22nd May >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 9:28-30) for Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who is not against us is for us’. (2024)

22nd May >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 9:28-30) for Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who is not against us is for us’.

Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Mark 9:38-40You must not stop anyone from working miracles in my name.

John said to Jesus, ‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name; and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said, ‘You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.’

Gospel (USA)Mark 9:38-40Whoever is not against us is for us.

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.”

Reflections (4)

(i) Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In one of the episodes of the BBC television series of the 1980s, ‘Yes, Prime Minister’, the leading civil servant, Sir Humphrey Atkins, was shocked to discover that ‘one of us’, a fellow civil servant, had turned out to be a Russian spy. It was presumed that ‘one of us’ couldn’t do such a thing. Tightly knit groups can generate a certain blindness to the failings of its members, and, sometimes, a distain for those who are not ‘one of us’. In today’s gospel reading, the disciples try to stop someone doing good in Jesus’ name ‘because he was not one of us’. However, in a mild rebuke to his disciples, Jesus declares that he has no objection to someone ‘who works a miracle in my name’. Such a person, he says, is unlikely ‘to speak evil of me’. We are to rejoice in the good work done by others, regardless of where they stand in relation to our own community of faith. In the words of the fourth gospel, ‘the Spirit blows where it choses’ (Jn 3:8). Towards the end of his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’ (Phil 4:8). Paul draws a very broad circle there. In today’s first reading, Saint James writes, ‘You never know what will happen tomorrow’. It is also true that you never know what will happen today. Like the disciples in the gospel reading, any day we can come across people who live the gospel, without, perhaps, having any conscious relationship with the Lord. The Lord speaks powerfully to us through all who do whatever is true, honourable, just and commendable. There is something here to rejoice in. The Lord’s work on our behalf is always so much bigger than our work on his behalf. The Lord is at work in the world in ways that would surprise us and there is something here to rejoice in.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In Mark’s gospel we often find a clash between Jesus and his disciples. This morning’s gospel reading is one example of that. The disciples had a somewhat black and white view of people. Only those who were ‘one of us’, as they put it, could be trusted to do the Lord’s work. Jesus had a much more nuanced view of people than his disciples. He could see that even those whom he had not formally called to become one of his disciples could be doing God’s life-giving work. Indeed, he makes the very generous spirited statement, ‘Anyone who is not against us is for us’. That might be a good principle to take to heart in the times in which we live. There are a lot of people who are not explicitly for the church, in the sense of practising their faith in the way we have come to understand that, and, yet, they are not against the church or the gospel either. The attitude of Jesus in today’s gospel reading encourages us to build bridges with all those who in some way share the church’s mission to bring life where there is death, wholeness where there is brokenness, relief where there is suffering. We can be partners in mission with those who are ‘not one of us’ in the strict sense. In these times we need the generous vision that Jesus displays in today’s gospel reading rather than the much narrower one displayed by his disciples.

And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading is taken from a section of Mark’s gospel where the disciples consistently show themselves to be at cross purposes with Jesus. After Jesus communicated to his disciples the painful truth that he is to be betrayed into human hands, they immediately begin to argue among themselves as to which of them is the greatest, earning a rebuke from Jesus. A little later, when parents were bringing children for Jesus for him to bless them, the disciples turn them away, and Jesus has to rebuke his disciples again. In today’s gospel reading, which comes between those two incidents, the disciples try to stop others from doing good in Jesus’ name simply because they do not belong to Jesus’ circle of disciples; they are ‘not one of us’. Again, Jesus has to rebuke his disciples. Whereas the disciples saw unwelcoming competitors, Jesus saw potential co-workers. It is tempting to look upon the disciples with very critical eyes. Yet, the disciples in Mark’s gospel represent us all. We all find ourselves at cross purposes with the Lord from time to time. Our way of seeing, and our actions that flow from such seeing, will not always be in harmony with the Lord’s way of seeing and acting. We too can be unfairly dismissive of the good others are doing because they are ‘not one of us’. We need to keep growing more fully into the Lord’s generous vision and way of being.

And/Or

(iv) Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

There is a great deal of human wisdom in the letter of James. In today’s first reading James says to those who are making all sorts of plans for the future, ‘You never know what will happen tomorrow… the most you should say is, “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that”’. The Covid 19 pandemic taught us how unpredictable the future can be for all of us. We could never have imagined such a massive and prolonged disruption to our normal way of living. Many of us learnt during that time to appreciate all that is of value in our lives that we might previously have taken for granted. Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians, wrote, ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’. The time of pandemic may have helped many of us to become more aware of all that Paul refers to, the blessings of life we can so easily take for granted. In the gospel reading, Jesus calls on his disciples to recognize whatever is commendable, whatever is worthy of praise, even if it is to be found beyond their own narrow circle. The disciples wanted to stop someone trying to do a work of healing in Jesus’ name because he wasn’t one of Jesus’ disciples. It is as if they were saying, ‘if he doesn’t belong within our circle, he can’t be doing God’s work’. Jesus had a very different perspective to his disciples. He appreciated the working of the Holy Spirit wherever it was to be found, recognizing that ‘the Spirit blows where it wills’. We are all invited to recognize and rejoice in whatever is commendable and worthy of praise, wherever it is to be found. The synodal process is inviting us to recognize the working of the Spirit in places we wouldn’t normally expect to find it.

Fr. Martin Hogan.