In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Saturday 2 January 2021

Word for today
The Gospel of John 1:19-28

Interpellators

John the Baptist is the greatest of all the prophets and the enlightened ones and the greatest man born of woman. Nevertheless, to find out something more about him, the leaders of that age needed to organize extensive consultations and ended up sending emissaries to the desert to interpellate him directly.
Jesus, the Son of God, performed unheard of miracles and gave signs beyond all human imagination. He spoke with incredible authority, He exorcised demons, He healed all illnesses, He touched many, and finally He rose from the dead. Nevertheless, to find out something more about Him, the priests of the temple and the heads of the people organized an endless series of consultations and finally the last tragic interrogation during which He was sentenced to death. There were also interrogations and trials for Jesus' first disciples with regard to the miracles they performed and why they believed in him. There were countless consultations and trials, to find out, to understand, and to try to comprehend. But what is this incurable need to understand the parts about someone or something by an interrogation an index of? If a man needs to interpellate his wife, or viceversa, to find out if there are problems in their relationship, what is it an index of? If a teacher has to interpellate a student to find out if he/she has studied the material that was assigned, what is it an index of? What does it mean if an artisan has to interpellate his/her apprentice to find out what he/she has learned? What does it mean if a catechist has to interpellate a catechumen to find out if he/she knows the tenants of the Catholic religion and to measure the strength of his/her Faith? What does it mean if an individual has to interpellate a friend to quantify his/her loyalty? It is an index of scarce, limited, or inexistent intelligence. It denotes the absence of perceptive, intuitive skills. The mind, which needs interpellations to understand, reveals that pride, prejudice, self-love, and ambition have extinguished every spark of understanding and have ratified its poverty and doubtful functioning. Faith's best and most faithful friend is not religion but intellectual honesty.