Seeing Clearly
A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Third Sunday of Easter
April 10, 2005
Text: Luke 24:13-35
I
Yesterday, when Norma Koch came by to deliver the Syrian Bread for the our Holy Eucharist, she asked, "Are you here working today?" I said I was here for our Men's Group at 8 am and for a pastoral appointment later, but that I would be going home soon to finish my sermon. She answered, "Well, I hope you can take a walk outside on this beautiful day to clear your head." I replied, "Interesting that you say that because this Sunday's Gospel talks about walking outside and clearing one's head."
I then showed her today's Gospel passage about the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus -- trying to clear their heads and make sense of the "things that had happened." They were met on the way by a stranger who at first did not seem to know what had happened, but who then opened their eyes and they recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
This week Larry Johnson leaves for much more than a walk outside to clear his head. Larry will take part in a five-week pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He will walk with other pilgrims and talk with them along the 400 mile journey. Today we will offer Larry our blessing and we will bless those who are new members of our parish. These new members may not have traveled 400 miles, but they are all on a spiritual journey and they wish to be part of this parish on their walk to God.
II
This is a week that our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters are grieving the death of Pope John Paul II and coming to grips with his legacy. I watched the funeral ceremonies at 4:00 in the morning on Friday, along with 2 billion estimated viewers. The Pope's death not only touched Roman Catholics but people of all faiths. The Archbishop of Canterbury and many non-Catholic religious leaders as well as heads of state were at the funeral, which was a very moving event.
As many of you know, I was formerly a Roman Catholic priest. Because I am of Polish ancestry, I had a huge sense of pride when Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope in 1978. In 1980 on Maundy Thursday, I concelebrated the Holy Eucharist with the Holy Father in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. On Easter Sunday twenty-five years ago, I celebrated Christ's resurrection in St. Peter's Square with the Pope and 100,000 other pilgrims.
Although I loved and revered the Pope, I disagreed with him on several issues. I thought that there should be women priests and married priests, that couples should be allowed to use contraception and that divorced people should be allowed to remarry. For many years I tried to conform my thinking to that of the Pope, but in my conscience I thought that the Holy Father was wrong. I worked to bring about change in the church, but concluded that I would not be able to bring about these changes in my lifetime. It was clear to me that I could spend the rest of my life struggling to change the Pope's mind or we could have a peaceful parting of the ways. My disagreement with the Pope led me to leave the Roman Catholic Church and to find my way to the Episcopal Church, which interpreted and applied the scriptures on these issues in ways which I found to be more truthful.
What do I think about the Pope today? What should we as Episcopalians think about the Pope? I know you all have your own opinions. All of us in our own ways are like the disciples in today's Gospel passage. We want to learn and understand so that we can help others to learn and understand.
I think the world has two major things to be grateful to John Paul for accomplishing in his 26 years as Pope. First, he led the world to a new understanding of the Jews; secondly, he was instrumental in bringing about a non-violent revolution in Eastern Europe.
Regarding the Jews, the Pope reversed a 2,000-year perversion of the Gospel by which Christians sought to subjugate the Jews. Contempt for the Jews found its culmination in the Holocaust. As a child growing up in Poland, Carol Wojtyla witnessed anti-semitism practiced by the Nazis and by his fellow Poles. Prior to John Paul II, official Christian teaching asserted that the Jewish covenant was inadequate and that Jews needed to be baptized in order to be faithful to God. This was the way John Paul himself was raised, yet his thinking changed radically. Speaking to Jewish religious leaders, John Paul said, "You have a covenant that has never been revoked" and you therefore do not have to become Christians, but should rather follow your own covenant. He asked Jews for forgiveness for centuries of persecution and mistreatment. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue and the first to pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, gestures which expressed his acceptance of Judaism and of the Jewish people.
Secondly, the Pope was tremendously influential in bringing about the peaceful revolution that freed Eastern Europe from Soviet domination. Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity movement in Poland, said John Paul deserved 50% of the credit for freeing the countries of the Eastern Soviet bloc. John Paul gave these peoples a sense of their freedom and power to resist their governments and he instilled a spirit of non-violence in their resistance. The Soviet army would have crushed any violent uprising, as it did earlier in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but the Soviets did not move against the non-violent protests in Poland and elsewhere.
III
And so, on this weekend after the Pope's death and funeral, I praise the Pope for the good things he did in his lifetime. Regarding those parts of his legacy of which I am greatly critical, I leave to the judgment of God. St. Paul says, "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see face to face." We see only imperfectly now. In heaven, we will see things as they truly are. As one Catholic feminist said, "Perhaps in heaven Pope John Paul will see that he was wrong in his teaching about women, about gays, about contraception, divorce and remarriage. Perhaps now with his corrected vision he will guide the next Pope to make long-needed changes in these matters."
In today's Gospel passage, the eyes of the disciples on the road to Emmaus were opened by the Christ who died and conquered death and is risen. The risen Christ is still teaching the church -- as he taught Pope John Paul regarding the Jews and non-violence -- and as he hopefully will teach the new Pope and all religious leaders. And it may be that Christ will teach us while we are taking a walk outside to clear our heads. Amen.