Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9, 38-40
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.”
Unity
1. We saw someone. That’s the attitude of some Christians who, instead of living in fraternity among brothers and sisters, believe they are other people’s supervisors, coming to control and declare who has God’s grace and who hasn’t, who has sinned and who hasn’t. Let’s remember God works in each one in a particular way. Please don’t be your brother’s detective, be your brother’s support. Fraternity is the key.
2. Prevent. How hard it is for us to see that God works even in brothers or sisters that are considered as sinners by others! Yes, God works in those people, too. Just because your brothers or sisters have a flaw, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be holy or don’t act according to God’s will, for in this world we all have a blemish, a situation that presses us and condemns us. For this reason, there are times that we have to learn to look at the message rather than observe the messenger. Look at your brothers and sisters’ work and the good they do in others, and don’t look at their résumé to find a blemish to discredit them.
3. Unity. We must work more united than ever. And I’m not referring to our relationship with fellow evangelists or any particular religion. I’m referring to us, Catholics. There are times when a certain fanaticism among us makes us look for brothers or sisters to join our parish group at all costs. Or we discredit one another because some people belong to this or that movement or group. Today, I invite you to pray to God so that we may look at one another in all honesty and love and accept that with one another’s differences we will be able to build a beautiful, living church.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and keep you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
