So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him? ”The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed." Jn 7,45-49
While gathered with friends for a prayerful evening, I listened as one of them read aloud from "Charter of Rights" for Catholics In the Church," based on Vatican I documents, the Social Justice teachings especially as articulated by Pope Paul VI in "The Progress of Peoples." The first right listed was that, "All Catholics have the right to follow their informed consciences in all matters."
I thought of that as I read today's gospel. Those who heard Jesus speak, even those sent to arrest him, were riveted by his words. How could one arrest a man who spoke like that? Jesus spoke Truth, and Truth finds resonance in human hearts enlivened by the indwelling of that same Truth, the Spirit. Read More