26th Sunday in ordinary time, Cycle A. Today’s readings: ; ;
Many a reader can sympathise with Louis, the main character in François Muriac’s novel Vipers' Tangle, written in an autobiographical epistolary style. As we read the letter Louis writes on his deathbed, which he leaves in the safe for his relatives to read after his passing, we come to know the interior mullings of this lawyer who is rich and famous but miserably unhappy.
Louis is a self-confessed, hardened sinner with perhaps very little chance of salvation, or so he believes. His hatred of religion had been his dominant passion for so long, causing much suffering to his wife Isabelle, to whom the letter is also addressed. His memory of his First Holy Communion left on him the mere impression of a “boring formality” which he never received again in his whole life. He never grappled with problems of faith, and whenever he was forced to face any of them he did so only from a political angle.
But what caused his devout Catholic family the most pain was that he never joined them for Sunday mass, and even worse, that he insisted on eating cutlets on Good Friday.
As Louis openly reminisces about his past life we notice an important contrast with the rest of his family. Isabelle scrupulously follows all religious rituals and is quick to chide Louis with the moral teachings of the Church that she learned from their catechism classes as a child.
Although Louis could not somehow get himself to align with the precepts of the Church, his heart was in sync with the Spirit of Christ
Over time, Louis comes to the realisation that Isabelle stayed with Louis for his money and for the sake of their children, not for her love of him. Isabelle’s love of money blinded her. She gave her servants just enough to make it from one day to another, something that greatly irritated Louis. It would be the only time when he would quote passages from the Scriptures to show her that it is not right to treat others inferiorly just because they are of another social class.
Louis went to great lengths to prove to Isabelle and the rest of the family that their actions were at odds with their principles. A turning point in Louis’s life happened when Abbé Ardouin, the young and shy seminarian whom Isabelle employed to give the children catechism and singing lessons, and whom Louis never missed an opportunity to corner with questions of faith and morals, turns on Louis and tells him: “You are a very good man.”
Abbé Aroudin’s words get Louis thinking. He was a sinner, no doubt about it, but deep down he was indeed a good man. He admitted his sinfulness and never projected a holier-than-thou attitude. Although he could not somehow get himself to align with the precepts of the Church, his heart was in sync with the Spirit of Christ. Throughout his letter he ponders how to take revenge on his family but stops short of acting upon it, cognisant that grace was at work throughout even though he did not always know it.
Mauriac’s novel in many ways reflects Jesus’s teaching in today’s gospel, where he tells the parable of the father who had two sons whom he both asks to work in his vineyard. The eldest son tells him he will not go but in the end, changes his mind and goes. The younger son tells him that he will go but eventually decides not to go work in his fields. Jesus’ listeners immediately remark that it was the eldest son who did the will of the father.
Benedict XVI once said: “Agnostics, who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of their sin, are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is ‘routine’ and who regard the Church merely as an institution, without letting it touch their hearts, or letting the faith touch their hearts.”
carlo.calleja@um.edu.mt