The Christian Community plays a vital role in putting the Father of Lies under the light of truthfulness. As the crowds unanimously follow along as participants of the violence of the Passion, the disciples begin to break away. Girard notes: The Christian Community is rooted in a passionate rejection and critique of what the other communion (Pilate & Herod - Luke 23:12) uncritically espouses - the guilt of the victim. He goes on to say: Satan's power (in the gospels) is the ability to make false accusations so well that they become the unassailable truth - Satan is The Accuser. We see this everywhere. The finger pointing out the one or the ones who are to become the accused - the ones who have cause trouble or dismay or embarrassment or confusion or the mere threat of chaos. This power of evil and thrives on a lie that is used to cement power among those who establish the victim who will bear the weight of the accusers. It will be the Community of the followers of Jesus who did and must continue to reject such actions - such lies - such a life. And yet, it is not easy. It is more beneficial within our culture to stay on the side of those who accuse. To be able to cast doubt onto others or make the other appear to be out of sync with the rest of us or simply to have others to blame for what is wrong among us, is a pull that is strangely difficult to face and shut down. It is very easy to be swept up into the movements and words and actions of Herod's and Pilate's and others who perpetuate the notion of the guilt of the victim. The victim is an easy target and when we go along with those powers, we convince ourselves that we are safe. The community of Christ is never to exist as a 'safe' place that keeps evil alive. The safe place of the church is the one that provide a home for the victims of such lies. Connection: So are we that safe place for the victims? Or is the Church another one of the groups of people who mimic the need for victims who will take the hit for the rest of us. I wonder more and more about the place of the Church that appears to simply go along with the order that is more than not, part of the order that creates and sustains the lies that kill and abuse and crucify. This is not an easy thing to even consider. Maybe it is what we need to remember each time we take part in the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness or the Baptismal Remembrance. WE are the ones who too easily fall in line with the ways of the Father of Lies. But, as we will hear tomorrow, we are not left up to our own power. As you walk with us, O God, help us to turn and face the truth in the midst of the lies that always attempt to pull us away from your loving embrace of the whole world. Grant us your power of renewal and repentance. Amen. |
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