Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 21, 2023 - Saturday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:13, 16-18 and Luke 12:8-12]"I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me befoe others will be denied before the angels of God. Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." [Luke]
Jesus warns the disciples (and Luke warns the early missionaries) to expect opposition to their preaching. But this opposition can take two forms in the passage in today's gospel scripture. The first is opposition to Jesus as Messiah. The second is a denial of God's presence in the church - a denial that God has anything to do with the preaching, which means the person who "blasphemes" against the Holy Spirit has put themselves beyond forgiveness because they would not believe in it in the first place. Jesus, in his public earthly ministry, preached forgiveness to anyone who asked for it. But even earthly denial can have fatal consequences if there is no repentance.
In my own ministry, I have rarely encountered someone who rejected Jesus, let alone someone who completely denied the reality of God's presence in the Christian community (the Holy Spirit). So, I have been puzzled by the amount of attention that this passage attracts, at least here in the USA, which is predominantly Christian one way or another. Forgiveness from God is always available for the one in this life who repents. Denial of God in this life will mean denial of eternal life at the final judgment. We are responsible for what we believe. AMEN