Reflections
“People did not change their ways.”In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Donald Se- nior remarked that“The deeds of Jesus have the ultimate purpose of revealing the presence of God’s reign and therefore should lead to repentance.” In reference to the Scribes and Pharisees, Je- sus emphatically denounced the Galilean cities of Chorazin, Beth- saida and Capernaum, where he taught and performed miracles. He laments the disbelief of the people, in spite of witnessing the dawning of the kingdom of God. They were resistant and blind to Jesus’ offer of salvation, and un- willing to repent. One could feel the anguish and frustration of Jesus over their response.What could have prevented them from changing their ways of thinking or transforming their lives? Bernard Lonergan’s under- standing of bias offers insights into this question. For him, bias involves the disregard of timely and fruitful ideas. It excludes that which may effect construc- tive results. If one operates along some form of bias, as in the case of those Jesus criticized, he/she would fail to arrive at an objec- tive treatment of an issue at hand. If we cannot deconstruct or get rid of our biases, we will not be able to reach reasonable and correct judgment of reality or of a situation.
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