Both the first reading and the Gospel warn against spiritual jealousy! In the first reading Joshua is upset that two men, who were not present when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit upon a group gathered in the tent to make them prophets, were out and about prophesying. What he didn’t know was that the Holy Spirit had come to rest on them as well. Moses was not worried at all and told Joshua to clam down and that he wished that all the people of Israel were prophets of God!

Similarly, in the Gospel the disciples run into a stranger who is casting out demons in the name of Jesus and they try to stop him because he is not one of their group. But Jesus warns them to leave the man alone and tells them that those who are not against them are with them. The truth is that the healing, the driving out of the demons, was through the power of Jesus. The disciples did not have the corner on using the name of Jesus to cast out demons! That was probably a tough lesson for them to learn, they were insiders, they were Jesus’ best and closest friends and here was an outsider, a stranger wielding the same power. But the truth is that it was God at work in that man, just like in them!

We can be that way too, limiting God’s grace to be when and where we think it should be and active in only whom we think it should be active. We forget that, like God’s mercy, it falls down from heaven like a gentle rain, upon the sinner and the saint. But we prefer most of the time to believe it's just for our “tribe”, just for us, the “insiders” and the “outsiders” are just that, left out! But we forget it’s God’s work, God’s desire that all creation be saved…”For God so loved the world…”.

At a time when we find our nation in such a fractious and divided state it might be good to reflect upon our common kinship as children of God, as sisters and brothers who “live and move and have our being in God.” Who are the “insiders” and “outsiders” in my life and how might I reach out to at least one or two “outsiders”? Where can I see active grace in my life right now? Can I see it active in one of the “outsiders” lives?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

In the second reading, James warns us that where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every foul practice. Sounds so familiar and exactly why Pope Francis has decried clericalism and careerism within the church, which no doubt is directly connected to the failure of so many of the bishops to remove abusive priests. James goes on to say that wisdom is from above and is pure, peaceable gentle and full of mercy and is sincere.

In the Gospel Jesus catches the disciples in a moment of jealousy and selfish ambition, arguing amongst themselves who was most important, who was the greatest of the group. He called them together and took a child, understanding that children were of the most vulnerable class and had no social status, and he told them that we must stop striving to be first, or to be the greatest, the most recognized, and we must rather focus on welcoming the poor, the vulnerable and the weak, like the child, then we welcome him and we welcome the One who sent him!

In last week’s Gospel Jesus told them that unless they were willing to lose their lives for him and for the sake of the Gospel they would not save their lives. Today we hear that by reaching out to “the other” we save our lives. Jesus calls us to refocus our lives not on ourselves but on the poor and the vulnerable. Jesus calls us to look at the world with different eyes, with Gospel eyes, to see the world as God sees it, to love it as God loves it. To love our neighbor as ourselves.

What part of my world view/vision could use a Gospel shift? What personal ambitions might I need to let go of or modify to live a more Gospel centered life? Who is the most vulnerable person in my life right now that I can reach out to let them know they are loved and not alone?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

​

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is drawn to the outcasts to poor and the marginalized. We see him time and time again reaching out to the leper and unclean, to people that he should have avoided but instead he embraced. It is precisely in his embracing of the “suffering ones” that I believe Jesus’ identity shines forth.

In today’s Gospel Jesus asks the disciples “But who do you say that I am”? And Peter, correctly, responds, “You are the Christ!” To which Jesus responds by telling them to keep it to themselves and not tell anyone who he really is. Jesus then goes on to tell them that even though he is the Messiah, he is going to suffer greatly, be rejected by the religious leaders and ultimately be killed! He tells them that anyone who wishes to follow him must deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow him and whoever loses their life for him and for the sake of the Gospel will save their life! Jesus is letting them all know that they too are going to be beaten, stripped and spit upon just like he was as he made his way to Golgotha.

Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and to the cross was a journey of embracing all of those who suffer under the weight of their crosses, crosses placed upon them by human traffickers, by unjust immigration policies. An embracing of those who bare the weight of the crosses of racism, bigotry and marginalization. On his journey to the cross Jesus aligned himself with all of the victims of abuse by clergy, by church leaders, and anyone abused physically, sexually or emotionally. He is the Son of the God of Isaiah who walked with the weak and vulnerable.

Just as he embraced those that others recoiled from or found unworthy or “out of place” as his followers we are called to embrace them and welcome them. We are called to reach out the victims of abuse in our church and to call out and demand that their voices be heard. In midst of a nation so divided we are called to be voices of unity to those who are marginalized and threatened because of the color of their skin or their nationality or their gender or orientation. We are called to be voices of welcome to all those who are being turned away and chased down and deported. They are the crucified among whose crosses, like Simon of Cyrene, we may help to carry, even if for just awhile. And in the carrying of their crosses we may just come to know them better and to see Christ present in them. Whose cross might I help carry? Who might I let help carry my cross?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

​In the second reading St. James speaks to us about the importance of showing the same impartiality to others that God shows to us. If God doesn't make distinctions between rich and poor, then who are we to do so? In fact, if there is to be any partiality to be shown, it should be shown to the poor whom God chooses to be the people through whom the kingdom of God is passed on to the rest of humanity. Today we call this “a preferential option for the poor”, a cornerstone of Catholic Social Teaching.

Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus doing the same. Jesus not only attracted but invited and reached out to the poor, the sick, the sinner and the social outcast. His message of God’s deep and profound love for all of us was most strikingly demonstrated in his care and concern for those who were marginalized by his society. He continually reached out to and raised up “the least ones” of his society. Often enough they were people who others found a bit uncomfortable to be around…they were not the ones given seats of honor at banquets or at synagogues; they were the ones that most people would cross to the other side of the street to avoid contact with them.

It’s completely understandable that we all want our lives to be prosperous and neat and tidy and full of agreeable people, people “like us”, but what do we do when “other things happen” and “other folks” show up—the same kinds of marginal situations and people Jesus himself loved and welcomed? In the midst of so much division, hurt and anger in our country and in our church, how is the Holy Spirit calling me to respond?

Blessings,
Fr Tim