The "Big Lie" technique is something famously championed by Adolph Hitler. It was Hitler's view that if you're going to tell a lie, at least in the political arena, you are best off telling a big one. The idea was that the very enormity of the lie would give it some staying power and credibility, even if most people knew that was was being said wasn't the truth. The technique worked well for Hitler, as it has for others before and after the Nazi warlord. Tell a Big Lie often enough and convincingly enough, and some people will believe you, it seems. That's what the Pharisees were doing in today's gospel (Mt 9: 32-38). They couldn't deny Jesus' miracles-- too many people had seen and experienced them. But they couldn't admit that Jesus was who He said He was, the Son of God, because that would undermine the position of the Pharisees and all that they taught. So they made up a lie. They said His power comes not from God but from the devil. Did they have a shred of evidence to support the lie? Of course not. But they wanted to believe it was true. They wanted to believe that someone who worked miracles but ate with sinners and tax collectors, and who didn't buy most of what the Pharisees were selling, was from the devil. That explanation conceded Jesus' power, but tried to turn His very good deeds against Him. I suppose there were those who believed the lie. Probably many of those believers were Pharisees, or followers of the Pharisees, who wanted the lie to be true. They were motivated to believe. And motive is always the give-away. I'm guessing the crowds who followed Jesus, despite the accusation that He used the power of the devil, saw through the Big Lie because they understood the motives of the Pharisees and therefore needed something more than an accusation before they would believe what the Pharisees said. We live in a world where the Big Lie can get spread with particular speed and virulence. It might be about the Church, or a politician, or a co-worker. It is hard to know where it comes from, so motive can be tough to assess. So prudence suggests that we adopt the attitude of the crowds, not the attitude of those who wanted to see Jesus fail. Maybe that means starting with the notion that something that sounds like a Big Lie probably is.