26th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
I believe our first, second
and third readings today remind us something of our human nature that I don’t
think has changed a whole lot in perhaps three or four thousand years. Because we see in the first reading where
Moses had blessed certain elders among the community to help him lead the
people. And two of these men, Eldad and
Medad were not in the same gathering place but the spirit was still upon
them. And Joshua said, “Whoa, wait a
minute, they’re not part of our inner circle.
They are not part of the group.
They shouldn’t be prophesying.”
Moses comes back and says, “Hey Joshua, wait a minute. Would that God would make everybody
prophets. Don’t limit the power of the
Lord.”
See the same thing in the
gospel again. Here’s someone else
driving out the demons in the name of Jesus.
And the other disciples are saying, “He shouldn’t be doing that. He’s not part of our inner circle.”
We’ve always it seems for
the last part of human nature, had this great way of making divisions huh? Them and us.
Another way to say it. There’s us
and there’s them. We’re alright, they’re
not. We are justifiably concerned for
our family’s livelihood while they’re in it for the money. We’re just resting, they’re being
self-indulgent. We are very pragmatic,
they’re manipulative. We were just
teasing, they’re mean-spirited. We know
the truth, they don’t understand, they are ill-informed. We’re concerned for the common good, they’re
out to grab whatever they can get. Don’t
ever question our good intentions, our values, our patriotism, but watch out
for them. You can trust us, but be
afraid of them. We are all created
equal, but of course some of us are more equal than others. We are God’s children but we are God’s
favorites, we are the people of God. We
pray for them.
Any of that sound
familiar? Them and us. The ins and the outs. We make these divisions. You could go on with the list for ever and
ever. You know the political part of it,
Democrats, conservatives, Republicans, liberals. We have it in the church. From the beginning of the church even there
were divisions, people who denied the humanity of Christ, people who denied the
divinity of Christ. Councils were formed
in the church down through the centuries to really put into line what is it
that we as Catholics believe in, so that people would have a sense of unity
rather than a sense of division.
It goes on, you know, we can
divide ourselves between them and us according to how much we make, the rich,
the poor, the middle class stuck in the middle.
We talk about the differences in our beliefs, races, color of our skin,
so forth and so forth. It just keeps
going on and on.
And yet we come to the
Eucharist this morning and Jesus is saying, “No! Do not prevent him because he is still
speaking in My name.” Isn’t it amazing
that God’s great wisdom can work through so many different people. Perhaps some of the most unsuspecting people
in ways and events to bring about extraordinary results. Would that all of us were prophets. In a sense we are. Because the Spirit has been poured out into
each and every one of us here this morning through our baptism, through our
receiving of Jesus in this Eucharist, through our confirmation. We all are empowered to do these beautiful
things in the name of Jesus.
Wonderful! Fantastic!
But what happens? We get these
divisions springing up because so many times, what happens, we look at our own
self-interest and then we cannot see the goodness, the Spirit working in other
people.
You know very practically
for me it comes down. I, as pastor of
St. Alphonsus Parish, and then you are my parishioners. Me, you.
Another division. Some people
say, “So what? Big deal. You’re the pastor.” And it isn’t any big deal. But what happens? In my role I find that many times I get
E-Mails, sometimes letter, some people actually calling me up and telling me, a
lot of it seems to be in the old gossip line, about different things going on
inside the parish, and how people are upset with this or that or whatever it
might be. And you know what one of the
things that people seem to get the most upset about? The debt, money, and how it’s spent. Why does this ministry get more than our
ministry? And how come it is that if we
make it why can’t we decide how it’s going to be spent? Who makes these decisions? And I have to keep coming back to all these
different groups and people saying, “No, it’s not a matter of we vs. them, it’s
us. We are in this together.” And it goes right back to the gospel this
morning.
Notice that Jesus said, “For
whoever is not against us is for us.” He
did not say whoever is not against Me is against Me. No not against us is for us. So Jesus again is tipping you and me off that
you and I are in this together. We are
the Body of Christ. We are the
Church. We are the people of St.
Alphonsus and we pull together, pray together, play together, we work together
no matter how old, how young, whatever it might be.
Then Jesus goes on
further. He takes this idea of being
together and says, “Look, you know if there’s something inside of you that is
causing you to maybe not see the goodness in somebody else, cut it off.” That’s the hyperbole. He’s not saying maim yourself, literally cut
your hand or your foot off or pluck your eye out. But what is it inside of Pat Grile, perhaps
prevents me from seeing with my eyes your goodness, your gifts, or your
talents, or appreciating how God works through so many different people? Jesus says, “Root that out of you.” That’s really a powerful message that He’s
giving us. Do not be the cause of sin
for somebody else. Do not be the cause
that prevents somebody else from doing wonderful, beautiful things.
Think of it as the church
down through the history, the centuries.
You know there are a lot of different denominations out there
right? You got all the Lutherans,
Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Anglicans.
You’ve got the Baptists. You got
First Church of this, the Fountain Street Church, whatever it might be. All different peoples trying to do the best
they can in the name of Jesus. You ought
to honor them, encourage them, “Yes be faithful to the gospel that you are
claiming to follow.”
Not everybody’s going to do
it our Roman Catholic way. That’s
alright. It doesn’t take anything away
from us or from them. Many good things
are done in this world through Catholic Social Services. Many good things are done in this world
through Lutheran Social Services. And
the Lutherans are having their problems too.
You read in the paper here last week where the Evangelical Lutherans are
starting to split again. So divisions
keep going on.
Maybe part of what I hear
coming out of the readings today is not to be afraid of these divisions, but
let’s not set up these divisions among us here at St. Al’s. We are in this together.
I suppose another way of
saying that is really to focus on Jesus Christ so we don’t get caught up in
this thing of saying, “I’m more equal.”
I remember one time that a
very good mentor of mine told me that.
He said, “You know Pat, some people consider themselves more
equal.” I said, “Hey wait a minute Joe that doesn’t make
sense. How can you be more equal? Either we’re equal or we’re not.” He said, “But ah, some think they are more
equal because of their status, their power, whatever it might be.” No! No! No!
Jesus brings you and me here this morning and says, “You’re call created
in My image. I love all of you and I
empowered all of you, each of you with the gifts, the talents that you need to
spread My kingdom, not yours.”
So if we keep the focus in
Jesus and what He wants you and me to do today I think we will realize we are
in this together.
Pope John XXIII said it this
way, “In essential matters let there be unity.
In nonessential matters, liberty.
But in all matters charity.” Let
the love of God, the love of Jesus always be the bottom line for you and me.
So our prayer this morning
could be something like this, “Lord Jesus, help us to be aware of Your
beautiful ways that You work, not only through each and every one of us, but in
all the very many ways that You work through so many other people, empowering
them in unexpected ways to do beautiful, unexpected things. May we honor Your presence in all of these
other people, the way they work for Your kingdom. Help us then Lord to have that wisdom to be
able always to discern what is right and best, and to chose the good to build
up Your kingdom, and Your love among all of us here at St. Alphonsus
Parish. Lead us closer to You every
day. To this we say, “Amen.” And to this we say, “Amen.”