In last week’s Gospel the disciples quarreled amongst themselves over who was the greatest. This week, they are incensed at the audacity of an “outsider” who acts as though he is part of the “insiders”; acting as though he was part of Jesus’ inner circle of the twelve disciples. But Jesus cautions John not to be so quick in his judgment of the man casting out demons in Jesus’ name.

It seems, still today, that well-meaning and upstanding disciples are routinely aghast at the thought of including “less than upstanding members of our society” in “the family of God”.

“But Lord,” they say, then as today, “what about standards? What about criteria? ” They wonder how can you admit anyone, no matter what’s contained in their past, no matter how unsuitable their present? Remember that God allows the rain to fall on the fields of the just and the unjust…it is God’s choice not ours. Each Mass we pray for the souls of
the deceased whose righteousness only God knows! Maybe some people will decide not to be associated with the
Kingdom as Jesus presents it…they may believe they have attained righteousness all by themselves, through their own
efforts and wonder how Jesus can possibly ask them to share the Kingdom with sinners, tax collectors and the like?

People, even on their best day, with their best effort, could never attain the Kingdom…except for God’s grace!

Thank you God for “your amazing grace”! I don’ know about you but I’m relying on that nonexclusive, all-saving, grace…
yesterday, today and tomorrow!

When we believe behavior excludes people of goodwill who are doing the best they can, like Eldad and Medad, like the
man in the Gospel, such exclusion becomes the very antithesis of what Jesus demonstrated in his words and actions, and is
what is demanded of us as followers of Jesus Christ!

When we do what we do in God’s name for the good of others, we become equal in each other’s sight, as we always have
been in God’s sight. Discipleship is difficult. It challenges the way we live, the way we think and the way we view “others”
and the way we view the world around us.

Discipleship calls us to be our best selves, as God has created us to be, as God has dreamt us to be in the world…to love one
another, as Christ has loved us, and to care for the world, our common home.

God gives us the grace we need to live up to that dream that God has for us and for the world as a whole. And the Eucharist
helps strengthen us for the task of living out our discipleship to the best of our abilities. Through God’s grace we can help build up the Reign of God in the here and now through our “good works” for the sake of “the other” and for the sake of the
earth itself! Discipleship demands that we use the Gospel as “the lens” through which we view the world around and by
which we judge our actions and interactions in our daily lives.

In light of today’s Gospel let us ask ourselves, do I exclude anyone from my life because I have judged them to be undeserving or inferior? Do I look down on anyone or any group of people? Can I believe that God deeply and passionately loves all of us, just as we are, even those whom I might think unworthy? And what does this mean for my faith journey and my relationship with God?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

In the second reading St. James warns us that where there is jealousy and selfish ambition there is disorder and every foul practice -- it rings so true and sounds so familiar; we find it rampant in our politics and throughout our society today.

James goes on to say that wisdom is from above and is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and is sincere. And so, peace, gentleness and mercy are what we should strive for in our lives with each other.

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 singled out a child in their midst (understanding that children were of the most vulnerable class and had no social status) and he told them that they must stop striving to be first, or to be the greatest and the most recognized.

As Jesus’ disciples we must focus on welcoming the vulnerable, the poor, the outcast and the weak, like the child. And when we do so, we welcome Jesus and we welcome the One who sent him!

In last week’s Gospel Jesus told us that unless we were willing to lose our lives for him and for the sake of the Gospel, we will not save our lives. Today we hear Jesus tell us 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 -- to look at the world through “Gospel eyes” -- to see the world as God sees it; to love the world as God loves it.

Jesus is calling us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And the reality is that “all people” are our neighbors! Regardless of where they live, or where they were born, or their race or their gender or their politics or economic or immigration status. They are all, by Jesus’ definition, our neighbors.

So, as we look around our country and our world, as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ, it would seem that an awful lot of our “neighbors” are in desperate need of our love and our help!

And so, I believe that in light of today’s Gospel and the social and political discourse in our country, I need to ask myself a few questions. Such as: What part of my world view and my view towards “my neighbors” could use more of a “Gospel centered view”? What might I need to change or modify in my life to actively live a more Gospel centered life? And finally, who is the most vulnerable person, or persons, in my life right now that need me to reach out to them, to let them know they are deeply and passionately loved by God and are not alone in this world…and how can I help manifest that love to them though my care for them?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is drawn to the outcasts, to the poor and the marginalized. We see him time and time again reaching out to the leper and those seen as unclean by society; to people that he should have avoided based on religious laws, but instead he embraced them.

It is precisely in his embracing of the “suffering ones” that I believe Jesus’ true identity bursts forth.

In today’s Gospel Jesus asks the disciples, who do people say that I am, they give many answers, but then he asks them, most importantly, “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 will be as he will make 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 bear the weight of the crosses of systemic racism, bigotry and misogyny and social marginalization.

On his journey to the cross Jesus aligned himself with all the victims of abuse by clergy, by church leaders, and anyone abused physically, sexually or emotionally. He is the Son of the God, the one who the prophet Isaiah spoke of who would walk with the weak and vulnerable.

Just as he embraced those whom others recoiled from or found unworthy or “out of place”…we, as his followers, we are called to embrace them and welcome them.

We are called to reach out to those who are abused and marginalized and ignored by our society. Our discipleship in Jesus Christ calls us to stand together to call out and demand that their voices be heard and that they receive the justice they deserve.

In the 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, villainized and deported. We are called to be voices of welcome to the stranger, to the immigrants and refugees who are seeking a new life in our country.

On the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, we are called to carry the cross of all of those who lost their lives in the attacks and in the ensuing wars and the families and loved ones they left behind, whose lives are forever scared and changed.

All the afore mentioned people are the crucified whose crosses, like Simon of Cyrene, we may help to carry, even if for just a few steps on their long journey. And in the carrying of their crosses, we may come to know them just a little better, to understand their suffering, and to see Christ present in them…whose cross might I help carry? And who might I let help carry the crosses of my life?

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 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, to the rest of humanity. Recall for a moment the words of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth: God will lift up the lowly, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty handed!

Today in the Roman Catholic Tradition we call this “a preferential option for the poor,” a corner stone 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 and religious outcast. These actions of Jesus are the Gospel roots for the preferential option for the poor.

Jesus’ 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 and ostracized by his society.

He continually reached out to and raised up the “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 in order to avoid contact with.

In the ancient world, very often sickness was tethered to sin; it was thought to be a punishment from God. Remember when Jesus and a group of his followers encountered the man born blind and they asked Jesus: who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither, this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9: 1-3).

So, the man we encounter in today’s Gospel was most likely thought to be a sinner by some and yet Jesus immediately responds to the request to heal him -- no questions about who he was or what his background was. Jesus responds with compassion and heals him and thus restores him to bodily wholeness and in doing so, restores him to his community for no one could any longer claim his illness as a sign of his sinfulness and shun him, cutting him off from family and community.

It’s completely understandable that we all want our lives to be prosperous and to be neat and tidy and full of agreeable people, but what do we do when “other things happen” and “other folks” show up in our lives…when we encounter the same kinds of marginal situations and people, the ones Jesus himself loved and welcomed? How do we respond?

In the midst of so much division, hurt and anger in our world, in our country and in our church, how is the Holy Spirit calling me to respond to the one who is “other”?

I think these readings today beg the question: how do I show my preferential option for the poor? Who do I offer a seat at my table? We need to ask ourselves: on what realities or qualities do I judge the value of other people…by their clothes, or their occupation, by where they live, by their politics, by who they love, or by how attractive they are, by their physical abilities, or by their gender, or by where they were born, or by the color of their skin, or by their immigration status…? Or, filled with the Holy Spirit, are we able to see them as they truly are, based on the reality of their identity as children of God…our sisters, our brothers, “the beloved of God”, and then treat them and care for them as such? That is our call as disciples of Jesus Christ, and nothing less…to do as Jesus did!
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Blessings,
Fr. Tim