DOMINICAN VOCATIONS
PROVINCE OF THE ASSUMPTION
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DOMINICAN VOCATIONS PROVINCE OF THE ASSUMPTION |
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Homily
for Blackfriars Priory School (2005) |
Br Vincent Magat, O.P. |
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News -------------------------- Welcome Benedict XVI Master -------------------------- History Introduction St Dominic's gift Australia --------------------------- Order Discernment Formation Dominican habit Novitiate Studentate --------------------------- Life Introduction Four pillars Apostolate --------------------------- People Dominican saints Our brethren --------------------------- Resources Lectio Divina Links Prayer Reading --------------------------- Site dedication |
So, who is our hero, who will show us the way to greatness? Often enough the answer lies outside our immediate world. When the original Star Wars movies were released in the 1980s, the hero was clear; it was Luke Skywalker, the shy, well-shaven character, who had never done anything wrong in his life. Now, with the release of the new trilogy, the focus shifts quite significantly, Luke is still the hero who brings about the happy ending, but Darth Vader becomes the central figure of the saga as a whole. George Lucas presents Vader not as an ordinary run-of-the-mill sort of bad guy, who is simply good at being bad. No, Lucas has given him an aura of mystery. Consider the account of his coming to life: it is not that his father is nowhere to be found, but rather that he does not have a father at all. Anakin, as it is explained, is conceived by the metachlorines in his mother’s womb. He is, in as far as this is possible, the result of a direct action of the force. Why? Because he is the chosen one. It makes sense. But of course it does not take much to realize that this is simply a parallel of another virginal conception and birth, that of Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the direct action of God, because He too was a chosen one, the Son of God. Lucas unfortunately falters in developing Vader’s mystique in episodes 1 and 2, because Anakin is plagued much less with poverty, injustice or persecution as with terrible scripting, atrocious dialogues and stupid one-liners. While Anakin as the little genius with lighting fast reflexes is a positive and likeable character in episode 1, in episode 2 he becomes an outright bastard, that no one in their right mind would want to identify themselves with, except perhaps for the bit where he marries Natalie Portman. Think about it, why is he such a detestable character, and it is not just because of poor acting. The young paduan is ambitious without bounds, his abilities and the possibility that he is the chosen one, make him believe that he simply must be the best and he fears and loathes everything and everyone who would get in his way, or hold him back. He can’t control his emotions and even the grief he should be experiencing at his mother’s death, turns into hatred, first against her captors, and then against his mentor. Anakin Skywalker becomes something like what Leighton Hewitt was a few years ago, a spoilt brat who spits the dummy every time things don’t go his way. Compare this to Neo in the first Matrix movie; the possibility that he could be the One fills him with humility and reverence. So far Anakin has not been a great character. That’s why the coming episode promises to be so much better than episodes 1 and 2. While Anakin is a spoilt brat, Darth Vader is simply cool. You gotta love the outfit and the theme music is simply divine. Vader is mysterious, dark, powerful and even twisted. And surprisingly this is exactly what attracts us to him. From the viewpoint of everyday boredom and aimlessness that plagues our lives, in Vader’s brooding darkness, there is a sense of purpose, direction and even decisive action, and this attracts us. Anakin was weak, yes he had powers, but he was torn, undecided, and unable to reach the greatness that comes with committing completely to a cause. Vader on the other hand is the man who knows what to do, why he does it and has the power to do so. Unfortunately this is how far Vader’s coolness runs, because once you think about the state to which Anakin has descended, it is far from admirable. I find no other words to describe it, but that he closes himself off from the world; he driven by mistrust and fear, as well as the desire to dominate all around him. Anakin is not ascending to a superhuman state, no rather he is losing his very humanity. The complexity of human relationships, the friendships, the family, those above or below us, all that is shattered when Anakin crosses to the Dark Side. Marital love ceases to exist in his heart, his children need to be hidden from him, men now regard him not only with fear, but with loathing and even the relationship with his master, the Emperor, which was once one of admiration and even respect, gradually turns into hatred. Vader is the kind of man in whose presence you can never relax, for this supposes a kind of equality, which he would never allow. Now, is that the sort of men we should aspire to be? But really, there is a good reason why we find Darth Vader cool, and it’s not just the outfit. Consider the theme song, the Imperial march; although for us it will forever be associated with Darth Vader and the evil he represents, I think it could well have been used in other circumstances. The music on its own speaks of power, of decision, about conflict and its resolution. It could well have been played for a troop of angels taking field against the forces of Satan. The great things in life are powerful, they are capable of great change. Now remember what I said about why we find Vader attractive: he is the man who knows what to do, why he does it and has the power to do so. This description which I just gave could well be applied to any of the myriads of Catholic saints. They were men and women who knew what to do, why they did it and they had the power of God to do us. And they achieved great, great things. Now the greatness of the saints is of course significantly different to Vader’s greatness, because when he encounters something that prevents his goal from being realized, when something stands in his way, he destroys it. Don’t like the country that beats you at soccer? Kill them all. Don’t like the neighbours? Get rid of them. Don’t like your sister? Take her out with all the other trash. Being Vader is easy, yet it is obviously evil, and even sick. We put people like that into mental institutions, and for a good reason. But how about the saints, what do they do when they encounter a problem? Rather than destroying, they try to convert. It’s all derived from the old saying: hate the sin and love the sinner. Converting people is hard work: first of all, you might fail, which getting rid of them avoids, and secondly, even if you succeed, there are probably a hundred other little annoying things about them that you have to put up with. But it is just the difference between bringing death and destruction, and promoting life. Converting people is hard, but there is a great help: if you remember, there is no limit to the number of good jedi, they all work together in harmony; it is not about being the greatest, but about being as good as you can. Therefore their number and their unity, can make even a hard work easy. This is exactly what the saints are like. But there can always only be 2 dark jedi, and even between these two there is always hatred and competition. Evil is always only interested in the ego, in the I, in the one, but goodness always looks beyond the self, to the greatness of life that we all share. Thus, the forces of evil can never match the forces of goodness, goodness will always prevail, though at a great cost to itself. Think about the way that Luke saves his father. Did he use the force? Did he use a mind trick, did he use any of his powers? No. He refused to destroy Vader and he exposed himself to a terrible punishment. But as Luke laid there on the floor with lightning shooting up and down his body, from this weakness, this depth of humanity, humanity was rekindled in the soul of his father. The powers of evil and death were defeated by the weakness, by the humanity of goodness. God is calling us all to become saints, not just those who become priest, brothers or nuns, all of us to embrace a goal that looks beyond ourselves until it reaches the very heights possible. He asks us to live a good and holy life and to promote this life and allow others to live it. God proved his greatness to us, not by destroying us when we are in sin, but rather by giving us His Son, who embraced our weakness, and out of whose suffering and death on the Cross, we gain new life. There is a force at work among us! Those who wield it do not fight with swords, they have no magical power over material things, they do not trick men with their powers. And yet they are ambassadors for goodness, truth and love. Their pen and their speech is the sword they carry, wisdom and the example of their lives is their power and their force is to set souls free from evil, tyranny, from death and despair. |
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