Be Responsible For Every Decision You Make
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
My dear encountered couples:
What’s a lesson we can learn from today’s gospel? That just because the majority believe something, or that the important people say it is so, don’t be too quick to accept it.
We are all responsible for what we say and do. We cannot blame our beliefs and actions on others. Even though we are encouraged by what others believe and do, it does not mean it is correct. And when we are called to count, we cannot point to others for an excuse. We all must keep a certain independence of thought and decision before we act. For when we think erroneously and do what we should not do, we can’t blame it on John. The devil may try to encourage us to do something but he can’t make us do it. Neither should the opinions and beliefs of the majority of the so—called intelligentsia. What am I talking about?
The Pharisees sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus. They came back without him. “Why did you not bring him in?” the chief priest and Pharisees asked. “No man ever spoke like that before,” the guards replied. “Do not tell us you too have been taken in!” the Pharisees retorted. “You do not see any of the Sanhedrin believing in him, do you? Or the Pharisees? Only this 1ot who knows nothing about the law — and they are lost anyway!”
My point today is to remind you that no matter who it is or how many it is that tell us something, we all must remain aware of our God-given right and responsibility to make up our own minds about things.
The guards were right, the leaders of the Jews were wrong. Let us never forget that. We must not, and we cannot, hand over to any other human being, no matter who they are, the right to force decisions upon us that affect the eternal life of our souls. Guidance yes, but in the final analysis, we must make the decisions ourselves. And let others make theirs.
