26th SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME

Reflection for 26^TH Sunday, Ordinary Time

By Fr. Casmir Odundo (St. Veronica Parish, Keringet)

Imagine this: You have just been transferred to this village deep in the countryside where to your amazement no one has ever thought of starting butchery. Sensing the need, you apply for a bank loan and immediately quit your job and embark on this butchery business. For a few months it strives…but after a while some natives who have been leaving there all along realize that you are ‘making a kill’ and another butchery is opened just next to yours. What would be your reaction?

This is exactly the scenario presented by the readings this Sunday. In our First Reading (Num. 11: 25-29) we are told that as a result of Moses’ feeling that he had not the strength to carry on the duties alone; He appealed to God.  He was asked by God to select 70 men with whom God was to share his spirit with them. The men were to congregate at the Tent of meeting which housed the tabernacle. Then God divided Moses’ spirit among them and soon they began to prophesy. Hardly had this happened when it emerged that only 68 of the said men were present in the tent and two i.e. Eldad and Medad were not in the tent. They had remained in the camp yet the spirit of God had rested on them also and they began to prophesy from the camp. As to the reason why they did not join the others in the tent it is not clear. Some commentators believe that kept away from the tent because they were conscious of their sins and therefore felt not worthy to step in the tent which housed the “holy of holies.” Others feel that it was more a case of delay or late coming. I recall vividly, that while we were preparing for the First Holy Communion, some years ago during our childhood, we were to make our first confession on the day before the day for the Holy Communion. On that day, all were present except one: A certain young man (name reserved); after making confessions, we all wondered where he could be…how come he missed such an important day…and we wondered if he would be allowed to make his first holy communion on the next day. To cut the story short, on the day of communion the young lad was present…actually if my memory serves me right…he received communion just before me. The priest had been so gracious to allow him to make his first confession just before mass on the day of the Holy Communion. God’s ways are not our ways and as the story of Eldad and Medad demonstrate: God’s Spirit blows where it wills. Even the etymology of the two names speaks for itself. (Eldad means God has loved…El is God); (While Medad…is used in the sense of loving…affectionate).

A similar incidence is somehow repeated in our Gospel pericope (Mk. 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48.) John reports to Jesus that, they saw someone driving out demons in his (Jesus’) name, and they tried to prevent him because he does not follow them (the disciples). And Jesus replied much to their surprise, “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.” Certain questions must be asked about this passage. First who was this who was casting out daemons in Jesus’ name? The Greek word used in this passage is ‘tis’ which is an indefinite pronoun which is used to refer to some or any person or object. So it might have been a man or a woman. The exact person is not known. Some scholars believe him/her to be one of the students of John the Baptist who must have been told by John about Jesus but had not yet met Him. Secondly, others think of him as a person who must have met Christ or at least had Him preach, believed Him but did not follow Him for whatever reasons. Your opinion and speculation is also welcome. And where did the disciples spot him doing that? And why is it that the Evangelist emphasizes that it was John who broke this news to Our Lord? What does Mark want to stress by asserting categorically that it was John? There is great resemblance between John in the Gospel and Joshua in the first reading; they were both very close to their masters. John was in the inner circle of the Lord among the disciples. I believe Mark wants to paint an image of John as very open and intimate with Our Lord. “They all saw…but only John reported.” Several things are strange about this passage. First, it is strange that one who is not a disciple has the power to cast off daemons in Jesus’ name. Jesus wanted the disciples to shed off their monopoly mentality, i.e. where some people believe that good is not good unless I (or We) are the one who does it. You know some people in life are so stuck to something’s, for instance detergents and soaps that they believe that no other soap can clean as their ‘usual soap’ or detergent. As Christians we need to realize that good is good even if it is not me (or us) who do it. The second strange thing about this passage is…if this man was recognizing the power of Jesus why was he not a disciple? I know a friend who TRULY is in Love with God. Recently she told me that all the people who know her usually wonder how come she is not either a nun or a pastor’s wife. Friends, I don’t know how you take this. For me it is an indication that sometimes in life for those who don’t have the vocation to religious life or priesthood…one does not need to be a priest or a religious in order to serve God. God can be served in the ordinary life…in everyday life. That is what Eldad, Medad in the first reading and this person in the gospel reading represent. While we can not do way with the disciples and the 68 men who follow God in a special way by being close to Him. There are those of us who have been called to prophesy within the camp like Eldad and Medad or to do great things in the midst of fellow lay people like the other person who was not a disciple.

The readings of this Sunday, invite us to seek unity in the church. Our Church is Catholic which means Universal and is so full of diversities. There are different Charisms, Spiritualities, states of lives etc which all point to our sanctification. The readings invite us not to exclude others because they are not like ours. In the History of the Church for instance we know the Dominicans and the Franciscans were great competitors especially in the middle Ages. The Dominicans led by St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas used to teach from Oxford University while the Franciscans led by St. Bonaventure and Blessed Duns Scotus centralized their activities in the University of Paris. One of the major cause of differences as we know is whether the church was to follow the Aristoterian Philosopy in interpretation of its theology or Platonism. However, today am told the two orders are really friendly. Let our love for different Charisms and spirituality not exclude the others who may prefer another spirituality or charism.

Again, our readings also remind us of Ecumenism. We can no longer fail to see the good done by other denominations just because they are Protestants and we are Catholics or vice versa. Our readings is an invitation for all of us, Protestants and Catholics not to condemn each other as strangers but correct and love one another as brothers because we all claim one authority: The Name of Jesus. The Name of Jesus should not divide Protestants and Catholics but rather unite them. This is what the Fathers of the second Vatican II Council exhorted us in their decree on Ecumenism: Unitatis Redintegratio. This is what the Church and the Protestant denominations have been trying to live in their Ecumenical Dialogue and in the Week of Christian Unity. The same can be said of the relationship between the church and other religions. Yes, we may have our differences in doctrine and Ideology but we should always remember that we have one goal: Salvation of the human person.  The relationship between Catholics and protestants (our separated brothers and sisters) should never be equated to that of Safaricom and Airtel which always compete for subscribers. Certainly there are points of differences between the ecclesial bodies, but more concentration should be made on what unites rather than what divides, and every day we should pray for reunification of the Christendom in line with Jesus’ Dictum “That they may be one.”

This said, we can also NOT pretend to close our eyes to the reality that while it is true that there is some good in these other denominations, there are also some which are out to exploit people for the sake of profits.  This explains why we have so many mushrooming denominations. I guess many of us remember the pastor in Katigondo Uganda some years back who after deceiving his Christians that the world was soon to end and robbing them of all their possessions set them ablaze in the church. To such we admonish them with the second reading of today (James 5:1-6) and remind them of the exhortation of Christ in today’s Gospel, “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.”