Daily Reflection – Sep 30, 2018
Sunday 30 September 2018
First Reading: NM 11:25-29
Responsorial Psalm:
The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
PS 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14
Second Reading: JAS 5:1-6
Gospel Reading: MK 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Today’s Note: Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Reading:
At that time, John said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”
Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
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.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”
Reflection:
Eldad and Medad.(Numbers 11:27)
We all know that Moses was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, but today’s first reading tells us that God took the Spirit and shared it with seventy-two elders of Israel. Unfortunately, two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, were not with everyone else when this happened.
But that didn’t stop God. To everyone’s surprise, the Spirit fell upon Eldad and Medad, even though they were not at the “ordination.” Hearing the news, Moses declared, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” (Numbers 11:29).
There is a similar story in today’s Gospel. John told Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him” because “whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38, 39, 40). In both of these stories, people were harshly judging someone who was trying to do God’s will but who didn’t fit into their expectations.
Today, we still believe that the Spirit falls on everyone who is baptized and accepts Jesus in faith. As Peter said, “The promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off” (Acts 2:39). Those who are“far off” includes us. Like Moses and the elders, the apostles, and the man John condemned, we too have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We too are meant to be prophets.
Being a prophet doesn’t mean shouting in the desert like John the Baptist did. It doesn’t mean confronting kings and princes like Jeremiah and Amos did. A prophet is someone who brings Jesus and his words to the world. That’s our job. Jesus is asking us to tell people how wonderful he is. He is asking us to proclaim his mercy, his goodness, and his salvation. And he’s asking us to do it with a heart filled with his love.
If Moses were here, he’d tell us, “By the power of the Holy Spirit, you are a prophet. So get out there and proclaim God’s word to a hurting world. I wish that every member of the Church would take up this call.”
“Lord, help me to be your prophet.”
