HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 4th Friday in
Ordinary Time is, “High Plains Drifter.”
That’s the name of a Clint Eastwood western which was on TV
within the last few weeks. I saw the second half of it. Father Joe Krastel had
the remote. While clicking he went past it and I spotted it. Then he fell
asleep. With difficulty, I was able to get the remote out of his hands and go
back to the movie, “High Plains Drifter.”
It’s a 1973 movie. I hadn’t seen it in 20 years. By seeing
it again, it triggered old wonderings.
Then while sitting down this morning to work on a short
homily for today, I remembered that movie
as I read today’s readings.
High Plains Drifter is not a chick flick. It would be on a TV channel like
Movies for Guys Who Like Movies. It’s # 46 of 100 Greatest Guy Movies - which
include movies like French Connection,
Death Wish, Dirty Dozen and The
Magnificent Seven.
So this homily is more for the guys here. Sorry ladies.
THE PLOT
Clint Eastwood - cowboy - rides into a small mining town -
with the name of Lago. It’s by the side
of a lake - out there somewhere - in the West.
It’s a small mining town. Because of greed and fear of
3 bad guys - the townsfolks let their sheriff
- Jim Duncan - get whipped and killed.
Clint Eastwood proceeds to get involved in the story. He
kills a few bad guys - so the town hires him to protect the town folks from the 3
bad guys who are coming back to town. They are the ones who killed the sheriff.
Little do they know, Clint Eastwood has
come to straighten out their consciences.
John Wayne wrote a letter to Clint Eastwood complaining
about the violence etc. in the movie. He wrote, “This isn’t what the West was
about. This isn’t the American people who settled this country.”
Clint Eastwood in reply said about the movie which he directed and in which he
starred: “It’s just an allegory … a
speculation on what happens when they go ahead and kill the sheriff and
somebody comes back and calls the town’s conscience to bear. There’s always
retribution for your deeds.”
TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s readings - the First Reading from Hebrews 13: 1-8 - and the
Gospel from Mark 6: 14-29 - bring up various issues.
Today’s first reading calls for hospitality and love. The people in the town of Lago in the movie lack both.
Today’s first reading
brings up a theme that comes up in literature and at times in movies. It’s the
theme of unknowingly entertaining angels. In the movie, they don’t know who
Clint Eastwood the Stranger is. He’s an unknown and they have to entertain him.
He never gives his name. He's not an angel.
Today’s first reading talks about imprisonment and ill-treating people. The
movie certainly talks about that.
Today’s first reading talks about honoring marriage and not
defiling the marriage bed. The movie presents the opposite a bit.
Today’s first reading talks about money - and not get caught
up in becoming discontent without it. The movie talks about money - big time - and the problem it has caused for the
town’s folks. Money is often the problem behind a lot of problems.
Today’s gospel talks about violence. Today’s gospel gives hints of alcohol
and lust and especially murder. John the Baptist’s head is cut off and brought into Herod
on a platter. Today’s gospel would be R Rated for it’s violence.
CONCLUSION: CONSEQUENCES
I better come up with a strong conclusion.
What I thought was the key issue in this movie and today’s
readings - especially the gospel is consequences.
There are consequences - from our good deeds - but we mainly
notice the consequences from our sins and selfishness. Herod had to live with the consequences of his boasting and bragging - as well as having John the Baptist beheaded.
Clint Eastwood - as the High Plains Drifter - forces the
people of the town of Lago
to paint the town red - all the buildings. Where did they get all that red
paint? The reason: because of their letting the sheriff be beaten and killed with
a whip.
In case the movie goers and the town folks don’t get that
blood message, the High Plains Drifter makes the towns folks cross out the name Lago on the edge of their town
and write over it, the word, “Hell”.
I assume the message is: we create our own hells - in our towns,
in our homes and in our lives.
In today’s gospel they ask a question we hear in the
gospels: who are you?
At the end of the movie,
High Plains Drifter, a short guy - a dwarf - asks the High Plains Drifter
his name and “Who are you?” as he’s about to ride off into the distance.
Who is this person Jesus? Do we want him in our lives so
that the Kingdom
of Heaven can arise in us or do
we want him gone as several characters in the Gospel of Mark want Jesus to do:
leave us.
The choice is ours: Heaven or Hell - Jesus or Trouble?
