September 2007

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.”
* Jesus Christ

Dear Members and Friends,

Returning from my work in the Balkans, often preaching against ecclesiastically endorsed animosity and bias, word came that my nephew Danny suffered a most untimely death in his bed at age 23. A life never fully appreciated had prematurely slipped away.

Not surprisingly, Danny’s father specifically requested that I deliver the sermon at the funeral, as I had done for Danny’s step-sister Louise when she passed. But this petition was turned down by the local priest who said that I was “not Catholic”. True, and a fact that has directly led to many years of faithful fulfillment and happiness. But then, I was not Catholic when I preached at my Grandma Dastole’s memorial Mass, nor was I Catholic delivering the homily at my infant nephew Sean’s final Mass. I was just a highly qualified family member, who, unlike the local clergy, actually knew the deceased. Apparently however, an official policy change has taken place within the New Jersey Holy See.

So instead of being honored within a personalized worship designed to give due respect for a deserving young man and his grieving loved ones, Danny got his name intermittently inserted into a wooden liturgy, large on ceremony, devoid of substance. Apart from one clause, the ensuing address could have been given for an elderly gentleman dying naturally in his 90’s.

No words of comfort were offered to the parents, no phrases of compassion were given to the family, no thoughtful wisdom was tendered to the many young friends who desperately needed to make sense of this terrible tragedy. No one was told that Danny had written two books, both available via Amazon or Barnes & Noble. We did not hear about any of Danny’s boyhood escapades with his closest cousins, Amanda and Billy. We were not enlightened by his best friend who composed a eulogy specially sent from Ireland. Most informative of all, we were not shown how the grace of God could impact and redeem the horrible demise that had occasioned our mournful assembly.

In short, the service was a disgrace, a sham, a grave sin and abuse perpetrated in the superstitious assumption that the way to heaven, beyond our manifest human frailty, is paved with polished marble and heavy clouds of incense. Instead of salvation in Christ specifically addressed to the circumstances obviously at hand, we got billowing smoke and mirrors, rendered by a smug individual bedecked in shiny vestments, spewing sanctimonious sentimentality akin to a sticky molasses – a gooey syrup drowning unspeakable grief in waves of hollow, echoing reverb.

At the conclusion, I said to the responsible cleric that Danny deserved far more than he had been given. With a smirk, the charlatan replied, “Fine.” In a sense, he was right. Within the desire to protect a sad institution over the people who faithfully rely on it, empty ritual is now “fine”, even obligatory. Yet in my view, it is also a crime – a systematic exploitation, perhaps not worthy of a California $600 million settlement, but a sanctified shell game nonetheless, perpetrated by an organization that has resorted to trapping its victims with fear and ignorance.

Not long before my nephew’s death, the current Pope decided to issue a statement disparaging churches outside of his own. Obviously, those already breathing in the fresh air of biblical faith haven’t been seeking papal endorsement or permission. So this inwardly directed threat is tantamount to the captain of the Titanic dispensing a decree against the viability of nearby lifeboats. Some perceptive few still on-board will ignore the terror-mongering, but many other trusting souls will be deluded and needlessly drown.

To be sure, I have met, benefited from and honored many Christians and clergy who happen to be Roman Catholic. But open bigotry has no place in the Body of Christ, especially in matters of life and death. Encouraging people to find and enjoy meaningful pastoral relationships and expertise in the pulpit has to take precedence over selfishly keeping them locked inside, segregated from those who regularly render personalized and prophetic witness. Better they should happily live elsewhere in Christ than die without hope at home.

Godspeed,

From Reverend William J. Keane, Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford