26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year II)
Community Word: Obeying God’s word purifies us, giving honor to Him.
Theme: We obey God’s word when we help those who are in need.
Promise: “Anyone who gives a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ … will surely not lose his reward.” (Mk 9:41)
Reflection:
Jesus demands that we be tolerant of one another
Most Jews at the time of Jesus believed in demons and attributed both mental and physical illnesses to the work or influence of evil spirits. The gospel this week tells us how John saw a man using Jesus’ name to exorcise demons, and he tried to stop him because he was not one of the disciples who followed Jesus.
Rather than agree with him, Jesus admonished John, pointing out that no man who does a mighty deed in His Name, can be an enemy. This is the source of the great principle taught by Jesus, that “he who is not against us is for us.” This Gospel passage is a lesson in tolerance, and Jesus wanted to impart it, not only to His disciples but also to the modern-day Christians who want to follow in His footsteps:
• Each man has a right to his own thoughts and that right is to be respected. Sometimes we are too quick to condemn that which we do not understand. We should remember that there is more than just one way to God. The world is round, and two people can get to the same destination by starting out from different directions. There are many roads that lead to God and no man, church, or community has a monopoly of the path to salvation.
• It is necessary to remember that truth is always larger than any man’s grasp. No man has a total grasp all of the truth, all of the time. The basis of tolerance is not just the acceptance of anything, but a reverence for all the possibilities of truth. Opposed to this, intolerance is a sign of arrogance and ignorance, for it is a sign that a man believes that there is no truth beyond the truth he sees.
•We must not only concede to every man the right to his own opinions, but also his right to speak. The only caveat is when a man espouses doctrines designed to destroy the moral fibre of a civilized Christian society.
• Everyone must also remember that any doctrine or set of beliefs must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces. The question that must be asked is not how a church or community is governed, but what kind of fruit – people – this church or community has produced.
This gospel passage also teaches that kindness shown to the people of Christ will not be without reward, the reason being that people belong to Christ. Note also how simple the help is. The help could be as insignificant as a cup of cold water. Many times we are not asked to do great things for others but to do simple things that are well within our power to do. To help a brother in need is to win eternal reward. To cause the downfall of a weaker brother is to win eternal punishment. These are the two things that await those who are in Christ. The millstone described here is the kind that animals pull to grind grain. To be cast into the sea with a millstone around your neck means there is no hope of return. Jesus uses this metaphor to paint a picture of what eternal damnation is, in the language that the Jews understand, and in the way we too will understand. We must also ask ourselves how indeed a man can cast out demons if he was not filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not everyone who can cast out demons. In Matthew 17:19, we read that some of the Jesus’ disciples were unsuccessful in casting out a demon from a boy. In Acts 19:13-7, we read of the seven sons of a high priest named Sceva who tried to exorcise an evil spirit. They were overpowered by the evil spirit.
From this, we can conclude that unless one lives by the teachings of Jesus – not just some – but all of them, he cannot do the work of the Lord Jesus, or be of the Body of Christ. “Whoever is not against us is for us,” says Jesus. These Sacred Words shine in perfect unity. There is no division. All are of the same faith. When the two men prophesied, they did so for the people of God, not for the pagans in the surrounding regions. When the unnamed man cast out a demon in the Name of Jesus, he did so according to the teachings of Jesus, not the teachings of the Jewish people, or of those who adored idols. These men were in perfect unity with the Divine Will of God. When the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church says that the fullness of salvation can only be obtained through the Mother Church that enjoys the fullness of revelation, that is exactly what is meant! For how can one enter the Kingdom of God if one has not been baptized and made into a new creation that qualifies him as a member of the invisible Body of Christ?
How can one have salvation if he has not and does not regularly receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Living Bread that gives life to the soul? How can one obtain the forgiveness of sins if he rejects Jesus’ command for the priests to forgive sins as the ministers of the Church? How can one say that he belongs to the true Church if he is not part of the “One Body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, One Lord, one faith, and one baptism” (Eph. 4:4-5)? How can one say that he belongs to the true Church if he is not of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which is the only Church that has been instituted by Jesus Christ? Is it not the only Church that has persisted for two thousand years in the purity of its teachings and traditions? How can one claim to be the true Church when the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which has the authority to loose and bind in Heaven what it loses and binds on earth? The Catholic Church can be compared to a cake. Many religions possess a cake but only the Catholic Church has sweet icing on the cake. Without the Sacraments, there is no life that leads to salvation in a religion or a Church.
These readings emphasize the necessity to do the works of the Lord in order to remain filled with the Holy Spirit. The two men who prophesied were filled with the Holy Spirit. The man who cast out the demons was filled with the Holy Spirit. In the Second Reading from the Letter of James, we hear that the rich people should weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to them. They spend their lives accumulating wealth. When one becomes obsessed with money, he cuts corners. If he is a contractor, he will build with low grade material. If he is a retailer, he will pay minimum wages to his employees. If he is dishonest, he will cheat them of their wages. When he files his annual income tax, he will omit some of his revenues. Through these means, he grows wealth, fame, and material possessions. But in the end, he will have nothing!
Everyone must be reminded of a sin that has become very popular among Catholics. It is the sin of being judgmental. The Holy Bible teaches us that we will be judged by the same measure that we judge others! That means if we cannot forgive those who have sinned, neither will the Lord forgive us on Judgment Day. It means that if we reject sinners from the Body of Christ on earth, the Lord God will also reject us from the eternal Body of Christ in Heaven. Considering the extent of the scandal in the Church and in Christian communities today and, unless there is a drastic change, many Catholics may be lost forever. Brothers and sisters, we cannot serve two masters. We will surely love one more than the other!
Reflection Questions:
1. Are we with Jesus or against Him? Do we abide by the teachings of Jesus that are found in the Holy Catholic Church or do we not?
2. How do we intend to grow as a Catholic?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
September 30, 2012 (Sun) Nm 11:25-29/Ps 119:8,10,12-14/ Jas 5:1-6/ Mk 9:38-43,45,47,48
October 1, 2012 (Mon) Jb 1:6-22/Ps 17:1-3,6,7/ Lk 9:46-50
October 2, 2012 (Tues) Jb 3:1-3,11-17,20-23/ Ps 88:2-8/ Ex 23:20-23/ Mt 18:1-5,10
October 3, 2012 (Wed) Jb 9:1-12,14-16/ Ps 88:10,-15/ Lk 9:57-62
October 4, 2012 (Thur) Jb 19:21-27/ Ps 27:7-9, 13,14/ Lk 10:1-12
October 5, 2012 (Fri) Jb 38:1,12-21;40:3-5/ Ps 139:1-3,7,-10/ Lk 10:13-16
October 6, 2012 ( Sat) Jb 42:1-3,5,6,12,17/ Lk 10:17-24
Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
