＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Numbers 11:25-29

 Yahweh came down in the cloud

And spoke to him. He took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it on the seventy elders. Now when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this they did not do again. 

  Two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad, the name of the other Medad. How­ever, the spirit came on them for they were among those who were registered though they had not gone out to the Tent.

As they prophesied inside the camp,   a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”   Joshua, the son of Nun, who ministered to Moses from his youth said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”

But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous on my behalf? Would that all Yahweh’s people were prophets and that Yahweh would send his spirit upon them!”

 

Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14(9a)

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

James 5:1-6

 So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes that are coming upon you.   Your riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths.   Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up rich­es in these the last days.

 You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers’ complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world thus fattening yourselves for the day of slaughter.  You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

 John said to him, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.”  Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon after speak evil of me.   For whoever is not against us is for us.

 If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear his name, truly, I say to you, he will not go without reward.  If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck.

 If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than with two hands to go to hell, to the fire that never goes out.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

Jesus is teaching His disciples on how to deal with those not of their rank but uses His name to advance the kingdom. They must not stop Him. They are told that those who will help them will get their just reward.

He also warned them not to lead the weak into sin and be circumspect in their action and in what they look at lest they incur eternal punishment.

Reflect:

Jesus’ name is now a precious commodity. It has sufficient reputation to attract others to use it in their trade. In this instance, it is the casting out of demons. His disciples are naturally indignant.

They don’t want to share this precious commodity to others not of their rank. This is an advantage they loathe to share with others. Funny how this feeling is present until today. You can find it in the business sector.

They copyright what they have discovered for exclusive use so that they will rake in heaps and heaps of money by virtue of having exclusive rights to that which they claimed as their own.

But Jesus will have none of this sense of exclusivity. As long as people are not against what He stands for, they are allies in the building of God’s kingdom. And perhaps that is why we are aptly named Catholics.

It simply means that everybody is welcome. There is no discrimination in our Church. Although history have shown that at some point, religion was used to further agendas that run contrary to Jesus’ teaching, still the Church goes back to the path of Jesus afterwards.

It is not even shy to ask forgiveness for its past actions. Jesus taught us openness and magnanimity. We should look more for commonality rather than difference from others to realize that all our actions tend to one objective, the glory of God.

Respond:

Our society becomes more and more plural and diverse. How do we cope with these developments? These days, we could focus on acquiring skills to live inter-culturally with others.