Faith and the Human Drama according to Peter John Cameron, O.P.

Over at Godspy

Hat tip to Being or Nothingness and Wired Catholic

Whoa. I'm still swimming in ideas trying to understand it. Perhaps that's because I face a temptation to commit a truly reasonable act. Push back a date, send out some notices and host meetings before a deadline issued by my boss the second week of May; Do it, and I'm set. Reasonably speaking.

Drama speaks to us in the primordial essense of our being. When it engages the truth, it demonstrates people that struggle with Truth and Right. Tragedies in particular do this in and effective way, for the tragic flaw of a play's protagonist often drives the conflict that defines the tragedy. Think of the hubris of Oedipus for example.

So, too, our Faith. We face the dramatic decision each day of acting in accord with our interests now or acting according to His Righteous call, whatever it costs us. This is especially true when we are faced with the call to responsibly address our mistakes. We can either turn to Him and make whatever ammends we can, or we can turn to ourselves and begin the cover-up. CYA, after all, greases the wheels upon which the world turns.

If our Liturgy misses anything in its constant need to reinvent itself for modern, reasonable tastes, it is that it loses touch with the fundamental drama of incarnation and redemption. Christ literally holds our salvation in his outstretched arms, and everyone around him at the time of his passion gives him reason to give up on us all. Yet he dies, and thus saves us all nonetheless. He rises, and thus restores nonetheless. We celebrate this fundamental drama and join our struggles to His in this celebration. We celebrate it whenever we face the conflict between the way we are and the way God calls us to be.

Drama opens us to reality. The Drama of the Eucharist opens us to Reality. Can we afford not to be apart of that?

Even when being a part of it costs us this side of Sunday?