15th October 2022
Reflection
The Feast of St Theresa of Avila (Virgin and Doctor of the Church)
Ephesians 1:15-23
Psalm 8
Luke 12:8-12
Over the last two day or so Jesus has been reprimanding the Lawyers, Scribes and Pharisees for their sons of hypocrisy, hard heartedness and holier than thou attitudes. Yesterday He constantly reminded His audience to observe a sincere religion - one that feared only God and that put all trust in God.
In our today's Gospel passage, Jesus invites us to have a recognition of God's power and at the same time a sense of sin. The Pharisees and Scribes accused Jesus of using the power of Beelzebul - king/prince of demons- in curing people and expelling demons! Instead of seeing God's hand and power they ascribe Jesus' miraculous power to the devil. Looking at the work of grace, wonders of God they could only see the devil!
It is possible for a Christian to lose the faculty to recognize God and to refuse God's word - by constantly taking our own ways, shutting our eyes and blocking our ears to him... until eventually we cannot distinguish between good and evil, and between right and wrong. At this stage evil becomes good and good becomes evil. At this stage God's power is interpreted as the devil,and sin is interpreted as good! This is what had happened to the Pharisees and the Scribes to an extent that they were so blinded to recognize God: when He came they called Him the devil!
Saint Pope John Paul II listed "lack of a sense of sin" as the most grave and deadliest sin of our times. Let us pray for the spirit of the sense of sin.
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