering Sacrilege

Biblical Witness
The Gospel Of Mark 13:5 – 11

Jesus began to say to Peter, James, John, and Andrew, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

“As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Contemporary Witness

            Before the reading of our contemporary witness which is an excerpt of a sermon by Archbishop Óscar Romero from the mid 1970’s, I want to offer some context. Archbishop Óscar Romero is a name every progressive Christian should know. The context around the sermon excerpt can be understood from a scene in a movie entitled, “Romero.” The setting is a simple village church that the government seized for use as a barracks. Soldiers had taken control of the inside and are armed with machine guns. The people from the village, members of the church, were standing outside. Archbishop Romero enters the church simply to retrieve the Eucharist – for non-Catholics, the hosts that are used for communion. When Romero told the soldiers that was all he came for, one of them took his machine gun and shot up the high altar, the holy place which contains the Eucharist. Romero is told to leave. He does, and then seeing the people outside he returns and picks up some of the pieces of the host which were shot and scattered. Another spray of bullets warns him and he leaves again, changes into his priestly garments and returns with the people following him.

Sermon at Church in Aguilares: 66:45 – 67:43; Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Romero

We are here today to retake possession of this church building and to strengthen all those whom the enemies of the Church have trampled down. You should know that you have not suffered alone, for you are the church; you are the People of god; you are Jesus, in the here and now. He is crucified in you, just as surely as He was crucified 2000 years ago on that hill outside of Jerusalem. And you should know that your pain and your suffering, like His, will contribute to El Salvador’s liberation and redemption.

Reflection      “Encountering Sacrilege”

These are hard readings today. Hard for you to hear, I’m sure, because they were hard for me to choose. When I think about Hispanic leaders, the first person that comes to mind is Óscar Romero. He was assassinated while officiating communion on Monday, March 24, 1980. He has become a kind of unofficial patron saint of Liberation Theology. He did not claim Liberation Theology for himself, just as Jesus didn’t claim Christianity for himself. But as we have grown in this theological practice and movement, his leadership is one of our primary examples.

He taught and preached about preferential treatment for the poor based on the good news of the gospels and the teachings of Jesus. He stood up to those who were oppressing workers and their families. He spoke out against violence and encouraged soldiers to follow the law of God’s peace rather than obeying orders to kill. His ministry followed closely how Jesus lived and served. This is in part because of the context he was in. There were people to speak out on behalf of. He could easily have been an oppressor, as many of the religious leadership at the time were. He learned about what the people were going through. Instead of being complicit with the violence around him, he stood against it.

A few days before he was assassinated, Archbishop Romero told a journalist, “I need to say that as a Christian I do not believe in death without resurrection. If they kill me, I will rise again in the people of El Salvador…If they manage to carry out their threats, as of now, I offer my blood for the redemption and resurrection of El Salvador. If God accepts the sacrifice of my life, then may my blood be the seed of liberty and the sign that hope will soon become a reality. May my death, if it is accepted by God, be for the liberation of my people, as a witness of hope in what is to come. You can tell them that if they succeed in killing me, I pardon and bless those who do it. A bishop may die, but the Church of God, which is in the people, will never die.”

These are the words of an anointed one. Like Jesus, he saw his calling beyond his earthly life and understood resurrection and redemption through liberation of the people and the priests he served.

In our gospel reading from Mark, Jesus tells Peter, James, John, and Andrew, “Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.” This truth has been born out generation after generation in the Christian church. When there is a schism we can all point at each other and at each other’s leaders and quote this. How do we know who to follow … who is right?

A little further on in the teaching, Jesus says to his friends, “But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; Mark 13:14

In other words, get out. Make haste. That’s the kind of danger you don’t want to be involved in. What is the desolating sacrilege? Well, the writer of this gospel added a little tip by saying, “let the reader understand.” So in our generation, what do we understand as sacred and how is it being desolated?

I interpret desolating sacrilege as the moment when the soldier trained his weapon on the high altar where the communion was kept. Any time that violence is enacted in a church, in a school, or anywhere that is meant to be a place of safety and peace, a sacred place has been desolated. According to Jesus’ teaching, we should head for the hills when stuff like that happens.

But Jesus didn’t. Archbishop Romero didn’t. Maybe, as Jesus said to his friends, we are still in “the beginning of the birth pangs.” And it’s time to hold fast for what we believe in; for the right to liberation for those in the most powerless positions in our society. The right for a woman to have autonomy over her body. For people to create families that are right for them. For workers to earn a living wage, to have reasonable hours, and to not be judged as quietly quitting simply because they want a life outside of work.

What I understand about desolating sacrilege is that the goal is to dishearten and break the souls of those for whom the sacred was desecrated. When Romero went back in to the village church, crossed in front of the soldiers with their guns, and picked up the shattered hosts, he was showing them that there was nothing they could do that would desecrate that holy place or those holy elements.

Is there harm that can be done? Yes. Pregnant people have died because of laws and policies which forbid doctors to act on their behalf to terminate the pregnancy that put them at risk. Our youth who identify outside of heteronormative structures are at risk in many ways. I can share a long list of who is in harms way because of ruthless leaders who claim they are following God’s voice. Maybe that is the most desolating sacrilege that there is; claiming God’s voice while commanding the injury of others.

When we encounter sacrilege, what should we do? How should we think? There might be a time when it’s right to run for the hills because the momentum of evil is too strong, but now is not that time. We need to remind ourselves and each other that what is holy and sacred can never be desecrated at its essence. We need to see beyond what we see, into what we know. The truth that we know, we need to speak and act on.

Christianity will not be taken hostage. Freedom and liberty, political or religious, will not be subverted by ideologies of bullies who play the victim for personal gain. We just won’t let that happen. While we are not at the point of what was happening in El Salvador during the time of Romero, and whatever Jesus was talking about is only still in the birth pangs after 2,000 plus years, there’s still a lot going on that needs our attention. Don’t lose sight of what’s really sacred. In this way, we will not be led astray. We are retaking possession of Christiantity and of faith. Now is our time to fight for what is holy and sacred. Encountering sacrilege doesn’t diminish sacrality at its essence. It’s important to grieve and mourn such acts. It’s equally important to remind ourselves and each other that what is of a holy nature can never be corrupted. Our sacraments, our holy places, and our holy selves are all kept in the love, mercy, and grace of God. Of that, we can be assured.