Friday of the Twenty Seventh Week of Ordinary Time (Lk 11:15-26)

Friday of the Twenty Seventh Week of Ordinary Time (Lk 11:15-26)

When people want to discredit someone, they are arguing with, there are several different tactics that can be used.  Jesus was arguing with the religious leaders of his day.  A lot of them had some theological training.  Jesus was a poor carpenter that seemed to have little in the way of formal education.  For that reason, the scribes, Pharisees, priests and others attacked his intellectual capabilities.  They would ask him trick religious questions to make him look bad in the eyes of the public.

Another way to try to demean an enemy is to spread slander about them.  If we hear something derogatory, we pass it on to as many people as possible.  Jesus’ enemies tried to do that.  Jesus did not seem to follow all the religious prescripts, so when Jesus’ enemies would see this, they would point it out.

A third way of trying to smear someone is to claim that they are evil.  This is probably the worst criticism of all.  When we say that someone is evil then this cuts off all conversation.  Why would anyone want to compromise with an evil person?  This amounts to cooperating with the devil.

In our divided world, we see opposing parties run out of intellectual arguments to use against political foes.  When they do, how quick they are to say that the other party promotes evil choices.  To side with the other side is to be evil yourself. 

Such an argument usually means that the person saying it has run out of salient points to make.  We might compare it to children hurling insults on a playground.  The name calling can deteriorate to the point that the insults have nothing to do with the original disagreement. 

The adversaries of Jesus tried to paint him as an evil person, but the people who observed him and listened to him were attracted to his authenticity and his compassion.  Those two attributes can never be equated with evil.

Reflection Questions:

1.  Has anyone ever attacked me and tried to discredit me?  What tactics did they use?

2.  Are evil acts ever justified?  If not, why not?

 Dear Parishioners,

         Seton School will be having a different type of fund raiser tomorrow night.  There will be an adult dodge ball tournament and in conjunction with that there will be auction baskets, food, beer and other items.  This is Seton’s Schools largest fund raiser of the year.  If you want more information, go to the Seton School WEB page.  The attire for the night is very casual.

        The doors open at 6:30 p.m.  Come and join in the fun and support Seton.

         May Our Lady pray for us,

              Fr. Mark