READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the Letter of James
Jas 4:13-17
Beloved:
Come now, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town,
spend a year there doing business, and make a profit"–
you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.
You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.
Instead you should say,
"If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that."
But now you are boasting in your arrogance.
All such boasting is evil.
So for one who knows the right thing to do
and does not do it, it is a sin.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 9:38-40
John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "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."
WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME - Mk 9:38-40
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Today's Word of God talks about Jesus correcting His faithful disciples on the lesson of discrimination and selfish jealousy in the community of apostles.
Right from the beginning of creation, God created the universe and all things and created humans. Everything belongs to God, and everyone is His child. Jesus Himself taught the apostles how to pray to God the Father: "Our Father who art in heaven". He revealed to people that God is the Father of everyone, all creatures. God loves and saves all those who believe in Him, those who live and follow His teachings. Thus, those who know how to love are blessed by God and have God in their hearts, not only Catholics and disciples who belong to God.
But Jesus' disciples did not understand His Word. They became upset and angry when they saw someone not part of their group doing the same job as their Master, exorcising demons. Are the disciples jealous, selfish, accumulating fame and profit for themselves, competing for superiority or inferiority, and unfairly discriminating?
This is also the lesson God teaches us today. Everything belongs to God. No one has anything that was not given to them by God. For those who have faith in God and live according to His teachings, He gives them the grace to do the work that the Spirit of God wants them to do. Even the gift of exorcism was given not only to the ancient disciples by God, but to all believers, those who love God, and obey His words. So why did the disciples forbid it? Is there jealousy or selfishness in their hearts? Are the disciples discriminating between those called apostles close to Jesus and those not in the group of apostles? But Jesus kindly advised them:
"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."
God the Father's love is as vast as the ocean. Nothing can be calculated or measured. Therefore, people should not measure their own love but compare it with the measure of God the Father's love. Do not prevent those who have a desire to come to Him. Do not prevent them from living in love, fasting, praying, and sacrificing themselves. God knows that today, some pastors of the Church are unintentionally or intentionally preventing those who desire to come to God the Father, prohibiting those who try to live according to His teachings. They should examine themselves before God the Father so that He can shed light on where they went wrong. Are they gentle and faithful shepherds of God the Father or are they just hired shepherds? When they saw the evil wolf, Satan, coming to destroy the flock, they indifferently let the wolf steal the sheep and then ran away.
At God the Father's House, God also gives the gift of exorcism to His chosen people, including all those who believe in the Realistic Word of God through the writing of Thien Thuong and live according to His instructions in the Gospel. So why do the Church's pastors prohibit them?
God the Father earnestly calls all the pastors who are preventing or opposing the exorcists chosen by God the Father: "Do not prevent him." All grace they receive comes from God the Father. “'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.'" Indeed, all their deeds and good fruits are blessed by God the Father. So do not stop them, because He will judge the shepherds who oppose God's work on the last day.
God the Father calls those who believe in Him to courageously live and testify to what God the Father has given. "And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matthew 10:28). Therefore, the graces that God gives you should continue to benefit, sacrificing yourself to save souls, and save sinners. Do not be afraid of anyone but fear God, and do not back down because when you back down like that, everyone has lost to the devil as Jesus encouraged the ancient disciples:
“'Take courage, I have conquered the world.’” (John 16:33b)
Thanks be to God. Amen.