Sept. 26, 2021: 26th Sunday B
9-26-21 26th Sunday B
Our faith helps us focus on our common goal--that is, our love for God and love for our neighbor. Unfortunately, in our human weakness we tend to compare ourselves to others, therefore we are tempted to see others as our competitors. We sometimes harbor resentment toward our siblings, friends, and neighbors for what they have or the lifestyle they enjoy. We are suspicious of those who do not belong to our “group”. We go even as far as to suspect that they’re out to get us, or that they are evil. Hence we experience divisions within our families, our communities, our church, our country, and our world. Satan who is a liar and divider puts forth all of his effort to divide our human family. He wages invisible war within the human family to divide and confuse us.
How do we address these divisions, and how do we work toward resolution, reconciliation, and unity? God sent His Spirit to bring about unity of heart and worship. No human group is able to claim that they have the Spirit and the other group does not. The Holy Spirit moves among the human family to bring about unity. Even when we disagree with each other, the Holy Spirit inspires us to bear with one another with love, to exercise humility, gentleness, and patience for the love of Christ. As St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Strive to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6)
During the time of Jesus’ earthly life, his disciples were unsettled by those who were using the name of their master to perform exorcisms, even though they did not belong to the circle of Jesus’ followers. Jesus taught his disciples not to see them as competitors but as companions along the way because the work for God’s kingdom is not to be jealously guarded only for the disciples who are physically accompanying Jesus. A similar event happened in the time of Moses when the gift of prophesying was given to two men who did not take part in the gathering where a group of 70 elders received the gift of prophesying. When Joshua complained about the two outliers, Moses wished that the whole tribe of Israelites would receive the gift of the spirit to become prophets. God is generous with his gifts, dispensing them to whomever he wishes. However, in both instances, Joshua and the twelve Apostles tried to control and diminish the good work of those who were not professed followers of God. Mother Teresa understood well that God’s work was to be accomplished by all people of faith--men and women, priests and laity, young and old, protestants and Catholics, Hindus and Muslims. The Good News of God’s love for his children, particularly for the poorest of the poor, was to be spread by people of all faiths.
In Calcutta, India, people from all faiths and nationalities came to Mother Teresa’s house to help care for the dying, orphaned or those infected with leprosy. Those volunteers who were not Catholic often asked, “Mother, do you want us to become Catholics like you?“ Mother Teresa answered, “I would like to give you the treasure that I possess, but it is not in my hands to give it to anyone, because it is a gift from God. What I am doing is giving you the opportunity to do works of charity. Through these works, you come closer to God because works of charity brings you closer to God. When God comes to you or you go to God, then you will have the chance to accept Him or reject Him. Accepting Him is the gift of faith.”
When someone asks me about what to do about their own children who have joined other Christian denominations, I often think about a period of time when I belonged to different denominations — a Pentecostal church, a Church of Christ, a United Methodist church, and an Episcopalian church. I treasure that time because in each community I grew to love the Lord and learned to deepen my understanding of the scripture and community life. Many songs that I sing as post-communion reflections, I learned to sing and pray with while I was a member of those congregations. Without a doubt, my journey to priesthood would not have been possible without those wonderful stepping stones.
The truth is that every human being is created by the loving hand of God, and we are created in his image. We must remember that faith is a gift from God and not something to be controlled. Our Heavenly Father has a unique faith journey for each of us, and gives each person the gifts he needs for his particular journey. He wisely does not give all the gifts to any one person or to each person; otherwise, we would depend on no one. God dispenses to each person the gifts each needs, trusting that we will depend on, and cooperate with, each other to work together to bring about His Kingdom. Let us ponder this week of the times we tend to think in an ‘us’ and ‘them’ perspective. In what ways is Jesus asking us to work with those who are different from us to bring about His Kingdom?
