Mass Readings and Scripture Reflections

Our most recent scripture reflection is listed below. To read previous reflections, please visit our bulletin archives.

 

 

by Deacon Pat Casey

 

I think that each of us enjoys belonging to a group that limits its members, such as a country club, a social club, a Board of Directors, a fraternity, a sorority, or an athletic team. It makes us feel special and, especially if the group has some financial or achievement hurdles for entry, it gives us a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. That is how the elders and disciples in today’s 1st Reading from the Book of Numbers and Gospel from Mark must have felt. 

 

In the 1st Reading, God bestows the Holy Spirit on seventy elders of Israel who gathered with Moses at the tent that housed the tabernacle. Each then began to prophesize. Each must have felt really special because each had been chosen by God to receive the Holy Spirit and proclaim His word. But then they discovered that two other men who had not been in the gathering with Moses apparently received the Holy Spirit as well and began to prophesize in camp. Imagine how jealous those elders must have felt! How dare that someone else intrude on their special, exclusive group and proclaim the word of God!

Similarly, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’s disciples tried to prevent an individual who was not one of the twelve from exorcizing demons in Jesus’s name. Horror of horrors! How dare that person do such a thing! Doesn’t everyone know that driving out demons is the exclusive power of Jesus and the twelve chosen disciples? 

Sometimes that is how we feel about our Catholic Christian faith. If you are not Catholic and don’t belong to our special religion, you must not be a true believer and will not get to heaven. As both Moses and Jesus make clear in today’s readings, that is not how God works. Indeed, God wants everyone to believe in Him and do His works. We always need to be open to others’ points of view and their good works. God works in mysterious ways – ways which we do not always understand. That is why it is so important to be welcoming and hospitable to everyone. Everyone, regardless of religious affiliation or no religious affiliation, is a child of God. As Jesus directs us in today’s Gospel, let’s treat them as such.