Opening Act

Seeing all of creation as preparation for eternity

01/15/2019

Hebrews 1:1-6 Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

I have never had any desire to go to a concert; probably because I have heard plenty about concerts in confession. Apparently, most concerts have something called an opening act. It will be a lesser known artist trying to break through and become famous. They warm up the audience for the main performer, who’s called the headliner. We see this in sporting events, too, like boxing, professional wrestling, horse racing, and car racing. In these venues, though, the opening act is actually called the undercard. But it serves the same purpose: preparing the people for the main performance.

In the world of dramatic plays this opening act is called a curtain raiser. As you can guess the curtain is raised only after the opening act is finished and the people are primed for the performance. One theater critic, Walter MacQueen-Pope described the opening act affectionately saying: “This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. They deserved much better treatment than they got…the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain raiser, but to them dinner was more important.” That is, theater goers tragically choose dinner over the little drama called the curtain raiser.

Both scripture readings today speak of the opening act that preceded the arrival of Jesus, who we might call the Headliner of all headliners. The Letter to the Hebrews opens with this powerful passage: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the son, whom he made heir of all things, and through whom he created the universe.” Hebrews suggests that the entire Old Testament can be seen as the opening act for the coming of Christ. And the last performance of the opening act of the Old Testament was John the Baptist. In our gospel reading, John is the “curtain raiser” who introduces Jesus, the Headliner and the Hero of the drama of salvation. But sadly some people miss the message of the Old Testament and the blessing of the Baptist because, like the theater critic lamented: “to them dinner was more important.”

My friends, may I take this analogy of the opening act a step further? I would suggest to you that all human history – indeed all of space-time (as scientists say), or all of creation (as people of faith put it) – is but the opening act for eternity. Shakespeare said this memorably: “All the world is a stage, / And all the men and women merely players.” In other words, from Adam to the last man, from Genesis to Revelation, all of us taken as a whole constitute a curtain raiser, waiting for the curtain to rise on the great drama of eternity.  We are just the warm-up act.

I tell wedding parties at the rehearsal that all eyes should be on the bride. That’s the direction the groomsmen and the bridesmaids should look once they get to their places. Why is that? Well, the bride, and even the wedding, and even the marriage that follows the wedding, are the opening act for the ultimate marriage of Jesus and his Bride the Church. That is why the human bride should be stunning and as perfect as possible, and all eyes on her. The bride is warming up the audience for the main act, the marriage of the Lamb, Jesus. This is why the Catholic Church works tirelessly to make marriages work: a six-month marriage preparation process (which engaged couples love), counseling for couples in troubled marriages like World Wide Marriage Encounter and Retrovaille, and even the agony of the annulment process after the agony of defeat in a divorce.  The Church is committed to making marriages work because she understands marriage as the human equivalent of the opening act. And if we fail to deliver, then the audience will not be properly prepared for the main performance.

Your life as a husband or wife is not merely for your happiness; marriage serves a much greater good. It is really to warm up the cosmos for the Headliner, for the Holy Husband, for Jesus’ return in glory, when the curtain of creation rises and we all see eternity. But sadly, for some of us, “dinner will be more important.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!