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October 10, 2020
Readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. – Ps. 23
We think of Father Damien of Molokai as a saint, but what is mostly forgotten is the controversy surrounding his death,. His death drew international comment. What was a stake in the public controversy and what delayed his canonization until 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI was the question; “what kind of man was Damien? Was he a saint or a dirty, grubby, coarse lecher, master of public relations? One prominent Christian pastor accused him soon after death of having contracted leprosy through his illicit, intimate relations with lepers while supposedly helping them on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai?
Leprosy, or its modern non-judgmental name, Hansen’s disease[i], is a bacterial infection that can be treated if caught early. The cure was discovered in 20th Century but in the 19th Century it was a feared, contagious disease. One of the prevalent, 19th Century, scientific concerns was whether Hansen’s disease was really an advanced case of syphilis. It gave it something of the stigma associated with AIDS. Hansen’s disease, in fact, was another example of European diseases transmitted unwittingly to a native population.
St. Damien, Dr. Hyde and Robert Louis Stevenson
When Fr. Damien arrived in Hawaii in 1864 he ministered mostly to the native population as the Anglos were overwhelmingly Protestant. Because Hawaii was on the Pacific trade route, the local population suffered greatly from imported diseases like leprosy, syphilis, cholera and other illnesses to which the islanders had no immunity. The Hawaiian government under King Kamehameha V and the Hawaiian legislature created the leper colony, not as a penal colony, but as a leprosarium. The problem was that the Hawaiian government did not have the resources to properly care for the lepers.
Fr. Damien decided to do what Mother Theresa of Calcutta did and move in with the lepers. There were Protestant Churches on Molokai, but none of the preachers lived with the residents. Fr. Damien’s self-sacrificial love presented an unpleasant counterpoint to what other didn’t do. The Hawaiian government and American Protestant missionaries were involved with trying to care for the lepers, but at a safe distance. At the heart of the difference between Fr. Damien’s ministry, the response of the Protestant missionaries and the Hawaiian government was the Bible, a scripture that divides people as well as brings them together.
The Protestant missionaries justified the exile of the lepers to Molokai both on the grounds of containing a contagious disease and on biblical grounds. Chapter 13-14 of Leviticus mandates how skin disease is to be treated within the community of Israel. Those chapters provide instructions for quarantine or banishment for of lepers for uncleanness.In July 1873, the Hawaiian Evangelical Association resolved to preach vigorously for the segregation and exile of those suffering from leprosy; the thinly veiled implication of which was that those who resisted this path of action were going against God’s will and were therefore sinful. The juxtaposition between their approach, based on Leviticus, and Damien’s—which clearly imitated Jesus’ example in the Gospel—could not have been more striking. “We the Lepers: The Mimetic Saint”; by The Very Reverend Dom Elias Carr, October 9, 2020
After Fr. Damien’s death some Protestant missionaries felt that that the global acclaim he received for his example of Christ-like charity reflected badly on their own efforts. A prominent Protestant clergyman living in Hawaii, the Reverend Doctor Charles McEwen Hyde, in a private letter to a fellow Protestant clergyman, H.B. Gage, commented on Fr. Damien soon following his death. He wrote:We who know the man [Father Damien] are surprised by the extravagant newspaper laudation, as if he were a saintly philanthropist. The simple truth is, he was a course, dirty man, headstrong and bigoted. He did not stay in Molokai, but went there without orders; did not stay at the leper settlement (before he became one himself), but circulated freely over the whole island (less than half the island is devoted to the leper), and he came often to Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improvements inaugurated, which were the work of the Board of Health, as occasion required and means provided. He was not a pure man in his relations with women, and the leprosy of which he died should be attributed to his vices and carelessness. Others have done much more for the lepers, our own ministers, the government physicians, and so forth, but never with the Catholic idea of meriting eternal life. “We the Lepers: The Mimetic Saint”; by The Very Reverend Dom Elias Carr, October 9, 2020
Rev. McEwen-Hyde believed in salvation by grace alone was clearly embarrassed by Fr.Damien’s example. His attack on Fr. Damien’s character was that he was a hypocrite who contracted syphilis that lead to leprosy.
Unfortunately for Dr. McEwen-Hyde, two things happened that brough his letter notoriety. The first was, at the time, many thought thought that Hansen’s Disease was an advanced stage of syphilis. A scientist, Dr. Eduard Christian Arning, a German bacteriologist, challenged the connection between syphilis and leprosy vigorously. He conducted experiments on Molokai, once sewing a leproma, an inflamed piece of leprous skin, into a healthy prisoner’s leg to see what would happen. Father Damien was subjected to physical examination and Arning and another doctor confirmed that Fr. Damien had contracted leprosy but never had syphilis which was a step toward disproving the syphilis and leprosy link. Dr. Arning’s work eventually lead to an effective treatment for Hansen’s Disease in the following years.
The second unfortunate event for Dr. McEwen-Hyde, was that his letter was made public, was published in an Australian newspaper and caught the eye of the Scottish agnostic author Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson was the famous author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson, coincidentally, had visited Kalawao shortly after Damien’s death. Stevenson, a tubercular, listened to what the lepers said about Fr. Damien and admired him. When the letter became public, Stevenson, incensed, waded into the poor reverend with a six-thousand-words polemic, An Open Letter to Rev. Dr. Hyde of Honolulu. This pamphlet, meant entirely for public consumption by a well-loved author, compared Dr. Hyde’s remarks about Fr. Damien as a “course, dirty man, headstrong and bigoted” with Rev. McEwen-Hyde’s comfortable, lifestyle on luxurious Honolulu. In his defense, Dr. McKewen-Hyde reputably provided for the poor and even took a family into his home on the big island, but Stevenson passed by his virtues in silence, concentrating his artillery on his mean-spirited remarks. Stevenson died in Samoa, where he was well loved.
So, there you have three responses, by an atheist and two clergymen to the problem of the Molokai leper colony. Let’s consider the Gospel.
The Gospel of Matthew
In baptism, we are washed in water and the Word and clothed in our white baptismal garment, which represents the love of Christ. The priest says to the child,
N., you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “To gain the kingdom... Words are not enough. Deeds are required.” Par. 546. Rev. McEwen-Hyde was right about us Catholics; we think we need to do something about eternal life.
Jesus is not understandable outside of the people of Israel. In the first reading, Isaiah described the Messianic BanquetOn this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. Is. 25
Jesus reworked Isaiah’s parable and directed it at the chief priest, scribes and Pharisees. You leaders are invited, but refuse and, so, the Kingdom of God will now go out to the world.
Wedding garment
Jesus describes one who does respond to the invitation, and she shows up, ticket in hand, but is expelled because she is not properly attired. Isaiah talks about how one ought to be clothed for the banquet:
The guest that is expelled in the gospel today, lacks the garments of righteousness that are fitting to the kingdom of God. In last week’s gospel, the wicked tenants were lacking the proper fruit, which represented righteousness. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus also said “not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mt. 7:21 The same warning is in Matthew 25:45 “‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.” So, if you could be clothed in the garments of Robert Lewis Stevenson, Reverend Doctor Charles McEwen Hyde, or Fr. Damien, whose clothes would you choose?I will rejoice heartily in the LORD, my being exults in my God; For he has clothed me with garments of salvation, and wrapped me in a robe of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Is. 61:10
Three different suits of clothes
When you arrive at the Messianic Banquet, all dressed up, ticket in hand, what set of clothes will you wear:- Robert Louis Stevenson[ii], an agnostic, who believes life is probably meaningless, but, yet, has a strong moral sense loudly attacks the supposed hypocrisy of a Christian. He is widely liked. Maybe he was charitable to boot. Who would know?
- A Christian pastor, Reverend Doctor Charles McEwen Hyde, who loves the bible, is rational, and probably is personally charitable but denigrates other Christians, wrongly as it turns out. But, in his Presbyterian view, he is saved by ‘grace alone’ so why would it matter?
- Fr. Damien, “a course, dirty man, headstrong and bigoted” in the opinion of some of the learned, but who lived with and ministered to lepers, travelled around finding resources for them as best he could because others couldn’t and died after contracting their disease. Catholics says he is a saint and had to do something to merit eternal life. He needed a faith that worked.
[i] Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. It can affect the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (nasal mucosa). With early diagnosis and treatment, the disease can be cured. People with Hansen’s disease can continue to work and lead an active life during and after treatment. Leprosy was once feared as a highly contagious and devastating disease, but now we know it doesn’t spread easily and treatment is very effective. However, if left untreated, the nerve damage can result in crippling of hands and feet, paralysis, and blindness.” Center for Disease Control and Prevention
[ii] While visiting Molokai Stevenson wrote this poem while staying in the guest house,To see the infinite pity of this place
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferer smiling at the rod
A fool was tempted to deny his God.
He sees, he shrinks. But if he gazes again.
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!
He marks the cisterns on the mournful shores;
And even a fool is silent and adores."
Guest House, Kalawao, Molokai.