“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own fact” by Daniel Patrick. Why is that observation? Because sometimes we can have skewed interpretations of situations that distort the truth. Our interpretations to situations often highlight how subjective biases, Personal prejudices, and flawed perspectives can distort objective reality. Sometimes as human beings, what we observe is often a reflection of our own conditioning rather than the raw truth.
In today’s gospel, a dumb demoniac, was brought to Jesus by his friends with the hope that Jesus would set the troubled man free. The man had not only lost his ability to speak but was also greatly disturbed in mind and spirit. He was in a state of despair and hopelessness. With a simple act of power Jesus casts out the demon, restoring the man’s ability to speak.
This miracle causes both scorn and wonder. The crowds looked with awe at the wonderful work which Jesus did, (Nothing like this had ever been done before in the land of Israel), but the religious leaders attributed this same work to the power of the devil. Both groups saw Jesus perform the same miracle, and yet, both interpreted what they saw in very different ways. One group saw the presence of God at work, and the other group saw the presence of evil one. One group was open to the truth of who Jesus really was, the other group was blinded by their prejudice. These were two different ways of seeing and interpretating.
Jesus comes to bring us freedom, and a new life filled with God’s life-giving presence. He grants freedom to those who respond with faith, to all who turn to him with trust. The crowd’s way of seeing Jesus was like Jesus’ way of seeing people. Jesus saw the goodness in people just as the people saw the presence of God in Jesus. The people
saw God at work in what Jesus was doing; the religious leaders saw Satan at work in Jesus’ healing ministry. People can look at the same phenomenon and see it very differently.
The gospel invites us to be alert to the presence of God all around us. We can be prone to seeing what is lacking in some situations and miss the good that is also there. We can be more attuned to noticing evil than good. God who is sensitive and compassionate through Jesus, to human situations, wants us to be receptive and open to the ways that he is at work in our lives and the lives of others around us. The Lord invites us to pray that this work of Jesus may spread throughout the world, so that all may find true joy and true freedom in Jesus.