Readings of the Day
RB: Ch. 7:31-33
Mass: Nb 11:25-29; Resp Ps 19; Jm 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43, 5, 47-48
Whoever is not against us is for us.
There may be times when we are like Joshua and John in today's readings and don't listen to the message because we have a problem with the messenger. Joshua goes to Moses complaining about Eldad and Medad (great names!) who stayed in the camp prophesying instead of going out to the tent with all the other elders. In the Gospel, John goes to Jesus complaining about someone who, although busy driving out demons, wasn't following the others. Oh my. Is there a problem here? Perhaps the problem is with us (thank you for letting me use the plural...I like to think I am in good company 😌). Maybe the messenger isn't properly 'qualified', has annoying personality traits, comes from a different religious and/or cultural background, has different political views, doesn't go about things the way the rest of us are asked to go about things, keeps saying the same thing over and over, etc. When the messenger is blocked out, the message will never be heard no matter how eloquent or full of good will the messenger is. Jesus tells us: Do not prevent them. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Amen.
This is the invitation that Jesus gives us today. He calls us not to think according to the categories of 'friend or enemy', 'us or them', 'who's on the inside/who's on the outside', but to go beyond, to open the heart so as to recognize God's presence and his action even in the unusual and unpredictable areas and people who are not part of our circle.
(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, September 30, 2018)
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