Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Welcome for another edition of deacon rudy’s notes. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal and together we’re going to break open the Word!

It’s funny how different two people from the same family can be! Take our two older boys. One had to work really hard at school. I mean, he’d spend hours studying. The other could roll out of bed, walk into class, and ace the test! There were many textbooks he never even bothered to open! It would drive my other son nuts!

My son might say It’s not fair! But it’s not like his brother was cheating. He’s just wired differently. He found a different path to achieve the same outcome. But think about the complaint, “It’s not fair!” What’s behind that? Is it envy?

I think something like that is at work in our first reading from Numbers and our Gospel. Take Numbers, for example. The first reading describes a sort of ordination. But two of the chosen, Eldad and Medad, missed the ceremony! Later, Joshua, son of Nun, comes to Moses to complain because Eldad and Medad are prophesizing, but they missed the ordination! They didn’t check all the boxes off in order.

How does Moses respond? “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” (Numbers 11:29)

Moses gets it! God can do whatever God wants because God is God! So, why be jealous? Why not celebrate God’s grace pouring into the world even if it’s happening outside the way Joshua thinks it should happen? Something similar is going on in today’s Gospel.

John says to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” (Mark 9:38)

Wow! Someone was driving out demons in the name of Jesus, and they tried to stop them?

Jesus says, don’t prevent them because if demons are being expelled, then God’s grace is operative.

It’s very interesting, isn’t it? And it points to a situation in the world today. Why did God bother to give us the Church and the sacraments if there are so many other Christian churches out there? The Church teaches in catechism #1257 that the sacraments and the Church are the ordinary means by which God communicates grace. But here’s the interesting part. God is not constrained by the sacraments! God can operate outside these structures if he so chooses.

The point of the church is the ordinary sacramental vehicle of God’s grace – to help grace flood into the world.

The formal structures serve the grace of God, but God is active in the world everywhere.

If that’s true, then why should I come to Mass? Why can’t I just be like some of those other people out there who praise and worship God by ourselves, in the privacy of our own homes – maybe on our patio deck with a cup of coffee as the sun rises?

Because you’ve heard the Good News! God invited you to help! God invited you and me to be cocreators. God invited you and me to support the church and to actively participate in ministry so that God’s church can continue to be the ordinary means by which God’s grace pours into the world.

How can we not help God?

Homework! Nourished by the Word of God and by the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following question.

What are some ways I can help the church be a source of grace to my family, my friends, my neighbors and my community?

I think doing our homework will help us be the intentional disciples we are called to be! Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

You’re listening to deacon rudy’s notes. Our theme music was composed by Silent Partner. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal. Join me again next weekend as we break open the Word! Peace!

Image Credit: Unknown. JPG file.

References:
1. Anderson, Kelly and Daniel Keating. James, First, Second, and Third John. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017. Kindle.
2. Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008. Kindle.
3. Montague, George T. SM. Mark: A Popular Commentary on the Earliest Gospel. Steubenville, Ohio: Franciscan University Press, 1992.

Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. Ecumenical dialogue: 821, 1126, 1636
2. Hell: 1033-37
3. Jealousy: 1852
4. Scandal: 2284-87
5. Unjust wages: 2409-10
6. The danger of immoderate riches: 2445-6, 2536, 2544-6
7. Temptation: 2846-49

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092621.cfm
Lectionary: 137

Reading 1
Numbers 11:25-29
The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,
the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;
and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad,
were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp.
They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent;
yet the spirit came to rest on them also,
and they prophesied in the camp.
So, when a young man quickly told Moses,
“Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, “
Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said,
“Moses, my lord, stop them.”
But Moses answered him,
“Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!”

Responsorial
Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14
R. (9a) The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
Though your servant is careful of them,
very diligent in keeping them,
Yet who can detect failings?
Cleanse me from my unknown faults!
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant;
let it not rule over me.
Then shall I be blameless and innocent
of serious sin.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

Reading 2
James 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.
Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,
your gold and silver have corroded,
and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;
it will devour your flesh like a fire.
You have stored up treasure for the last days.
Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers
who harvested your fields are crying aloud;
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;
you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
You have condemned;
you have murdered the righteous one;
he offers you no resistance.

Alleluia
Cf. John 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
At that time, 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.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“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.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”

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