26th Sunday of the Year, B – September 29, 2024.
Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; Ps 18:8,10,12-14; James 5:1-6; Gospel – Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48.
In today’s first reading, we learned that because Moses was aging and the people were grumbling, God extended the spirit of Moses to seventy elders. The second reading comes hard on the rich who live a life of comfort to their heart’s content while they cheat the poor, and condemn or kill the innocent. In the gospel, Jesus’ disciples tried to stop a man who was not one of them from casting out devils in his name, but he rebuked them saying, since he works miracles in my name, he cannot likely be against us. It ends with the call on us to remove everything that causes us to sin to enjoy the beatific vision. Being truly Catholic means living good lives and avoiding scandal while offering others an olive branch in ecumenism and dialogue.
Introduction
Friends in Christ, our liturgy this Sunday reminds us about the universality of salvation and the need to fight for a common humanity. Even though the Catholic Church prides itself on being Catholic or Universal, history painfully reveals the position of the Church before Vatican Council II that outside the Catholic Church, there is no salvation. To correct this, the Fathers of the Vatican II Council in Nostra Aetate (8/10/1965) – In the Declaration on the Relation of Church to Non-Christians which Pope Benedict XVI calls the Magna Carta of interreligious dialogue, the Council Fathers having acknowledged that in the past the relation between Christians and Muslims was fraught with suspicion and fear, now “pleads with all to forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual understanding…” The Church Fathers believed that when mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims is realised, only then can we “preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values…” It took a bold and magnanimous John Paul II to apologise for the sins of the Church.
Background & Summary of the Readings
In today’s first reading (Numbers 11:25-29), we learned that because Moses was aging and the people were grumbling, God extended the spirit of Moses to seventy elders. However, Joshua who had been serving Moses from youth reported Eldad and Medad for prophesying in the camp. He wanted Moses to stop them, but Moses rebuked him by insisting that he wished everyone in the camp were a prophet and had the spirit of God. While the text reveals the seeming jealousy of Joshua, it discloses the magnanimity of Moses.
The second reading (James 5:1-6) comes hard on the rich who live a life of comfort to their heart’s content while they cheat the poor, and condemn or kill the innocent. The Lord says, they should start crying now and weep for the impending miseries because their wealth is rotting, their clothes eaten by the moth and their gold and silver are corroding. St. James states that corrosion will be their sentence because it will eat up their bodies. He also discloses that it was a burning fire that they stored up as their treasure for the last days.
In the gospel (Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48), Jesus’ disciples tried to stop a man who was not one of them from casting out devils in his name but he rebuked them saying, since he works miracles in my name, he cannot likely be against us. He goes ahead to state that anyone kind to you for the sake of Christ would be rewarded but warns those who cause scandal which makes children fall into sin to repent or be eternally doomed. It ends with the call on us to remove everything that causes us to sin to enjoy the beatific vision.
Pastoral Lessons
- Take to co-responsibility: The fact that Eldad and Medad were not among the seventy elders but were given a share of the spirit of Moses and Jesus urged the disciples not to stop the man who was not part of them from performing miracles, pastors of souls and members of the laity are encouraged to form synergy/co-responsibility based on the Common Priesthood of Christ we share.
- Embrace dialogue: Based on the demands of Nostra Aetate which emphasises Mission ad intra (Within the Church) and Mission ad extra (Outside the Church), and in furtherance of the universality of the message of salvation, in 1984 the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue urged Christians to embrace the dialogue of life, the dialogue of action, the dialogue of theological exchange or experts and the dialogue of religious experience to heal our broken world.
- Be Catholic in Charity: In the spirit of being Catholic, we are urged to share the universality of our faith with others like the proverbial mustard seed so that the rich among us can eschew selfishness, and cheating by embracing large-heartedness, generosity and providing for the poor (Cf. Matthew 25:35-40).
- Acknowledge good in others: By rebuking his disciples for stopping a man who was not one of them from casting out devils in his name, Jesus wants to teach us to acknowledge good wherever we see it because salvation has a universal character.
- Avoid scandal: As individuals and a Church, we must protect the young and all vulnerable groups while leading by example as Jesus charges us in the gospel.
Summary Lines
- In today’s first reading, we learned that because Moses was aging and the people were grumbling, God extended the spirit of Moses to seventy elders.
- The second reading comes hard on the rich who live a life of comfort to their heart’s content while they cheat the poor, and condemn or kill the innocent.
- In the gospel, Jesus’ disciples tried to stop a man who was not one of them from casting out devils in his name,
- But he rebuked them saying, since he works miracles in my name, he cannot likely be against us.
- It ends with the call on us to remove everything that causes us to sin to enjoy the beatific vision.
Conclusion
Those saddled with the responsibility of teaching the young must ensure that young people are taught the values of respect and tolerance. As vanguards for common humanity, we ought to be involved in ecumenical initiatives with our separated brethren and dialogue with Muslims if the world must experience the most expected growth. Someone has said, “Civilised people solve their problems through dialogue.” Salvation entails mutual respect for one another’s creed, synergy and prayer. However, we must be conscious of Jesus’ warning: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16). The four forms of dialogue put forward by the Church could heal a broken world if become truly Catholic. Being truly Catholic means living good lives and avoiding scandal while offering others an olive branch in ecumenism and dialogue. Have a blessed week.
