Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
We don’t usually think this way, but the shelves of your favorite supermarket are an example of tolerance. Just check out the cereal section, for example, the next time you’re there and notice the wide variety of types and brands competing for your attention. The colorful boxes almost shout: “Pick me!” But it is the store manager’s job to make sure all the makers get the chance to do it. Otherwise, a manufacturer’s rep might well protest.
Just so, God the Holy Spirit has abundant gifts and favors to extend to the world, but He will breathe where He wills and not just where we will Him to do so. Jesus makes that clear in the passage we are focusing on this weekend. The only condition He places is that whoever does the good work does it in His name.
You see, even among us faithful Catholics there is always the possibility that we will become exclusive in our thinking and acting.
Truth be told, we have no right to tell God what to do, much less how to do it and for whom. After all, we are only His creatures.
This means that the non-Catholic Church down the street from a Catholic Church just might form a Pro-life group in advance of the Catholic one, and whose prayers and protest lead to the closing of an abortion mill in the neighborhood. Praised be to God! A good work has been accomplished in Jesus’ name!
The warning posed by Jesus to His chosen Twelve is in no way a diminution of His choice of them to found a Church. It was to expand their minds and enlarge their hearts to embrace other believers in other faiths for their particular goodness. We call that “ecumenism” in our time. We can at least smile at our differences and learn from each other.
Once upon a time there was an unprecedented spiritual event at which every imaginable denomination was in attendance. During one well-attended meeting, a secretary suddenly rushed in shouting, “The building is on fire! The building is on fire! At which point:
The Methodists gathered in the corner and prayed.
The Baptists cried, “Where is the water?”
The Quakers praised God for the blessings fire brings.
The Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring that the fire was evil.
The Roman Catholics passed a plate to cover the damages.
The Jews posted symbols on the doors hoping that the fire would pass.
The Congregationalists shouted, “Every man for himself!”
The Fundamentalists proclaimed, “It is the vengeance of God.”
The Episcopalians formed a procession and marched out.
The Christian Scientists concluded that there was no fire.
The Presbyterians appointed a chairperson to appoint a committee to look into the matter and make a written report.
Meanwhile, the secretary grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.
God love you and give you His peace.
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Numbers 11: 25-29
The fact that Eldad and Medad are equal prophets to those prior confirmed by Joshua tells us that the gifts of the Spirit exclude nobody. They go to whomever the Spirit chooses.
Reading II: James 5: 1-6
The rich will be condemned if their wealth blinds them to the needs of the poor and needy among them.
The Gospel: Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48
The true believer must always be tolerant of those whom the Spirit blesses outside his/her group. The Twelve are taught this by Jesus Himself when they expressed dismay when an “outsider” performed an exorcism for a possessed person.