27th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - Irrational hatred of the Gospel

 As the Lord’s mission progressed, the Jesus faced mounting opposition. His critics even began to criticize the good he was doing. When Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, the Jewish leaders accused him of blasphemy; when he allowed the sinful woman to anoint and honor Him, a Pharisee was upset that he allowed such a woman to touch him.  Jesus was constantly being ridiculed for reaching out and eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. And, we heard in the Gospel today, when he cast out a demon, the Pharisees accused him of being in league with demons.

To accuse Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power shows the level of resistance against him; it also reveals the lack of sound judgment of his opponents. If you can’t recognize that casting out demons is a good thing, a holy act, than your logic is all messed up. You are calling evil “good” and good “evil”. 

The Lord’s teaching is certainly echoing the condemnation of the wicked by the Prophet Isaiah centuries before, who said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”

This certainly says something about who twisted the human mind and heart can become, how fallen. It is possible that we become so blind we cannot recognize goodness, so deaf we cannot recognize truth. 

The Lord was saying this about the Pharisees, but if it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone. 

The grace and truth of the Gospel is a remedy for the pride and the sin which twists, and wounds, and perverts the human soul. Jesus is the light which shows us the way out of the darkness of error and self-delusion. 

Sadly, some people will never recognize an authority higher than themselves. And they will criticize and perhaps even persecute the Church because she challenges their authority, like Jesus challenged that of the Pharisees. 

There will always be irrational resistance towards the Church, toward the Christian message, until the end.  But that doesn’t mean we stop preaching or compromise the Truth.  Like the Lord, we continue to make the invitation to conversion, even to those who reject it, even those who hate it. God willing they’ll wake up before it’s too late.

Lord heal us from our delusions, our irrationality, and our lack of love. Give us patience when we face resistance in laboring for your Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may be faithful to evangelization, especially in the face of opposition.

For those who have fallen into error, for Catholics who have grown lukewarm in their faith, for those who have left the Church, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For an increase in devotion to Our Lady’s Holy Rosary, and that we may all come to more fully imitate Our Lady’s faith and purity.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.