What Judas Iscariot, Blasphemous Play and Fr. James Martin Have in Common
by Mitch Jensen
Attacks against Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church never seem to stop. Secular and Catholic universities alike engage in activities that offend the Immaculate Heart of Mary gravely. Faithful Catholics should be aware of a recent outrage at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in central Wisconsin.
From February 26 through 28, UW-Stevens Point’s Department of Theater and Dance put on a blasphemous play known as The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Unfortunately, the work attacks the saints, the angels, Purgatory, and the justice and mercy of God.
The play, set in a made-up version of “Purgatory,” is centered on the fate of the traitor Apostle, Judas Iscariot. Although Holy Scripture tells us in Hebrews 9:27 that after death comes judgment, the play mocks God’s infinite justice within the context of a modern and chaotic courtroom.
The Catholic Church teaches that only holy souls reside in Purgatory. This play, however, portrays Purgatory as a place of swearing and lewdness.
Vulgar irreverence is shown toward Saint Monica. The mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo, a Father and Doctor of the Church, is depicted as sassy, prideful, and crude.
The play mocks various saints and portrays the Devil as a casual partier.
Most disturbing is the production’s outright denial of Jesus Christ's divinity and its contradiction of infallible Catholic dogma that Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, existed from all eternity as God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, the production claims that Jesus never claimed to be God. However, the Gospel of Saint John leaves no doubt: “So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM’” (John 8:57-58). In response, the Jews picked up stones and attempted to kill our Savior because they understood Christ was claiming for Himself the divine name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush.
The rainbow Jesuit, Fr. James Martin, S.J. served as a theological advisor for the original Off-Broadway production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Fr. Martin’s involvement is not surprising given his high-profile pro-homosexual and pro-transgender activism.
How should we respond to this blasphemy?
Our Lady of Fatima gave us the answer when she called the world to convert in 1917. The Fatima prayer teaches us to pray in reparation “for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences” by which God is offended so much.
Through the recitation of the rosary and peaceful protest, we should express our love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary and oppose the enemies of the Church. As the spiritual battle rages, we must remember that Our Lady’s victory over evil is decisive and total, as her virginal foot crushes the proud head of the infernal serpent (Gen. 3:15).