First Reading (Numbers 11: 25-29)
The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the Lord bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man quickly told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, " Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said, "Moses, my lord, stop them." But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"
Refrain: The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
1) The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (Refrain)
2) The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever;
The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just. (Refrain)
3) Though your servant is careful of them, very diligent in keeping them,
Yet who can detect failings? Cleanse me from my unknown faults! (Refrain)
4) From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant; let it not rule over me.
Then shall I be blameless and innocent of serious sin. (Refrain)
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.
At that time, 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. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"
Copyright 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
The English translation of some Psalm responses, some Alleluia and Gospel verses and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, some Summaries, and the Titles and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass copyright 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Washington D.C. All rights reserved.
The poetic English translation of the sequences of the Roman Missal are taken from the Roman Missal approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, copyright 1964 by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission of ICEL.]
Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville, TN 37922.
Days of the Lord, Volume 5, pp.236-243. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1993.
The Gospel of Mark, by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY 1975.
The Epistle of James, by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY 1975.
The Cultural World of Jesus, by John J. Pilch, pp. 142-144. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. 1996.
The Word Encountered, by John F. Kavanaugh, pp. 106-108. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 1996.
Mark, by Wilfrid Harrington, pp. 145-149. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. 1979.
Catechism: #1939-1942 (Human Solidarity). United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C.: 1994. [As recommended by: A Homily Sourcebook (The Universal Catechism), by N. Abeyasingha. The Pastoral Press, Washington, D.C.: 1993.]
- I Found The Treasure, by Dan Schutte. Copyright 1986 by North American Liturgy Resources, distributed by Oregon Catholic Press, Portland, OR, Catalog Number 5710 (see "Treasure of the Heart").
- We must remember that any doctrine or belief must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces. [See Church in Chicago. From Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville, Tn. 37922 (see also "Joy").]
In today’s gospel passage, our Lord advises his disciples that “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.” In essence, I think he is advising them to be tolerant of others. According to Webster’s dictionary, tolerance is “a sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from, or conflicting with, one’s own” and “the act of allowing something”. Our Lord was advising them to allow others to heal in his name even if they are not from among his chosen disciples, and thus was encouraging them to be tolerant.
- In 2012, I remember watching President Obama on The View and he was responding to a question about the murder of our ambassador to Lybia, Chris Stephens, and three of his aides, by Islamic extremists on the anniversary of 9/11. He spoke of the need for us to be tolerant of Muslims and for them to be tolerant of us Christians. He emphasized that this is what he and his wife, Michelle, have taught their daughters, namely, to respect other religions and be understanding. Then, in his speech before the United Nations, he spoke of the online video that had precipitated much of the anti-American violence in the Middle East at the time. Then he said the following:
- "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated, the churches that are destroyed or when the Holocaust is denied."
It is also a sad fact that Christians in some predominantly Muslim countries are being persecuted and murdered on a daily basis. So this topic could not be more relevant and more required in today’s society. So what can we say about tolerance?
In discussing this passage of Mark’s gospel, one of the commentators I read noted the following: “There are two things we must remember about tolerance. First of all, there is more than one way to God. As Lord Tennyson once wrote, ‘God fulfills himself in many ways’. Cervantes once said, ‘Many are the roads by which God carries his own to heaven.’ The world is round, and two people can get to precisely the same destination by starting out in precisely opposite directions. All roads, if we pursue them long enough and far enough, lead to God. It is a fearful thing for anyone or any church to think that they or it has a monopoly of salvation.
“Secondly, it is necessary to remember that truth is always bigger than any one person's grasp of it. No one can possibly grasp all truth. The basis of tolerance is simply the realization of the magnitude of the orb of truth. John Morley, the British Secretary of State for India from 1905 to 1910 and a champion of justice in that country, wrote, ‘Tolerance means reverence for all the possibilities of truth, it means acknowledgment that she dwells in divers mansions, wears the vesture of many colours, and speaks in strange tongues. It means the charity that is greater than faith or hope.’ Intolerance is a sign both of arrogance and ignorance, for it is a sign that someone believes that there is no truth beyond the truth that they themselves see.
“We must remember that any doctrine or belief must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces."
- There is an old eastern fable. A man possessed a ring set with a wonderful opal. Whoever wore the ring became so kind and true in character that everyone loved him. The ring was a charm. Always it was passed down from father to son, and always it did its work. As time went on, it came to a father who had three sons whom he loved with an equal love. What was he to do when the time came to pass on the ring? The father got two other rings made precisely the same so that none could tell the difference. On his death-bed he called each of his sons in, spoke some words of love and to each, without telling the others, gave a ring. When the three sons discovered that each had a ring, a great dispute arose as to which was the true ring that could do so much for its owner. The case was taken to a wise judge. He examined the rings and then he spoke. ‘I cannot tell which is the magic ring,’ he said, ‘but you yourselves can prove it.’ ‘We?’ asked the sons in astonishment. ‘Yes,’ said the judge, ‘for if the true ring gives kindness to the character of the man who wears it, then I and all the other people in the city will know the man who possesses the true ring by the goodness of his life. So, go your ways, and be kind, be truthful, be brave, be just in your dealings, and he who does these things will be the owner of the true ring.’” (1)
Okay, so how does all this affect our lives? Well, we all know that “understanding” is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A synonym for “understanding” in Webster’s dictionary is “tolerance”. Likewise, “patience” is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. So if we consider ourselves Christians, then tolerance, patience and understanding should be essential qualities of our lives.
In light of all this and the fact that we recently passed the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies, I thought the following story was very appropriate. The author writes:
- Five nights after September 11, 2001, business was particularly slow for all the Middle Eastern restaurants and shops on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens. At three o'clock in the morning, Labib Salama, the owner of an Egyptian coffee shop, his friend Nasser and several other men are sitting around the café, playing chess, smoking shisha and talking about the recent attack on the Twin Towers.
Suddenly, four young men (two white, two Hispanic) barge into the café. They're turning over tables, throwing chairs around, smashing dishes and a mirrored wall. Labib calls the police. Two cops arrive almost immediately. They snag the four guys, pin them down on the floor and handcuff them. But Labib refuses to press charges. He says he understands. He feels the same rage. "Let them go."
The cops are baffled. They tell Labib, "If you don't press charges, you can't collect insurance."
Labib shakes his head. "There's enough hatred already. We don't want to make more. Let them go."
The cops have no choice but to let the guys go. The cops leave, too, and Labib and his friends start cleaning up the café. There's broken glass all over. Everything's broken. He says, "I'm thinking now we are between the two sides. I'm afraid from the terrorist number one, and now I'm afraid from the Americans too."
An hour later, at four o'clock in the morning, the same four guys come back to the café. The first thing out of their mouths—they thanked Labib for not pressing charges. Then they helped clean up the cafe. They buy everyone coffee, and these two groups of men talk until 8 o'clock in the morning about their fears, differences and perceptions of each other. As the guys are leaving, Labib tells them, "Next time you want to come and be friendly with us, you don't have to hit us and then say you're sorry. Just come and be friendly in the first place."
We hear this story from Labib and his friend Nasser a week after the incident. Nasser leaves us with this thought. "It's time right now to bring the anger down. You have to inhale everything bad, and forgive the people for the people to forgive you." (2)
As our Lord has taught us, we need to practice tolerance of one another. This also involves the gifts of the Holy Spirit of patience and understanding. But it also requires something else, namely the love of others. It comes down to having two choices in our lives: we can make an ideology or a belief system the most important things, or we can make love the one thing that governs our actions. Consider the following story:
- The first morning that Sen. Debbie Regala and her husband arrived for Mass at their new parish, the homily was given by the visiting priest, Jesuit Peter Byrne. He told the story of a beloved Quaker nurse who died at the end of World War I in a Polish village. The parishioners in the village asked their pastor if she could be buried in the Catholic cemetery, the only one in town. The priest suggested that the nurse be buried just outside the cemetery's fence. The next morning, the priest discovered that the fence had been moved around her gravesite. Byrne later explained, "Now this all flowed from the Gospel text of Jesus always stretching the boundaries to include those who were outcasts. It is this moving of the fence ... that is the call of the Gospel."
I think it is summarized well in this famous short poem:
- "He drew a circle that shut me out--
Rebel, heretic, thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win--
We drew a circle that took him in." (3)
- From The Gospel of Mark by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Philadelphia, PA 1975. Used with permission.
- Labib’s Café from Chicken Soup for a Better World by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Candice Carter, Susanna Palomares, Linda Williams and Bradley Winch. Copyright 2005 Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, FL. Excerpted from Crossing the Blvd: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in New America.
- by Edwin Markham from Outwitted.
Today's gospel passage can be divided into three parts. 1) The first part concerns the jealousy of the disciples because someone else who is not one of their group is working miracles in Jesus' name. This hearkens back to the first reading when seventy of the Israelites receive the spirit of God which had been placed on Moses. Even Joshua, Moses' number one man and the one who would eventually become his successor and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, asks Moses to stop two other men from outside of their group who had received the spirit of prophecy. As you heard, Moses' response is: "Would that all of the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!"
2) In the second part of the gospel, Jesus declares that any kindness shown, any help given, to the people in his name will not lose its reward. Why is that? It is because helping that person is like helping Jesus himself. It is to be noted how simple the help is. The gift is a cup of cold water. We are not asked to do great things for others, things beyond our power. We are asked to give the simple things that anyone can give. As Mohamed said long ago, "Putting someone on the right road, giving someone who is thirsty a drink of water, smiling at someone--that, too, is charity." But the converse is also true. To cause another to stumble merits eternal punishment. The millstone that is mentioned is a great millstone. There were two kinds of mills in Palestine. There was the hand mill that the women used in the house, and there was the mill whose stone was so great that it took a mule to turn it. Our Lord's reference to being thrown into the sea with a millstone was particularly irksome to the Jews because that was a common means of Roman execution.
3) In the last portion of today's gospel are the many references to parts of the body which can lead a person to sin. These are classic cases of Jewish hyperbole, or overkill. Something similar to which we may more easily relate is the removal of a leg, a finger, a foot or a hand because of gangrene or frostbite. It is better to lose a part of the body then risk life itself due to the spreading of the infection.
So what is Jesus telling us in this gospel passage? He is telling us three things: 1) we must be tolerant of others; 2) we must be charitable to others and not lead them to sin; and, 3) we must eliminate anything which stands between us and doing the will of God in our lives.
With respect to tolerance, I happened on this quote which also references our first reading: "Let us be on our guard against this feeling (of intolerance). It is only too near the surface of all our hearts. Let us strive to acquire that liberal tolerant spirit which Jesus here recommends and be thankful for good works wheresoever and by whomsoever done. Let us beware of the slightest inclination to stop and check others merely because they do not choose to adopt our plans or work by our side. We may think our fellow-Christians mistaken in some points. We may fancy that more would be done for Christ if they would join us and if we all worked in the same way. We may see many evils arising from religious dissensions and divisions. But all this must not prevent us from rejoicing if the works of the devil are destroyed and souls saved. Is our neighbor warring against Satan? Are they really trying to labor for Christ? This is the grand question. Better a thousand times that the work should be done by other hands than not be done at all. Happy are those who know something of the spirit of Moses, when he said, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets," and of Paul, when he says, "If Christ is preached, I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice" (Num 11:29; Phil 1:18). (1)
Cervantes once said, "Many are the roads by which God carries his own to heaven." All roads lead to God, if pursued long enough and far enough. It is a fearful thing for anyone or any church to think that they have a monopoly on salvation. Happily, ecumenism is alive and well and talks between and among the various faiths are ongoing and yielding encouraging progress. We must pray always that these talks will produce fruitful results. But, in the meantime, we must respect the opinions and beliefs of others which will lead them, and others who meet them, to salvation. I think since 9/11, we are all challenged not to treat all Muslims as terrorists. My wife used to work in a day care center where one of the teachers was Muslim and who was probably the most conscientious worker of them all. So, as our Lord has pointed out, by their works you shall know them. In essence, we should judge others not by what they are but who they are.
Secondly, Jesus is telling us to love one another and not be a stumbling block in anyone's journey to heaven.
- The writer O. Henry is noted for the surprise endings of his short stories. One of his stories is about a little girl whose mother had died. The little girl would wait all day for her father to come home from work. She desperately wanted to sit on his lap and listen to him read her a story. But every night her father followed the same routine. He'd eat supper and then flop in his favorite chair, light up his pipe, and read until bedtime. When the little girl came to sit on his lap, he'd always reply the same way: "Honey, can't you see your daddy's tired? He worked all day. Go outside and play." So, the little girl would go outside and play in the street, amusing herself as best she could. Then, the inevitable happened. As the girl grew older she began to accept expressions of affection from anyone who offered them. And instead of playing in the street, she took to the street and became a prostitute. One day the girl died. As she approached the gates of heaven, Peter saw her coming and said to Jesus, "She's a bad one, Lord. She's a prostitute. There's only one place for her." Then comes the surprise ending to the story. Jesus says to Peter, "Let her come in. But when her father comes, hold him responsible for her life." (2)
O. Henry's point is clear. God will be merciful to those who, through minimal fault of their own, were led astray. But God will be demanding toward those who are responsible for leading them astray.
Lastly, our Lord is telling us that if there is anything in our lives which is coming between us and a perfect obedience to the will of God, however much it may have become a part of our lives, it must be rooted out. The rooting out may be as painful as a surgical operation, it may seem like cutting out part of our own body, but if we are to know real life, real happiness and real peace, it must go.
- There is a story which I have used before, but which bears repeating now. It is from The Great Divorce by my favorite author of all time, C. S. Lewis. In the book, ghosts from hell are given a chance to get into heaven if they can just give up (or divorce themselves from) the one sin which sent them to hell in the first place. Towards the end of the book, there is one conversation between an angel who is sent to help the ghosts, and one of them who has a lizard on his shoulder. (I believe the lizard represents lustful desires.) The angel tells the ghost that if he is to be rid of the lizard, he will have to kill it. The ghost backs off and asks if he can be eliminated gradually. The angel responds that that will be of no use. So the ghost resorts to the excuse of not feeling all that well. The angel reminds him that he will not have another chance. The ghost asks him why he didn't just go ahead and kill it. The angel says: "I cannot kill it against your will. I must have your permission. May I?" Then the lizard goes on a long tirade telling the ghost among other things that he would be nothing without him. Finally, the ghost gives his permission, praying "God help me, God help me."
Lewis describes the next scene this way: "The ghost gave a scream of agony such as I have never heard on earth. The angel closed his grip on the reptile, twisted it while it bit and writhed, and then flung it onto the turf. 'Ow, that's done me in,' gasped the ghost, reeling backwards." But soon, the ghost began to grow and get stronger, finally taking the shape of a human. At the same time, the lizard was growing into a magnificent stallion. Lewis continues: "The new-made man turned and clapped the new horse's neck. It nosed his bright body. Horse and master breathed each into the other's nostrils. The man turned from it, flung himself at the feet of the angel and embraced them. When he rose, I thought his face shown with tears. In joyous haste the young man leapt upon the horse's back. Turning in his seat, he waved farewell, then nudged the stallion with his heels. Then, like a shooting star, I saw them ride up the mountain and out of sight."
In order to get into heaven, we have to get rid of whatever holds us back. Heaven means total freedom and we cannot get there if we are being ruled by some evil desire or other. Getting rid of something may be painful and we may think that we will be nothing without it. However, we will never be fulfilled as long as we cling to it.
Tolerance for the beliefs of others; love of others and not standing smack in the middle of their road to eternity; and getting rid of anything which prevents us from attaining our own reward. Tolerance, love and divorce: sounds like things that have to do with marriage. Well, they are. But that's for next week's sermon.
1. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, St Mark, Cambridge: James Clarke, 1973, p. 190-91.
2. From Illustrated Sunday Homilies, copyright 1990 by Mark Link, SJ. Resources for Christian Living, Allen, TX. [This resource is available at a discount through the Homiletic Resource Center. For more information, please click on the title above.]
(Copyright 2015 by the Spirit through Deacon Sil Galvan, with a little help from the friends noted above. Permission is freely granted for use, in whole or in part, in oral presentations. For permission to use in writing, please contact the human intermediary at deaconsil@comcast.net.)
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Lord Jesus, you call us to be tolerant of all who profess your name. Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, you have taught us to love one another and lead them to you by our example. Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you have taught us to build up a treasure in heaven, not on earth. Lord, have mercy.
Celebrant: Although the Lord has taught us that we should build up a treasure in heaven, he has assured us that the Father will care for our physical needs. Therefore, confident that Christ will intercede for us, we bring our prayers and petitions to the Father.
Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer."
That all clergy and religious will lead others to the Lord by their love and by their example, we pray to the Lord.
That the members of the Church will care for the needs of others, we pray to the Lord.
That all Christian believers may put aside their differences and realize that we are all one in Christ's name, we pray to the Lord.
That all those who have acquired earthly wealth may come to share their good fortune with those less fortunate, we pray to the Lord.
That all persecuted Christians will be strengthened in their faith and an example to non-believers, we pray to the Lord.
That all of our brothers and sisters will be treated as our equals in the sight of God regardless of their race, color, nationality or religion, we pray to the Lord.
That all of those who have contracted the Corona virus will be healed, that those who have died will be welcomed into the loving arms of their Savior who suffered for them and that their grieving families will find strength in their faith, we pray to the Lord.
For all of the intentions we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause.) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant: Generous Father, you have blessed us with many gifts. Grant us the grace of your Spirit to use those gifts for the good of all. We ask this in the name of Christ, your Son and our Lord. Amen.