My opinion! (Mk 3:22-30)
People also said that he was crazy (cf. Mk 3:21), that he was a deceiver who deceived crowds (cf. Jn 7:12; Mt 27:63), that he was a glutton and a drunkard (cf. Mt 11:19). Even mercy towards sinners was held against him and labeled with the nickname "friend of sinners and tax collectors." Only for those who believe in him, this nickname has acquired an honorable meaning and is a sign of hope for us.
Very flattering opinions were also repeated about the Lord Jesus. Some put him on an equal footing with the greatest prophets (cf. Mt 16:14). After His resurrection, there were those who came up with the idea of contradicting His humanity (1 Jn 4: 2f; 2 Jn 7).
Today too, we hear a thousand people's opinions about him. Some people come with hypothesis that he was a disciple of Hindu or Egyptian sages. There are blasphemers who write books about his erotic or military commitments. Others, on the contrary, have the most sublime images of Him and place Him on an equal footing with Buddha and Muhammad.
And who is Jesus really? Who is he for me? He is Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, who became a true man for our salvation. He is the Resurrection and the Life, and whoever believes in Him will never die (cf. Jn 11,25f). And we know it not from flesh and blood, but through the grace of faith, which is given to us by the One who so loved us that he even gave us his own only Son (cf. Mt 16:17; Jn 3:16).
From time to time, I come across strong accusations against the Holy Father Francis. It reminds me very much of today's Gospel situation. Is not the Holy Father Francis accused of various bad things, including thathe breaks the community of the Church? What is the basis of such accusations, either against Jesus or against His Successor? Such bold accusations show that their authors proclaim themselves ruthless authorities. Is not this very mechanism to be considered a sin against the Holy Spirit?
Doesn't it mean that we destroy all the existing authorities and foundations, including the authority of God Himself, and our own opinion becomes the most important? The sin against the Holy Spirit is attacking God directly and recognizing the one who is the Source of Good as ... evil! What a perversity. Probably, to be able to say that such an accusation is a sin against the Holy Spirit, one should also add that someone does it against the obvious signs of good. And what is bright he calls darkness. Such a man's intentions are simply utterly wrong.
It is something else to get confused or to make mistake in our own opinions - which, after all, happens to all of us, and it is something else to stand against God Himself consciously and deliberately.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george