26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

My Dear People,

In the incident in Exodus when Moses picked seventy elders, and they prayed, and the spirit came upon them, note that two of the people chosen (Eldad and Medad) were not at the prayer service. They were prophesizing in the camp.  Joshua wanted to stop them. However, Moses in his wisdom replied to him, “Do not stop them, would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

Why did he do that? The problem here is manipulation and control of the Spirit. Since God Himself is the source of the Spirit, He can give it to whomever he chooses, irrespective of human qualifications.  Moses, for his part has absolutely the right attitude:  he has no desire to monopolize the Spirit or to be its only channel; he seeks only the people’s welfare and is delighted to see signs of the Spirit in other people. Indeed, he would like all the Israelites to have it. 

A similar situation is in the Gospel:  John (who was like Joshua, who was closest to Moses) was closest to Jesus, and he wanted Jesus to stop people who were driving out demons in Jesus’ name.  

Jesus says: “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” (9:39) In fact, by exorcising demons in Jesus’ name the man was not only unlikely to speak ill of Jesus but was also undoubtedly causing many others to speak favorably of Jesus. So, the question is, where is the love of the disciples directed: to themselves or to Jesus? If their love is for Jesus, then they will foster the exclusivity that promotes the service of others where Jesus is met. Nurturing more people’s gifts for ministry will lead to more people being saved.

Finally, Jesus bolsters the disciples’ desire to serve by intertwining their future with the future of the people they serve. Impairing the faith of anyone is impairing one’s own faith, and so it is risking the loss of eternal life (9:42-48).

I think Jesus is calling his disciples to look honestly at their lives and face whatever it is that leads them away from God. “Deal with it,” He says. We must always watch what we hold, the path we choose to walk, and the vision that guides us.

Those on the inside can lose sight of, lose touch with, and go off the path that takes us to the kingdom. And we can take others with us. What matters is that God’s work be done. God will see to it; don’t get in the way.

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente

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