Eldad and Medad, were both enrolled among the seventy elders to receive the Spirit of God from Moses. They were not physically present in the Tent, when and where the Lord fulfilled this. Instead, they stayed back in the camp. Notwithstanding, the Lord in his customary generosity gave them the spirit too. They prophesied like others. When Joshua the son of Nun who served Moses from his youth said, ‘my Lord Moses, stop them!’ Moses answered him, ‘Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all’ (Nm 11:25-29). In the gospel passage of today according to St Mark, we read that John told Jesus. ‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name; and because he is 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’ (cf Mk 9:3843, 45, 47-48).
Beloved People of God, there is no place for jealousy in God’s house, in God’s Kingdom. Instead love acknowledges and welcomes all God’s children with a warm embrace. We have more things in common – things that unite us than things that divide us. Our common humanity is important. Our existence as children of God is an important reality of life that every Christian true to the name must embrace without unhealthy and divisive reference to denominations.
We pray for the gift of a generous disposition that seeks the greater good of the many. We must shun ‘cliquism’ – a terrible tendency to recognise and favour a select few, treating every other person as an ‘outsider’. We must eschew ‘not-one-of-us-syndrome’ that discriminates, limits and isolates. May the determination and focus be on upholding the cause of justice and right, building up the poor and the downtrodden. Fr. Ted
All to Jesus – Through Mary our Mother
26 Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
29th September 2024
Pneuma - Life in the spirit
Pneuma - From the ancient Greek, having several meanings, including the meaning of Breath. The basic meaning of pneuma is "air in motion" or "breath",…
Soul Detox
Detox is a modern term but works well for this series which looks at how we can best cleanse our souls and prepare them for…
Focus
This series looks at our thoughts and our actions and how we can train and exercise them in a way that brings us closer to…
Our Lord
This series looks at the meaning we get from God and the stories we hear in the readings about Jesus. What potentially they mean for…
