John 7:40-53 Getting To Know Jesus

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Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, “This is truly the Prophet.”  Others said, “This is the Christ.”  But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?  Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

It seems like the Lord is confusing everyone! 

I love getting into discussions with atheists.  I love it how they research the Catholic faith by reading the works of atheists.  Richard Dawkins, the famous atheist, loves to right about science and religion.  But his biggest problem with religion is that he doesn’t know much of any very well.  One of his biggest critics, Rev. Alister McGrath, an Episcopalian, who holds doctorates from Oxford University in Molecular Biophysics and Theology, calls Dawkins “embarrassingly ignorant of Christian theology.” 

Oh well…what can you do?  Will poor Dawkins ever set-up a meeting with the Pope to learn more about Catholicism?  Hell, no!  Will he ever be so humble and take some advanced courses in theology taught by Jesuits?  Of course not!  So, it is reasonable to assume that he will continue to bash religion from 50,000 ft where details are lost and everything mixes in well together.

If all religions were the same; that is, woefully lacking in evidence, then you would never imagine a person switching from one faith to another, or that one would be more convincing than another. 

They said to one another.  Well, the point I wish to make in this meditation is that when Jesus spoke, the crowd listened and then chose to ask each other who they thought He was.  In the business world, this is known as an “after-the-meeting” meeting.  We all know what we get from that:  the latest gossip and a ton load of opinions and misinformation. 

If you ask a Republican what they think of the current president, they will say that he is an abysmal failure.  But if you ask a Democrat, they will tell you that he is the greatest gift to mankind.   How can there be such discrepancy?  Easy.  It’s called ideology. 

Have you also been deceived?  Today, I spent an entire day looking for more information regarding our new Pope.  I was hoping to find something deep and profound.  Instead, I found what I thought would be published in People Magazine or Teen Magazine!  I found useless and pitiful junk, gossip and downright lies.

Did you know that Pope Francis was once in love with a woman?  Yes!!!  It’s true!!!  OMG!!!!  And this breaking news made it on the website of one of America’s leading news channels.  Okay, relax.  Yes, it happened…when the Pope was twelve years old.  Yes, he wrote a letter to a twelve year old neighbor explaining to her that he would either marry her or become a priest.  I am glad he chose the latter.  The world will be happy as well.

But this morning I read from the leftist Huffington Post an article that the Pope was accused of being linked to Argentina’s military junta and death squads!  Never mind, that this accusation is very old and was dismissed years ago.  Never mind that not a single thread of evidence has been brought forward to prove it.  [Do you remember how they accused Pope Benedict of having been a Nazi???]  Never mind that human rights activists (including a Nobel-prize winner who documented the atrocities of the dictatorship) agree that this is not true.  Never mind any of this, for the Huffington Post found it newsworthy to bring it up and smear his name.  Boy, they didn’t wait long to confuse and to deceive.

One silly commentator, fell into their spell and wrote that Pope Francis was just like everyone else, corrupt.   I wanted to write a reply, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.  I wanted to write:  “It is amazing how some people refuse to believe in Scripture, but will believe everything written by a leftist newspaper.” 

Comical!

Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him?  I encourage all of you to go on twitter and take a look at the Pope’s tweets.  There’s only one tweet so far, and it announces that we have a new pope.  Now, take a look and see how some people, nasty people (mostly teenagers and, I suspect, atheists), have responded to the news.  Please, I encourage all of you to do so; for it will shed light on your mind to see what kind of people the secular West is producing, and the hell this world would be if we no longer had moral leaders to help guide and shape us.           

President Shimon Peres, President of Israel, weighed in on the election of Pope Francis.  He wrote, Pope Francis represents “devotion, the love of God, the love of peace, a holy modesty and a new continent which is now awakening…We need, more than ever, a spiritual leadership and not just a political one.  Where political leaders may divide, spiritual leaders may unite.  Unite around a vision, unite around values, unite around a faith that we can make the world a better place to live.  May the Lord bless the new Pope.” 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (from South Korea) wrote:  “We share many common goals – from the promotion of peace, social justice and human rights, to the eradication of poverty and hunger – all core elements of sustainable development…I am certain that His Holiness will continue to build on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, in the promotion of interfaith dialogue which is at the heart of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative.”

The problem with most teenagers is clear as the sky:  they don’t know what life was like when the world was covered in the darkness of atheistic Communism (USSR, North Korea, etc…) and Nazism, and human life was cheaply priced.

Resolution:  I will resolve to learn more about my faith and defend the Lord of Love, so help me God!  I will take some time each day to study more carefully the teachings of the Church, including our Holy Father, Pope Francis.