Daily Meditation for January 8, 2025

Galileo Galilei, an astronomer and scientist, died on this day in 1642. He had come up with the theory that the earth revolves around the sun. The church fathers condemned his teaching and threatened him with excommunication if he did not retract this theory. The common belief of the day was that the world was flat, and scripture was used to prove that the earth was the center of the universe. There was a fear among the church fathers that if what had been taught for centuries was proven wrong, common people would lose faith in the church’s other teachings. At times, fear seems to have a way of motivating people’s choices and decisions. Do we fear something new simply because it is contrary to what we have long been taught or believed? We are left to ponder why a new discovery, or new way or belief is so slow to be accepted as truth.

By Joyce Iten, OSB