Sharing the Mission of God’s Love
There is a beautiful parallel between today’s first reading and our Gospel. In our first reading, from the Book of Numbers, Moses and the Elders are gathered around the Tent of Meeting. The Spirit comes down upon this group and empowers the Elders to prophesy. Away from the tent, there are two Elders, Eldad and Medad. Even though these two Elders are not gathered with the group, the Spirit comes and rests on them and they prophesy. Joshua, Moses’ aide, becomes aware of this and asks Moses to prevent them - to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying - Moses responds to Joshua and says, “No.” As such, Eldad and Medad can continue to prophesy. Previously, in a scene prior to this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mark 9:38-41), Jesus and His disciples are gathered around Jesus. In the gathering, as a group they are given authority by Jesus and empowered to heal and cast out demons (Mark 6: 7-13). In our Gospel Reading from Mark, we heard that outside of this group of disciples, there are others, unnamed. And even though these others are not considered part of the group of disciples, they speak and invoke the Name of Jesus to cast out demons. When the disciples of Jesus become aware of this, they, as Joshua went to Moses, went to Jesus, and ask him to prevent them - to stop these others from casting out demons. Just as Moses said to Joshua, Jesus says “No” to His disciples. As such, these others are able to continue to cast out demons in the Name of Jesus.
Now, let’s zoom out and see that our Gospel writer is Mark. This author is Jewish, but “Mark” is quite a Roman name, so we recognize the affinity for Roman culture in Mark’s life. A key characteristic about Mark’s Gospel is that it is aimed toward the Gentiles. We can see that it is Mark, who is trying to help share the Gospel with those who are not Jewish, including the Romans. In short, Mark is a Jew trying to reach out to those who are not Jewish. Mark contrasts Joshua and the disciples of Jesus. While Joshua and Jesus’ disciples have experienced God’s blessing and empowerment, they seem to think it is limited and reserved for only a chosen group. However, Mark seems to show that God’s blessing, His power, is for everyone. Mark underscores the desires of Moses and Jesus, our Lord. Moses desires that all would be prophets so all might know and profess the God of Israel. Our Lord Jesus, desires all to know and love God, the Father. Mark desires this too. Mark wants all, including the Romans and the Gentiles, to know and profess the God of Israel and Mark wants all to know Jesus Christ and His message of Good News. And Mark’s desires, Moses’ desires, and our Lord’s desires - those are the desires of every Christian disciple.
We are called to share the Gospel with everyone. We want everyone to know who our God is, and we want everyone to know the love of God and to spread that love to every part of the world. However, we might face an obstacle with this desire. And this point - this obstacle is the key to unlock the second half of the Gospel we heard this Sunday, and it is informed by our second reading from the Letter of Saint James.
The Gospel today counsels us to remove from our lives that which causes us to sin. But what we need to cut out might not always be a physical thing. Instead, it might be a feeling or a thought. We might need to cut out the feeling or desire to be “the special ones” chosen by God to be the messengers of the Gospel thinking that we have to be the personal hero in the lives of those around us. We might need to cut out envious thoughts that make us jealous of others who might seem more equipped or more successful in their mission of making disciples for Jesus Christ. We might need to cut out the egotistical and self-centered mentality that we, who gather in the meeting space of Mass around the Eucharist, are the only ones who can spread the Good News. These thoughts, if not removed, can lead us to ideas of exceptionalism or thinking that we are alone in the mission of sharing the Gospel. But we are not alone! There are other Catholics, other parishes, other Christians, and other people of good will who are not against us and our Lord, but for the Lord and for us. We are made rich by receiving the power and grace of God through the Word and through the Eucharist. Following Saint James’ counsel, we, who are rich, are called to share with the poor. Being made rich in the power of the Spirit and in the grace of God’s love and mercy, we are to share with those who are lacking the Good News, the goodness of God, in their lives. We are called to share the power of God’s love with others. This is our mission. and we are not alone.
Blessings,
Fr. Robert
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