26th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle B

Mark 9:39-43,45,47-48

September 30, 2012

Our readings today challenge us to examine the quality of our own discipleship.

Is following Christ at the core of our being, something too precious to be surrendered lightly?

Or is our Christianity merely a matter of taste and convenience, something we shelve at the slightest difficulty or inconvenience?

Belief that is easily set aside cannot be the faith that Jesus calls for among his disciples.

The Holy Spirit gathers us this Lord's Day to on these difficult questions and others:.

Who belongs to Christ and who should be excluded?

Jesus offers a straightforward answer. "Anyone who is not against us is for us."

They can be hard words to live by.

Each of the readings for today's liturgy invites us to become more aware and appreciative of the Spirit of God at work in others, even those we least expect.

Both the first part of the gospel and the first reading are saying, Look, some other people seem to have the Spirit, are they speaking for God, working for God, acting as prophets?

They are not one of us so should we stop them?

This is a classic "them" or "us" scenario.

It is the old tension between the Church as a "club for saints" or a "hospital for sinners."

The answer from Moses and Jesus is:

No! Cheer them on! They are doing God's work and God sometimes takes the spotlight away from us and gives it to others.

The disciples of Jesus were just like the rest of us.

They thought they had a monopoly on truth so they tried to stop a man who was performing miracles because he was not of their company.

Jesus replied in no uncertain terms.

"Anyone who is not against us is for us."

Apparently Jesus did not limit his friends to his close circle of followers—and neither should we.

Jesus' response is tolerance and acceptance.

He adds some important comments, such as, a person does not have to do much to be on Jesus' side.

He tells us that even if a person only "gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward."

Jesus welcomed as a friend any person who does the most menial deed as an act of love.

Remember his description of the great judgment?

He numbers among his friends those who had given a drink of water to the thirsty, given clothing to the naked, given bread to the hungry, and given shelter to the homeless.

The great Catholic theologian Karl Rahner speaks of "anonymous Christians,"

those men and women who are doing the work of Christ without ever hearing his name.

Jesus want us to be helpers and healers just as he is for us.

Here and in a thousand other places is your turf—not by Pope Benedict's or Bishop DiLorenzo's permission, not by your pastor's permission,

not because you have to fill the gap and do Jesus's work until we can find more men to wear Roman collars.

Here you are the Church, by God's gracious calling and the power of your baptism.

On this day, the readings remind us that we have obligations to one another as well.

We should not wait for a time of personal crisis to look for support from others.

Neither should we assume that the way we live our lives is merely a private matter

Everyone around us is either better off or worse off than we are, depending on the kind of "salt" found among Christians and their communities.

Here we are the Church, by God's gracious calling and the power of our baptism.

To paraphrase Moses' words:

"may the Lord bestow his Spirit on us all."

May he empower all of us to do his work.