o In Peter Schaeffer’s Play Amadeus
o Story of Salieri
Makes a prayer before God…
I would offer up secretly the proudest prayer a boy could think of. “Lord, make me a great composer! Let me celebrate your glory through music – and be celebrated myself! Make me famous through the world, dear God! Make me immortal! After I die let people speak my name forever with love for what I wrote! In return I vow I will give you y chastity, my industry, my deepest humility, every hour of my life. And I will help my fellow man all I can. Amen and amen!\
Salieri does just that, begins a life under this vow
• Lives a life of chastity, never touches women
• Works diligently at his music
• Teaches many musicians for free
• Tirelessly helps the poor.
• His career goes well and he thinks God is holding his end of the deal up…
Then Mozart appears on the scene. Genius, prodigy, and God had bestowed on him an obvious gift and ability.
This precipitates a crisis of faith for Salieri and his words sound similar to the older son in our parable…
• It was incomprehensible… here I was denying all my natural lust in order to deserve God’s gift and there was Mozart indulging his in all directions – even though engage to be married – and no rebuke at all.
• Finally Salieri says to God, “from now on we are enemies, you and I… and works to destroy Mozart.
You see Salieri’s efforts were without heart change… they were selfish in nature… the minute he realized his service to God and the poor wasn’t gaining him the glory he craved, his heart became murderous…
• This crisis of faith happens for many… the live by moral conformity, doing the right thing, and helping people along the way.
o A crisis occurs… a child lost, a horrible event, a disease…
o And then we feel God has not held up His end of the deal… and we shout with fists raised at heaven… like Salieri our faith was simply selfishness wrapped in a good disguise…