FEBRUARY 26, 2014 : WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 343

Reading 1JAS 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.

Responsorial Psalm PS 49:2-3, 6-7, 8-10, 11

R. (Matthew 5:3) Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Hear this, all you peoples;
hearken, all who dwell in the world,
Of lowly birth or high degree,
rich and poor alike.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Why should I fear in evil days
when my wicked ensnarers ring me round?
They trust in their wealth;
the abundance of their riches is their boast.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Yet in no way can a man redeem himself,
or pay his own ransom to God;
Too high is the price to redeem one’s life; he would never have enough
to remain alive always and not see destruction.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
For he can see that wise men die,
and likewise the senseless and the stupid pass away,
leaving to others their wealth.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!

Gospel 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.”

Meditation: "Any one who does a mighty work in my name"

Do you rejoice in the good that others do? Jesus reprimands his disciples for their jealousy and suspicion. They were upset that someone who was not of their company was performing a good work in the name of Jesus. They even "forbade" the man "because he was not following us". Jesus' reply is filled with wisdom: "No one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me." Are we not like the disciples when we get upset at the good deeds of others who seem to shine more than us? Paul says that "love is not jealous... but rejoices in the right" (1 Corinthians 13:4,6). Envy and jealousy, its counterpart, are sinful because they lead us to sorrow over what should make us rejoice – namely, our neighbor's good. The reason we may grieve over our another's good  is that somehow we see that good as lessening our own value or excellence. Envy forms when we believe that the other person's advantage or possession diminishes or brings disgrace on us. Envy is contrary to love. Both the object of love and the object of envy is our neighbor's good, but by contrary movements, since love rejoices in our neighbor's good, while envy grieves over it.

How can we overcome envy? With the love that God has put into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit purifies our heart and frees us from our disordered passions, such as envy, jealously, greed, and bitterness. God's love is a generous and selfless love which is wholly oriented towards our good. The love that God places in our hearts seeks the highest good of our neighbor. God's love purifies and frees us from all envy and jealousy – and it compels us to give generously, especially to those who lack what they need. 

Every one in need has a claim on us because they are dear to God who created them in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). God created us in love for love. We are most free and happy when we love as he loves. The love and charitable help we show to our neighbor also expresses the gratitude we have for the abundant mercy and kindness of God towards us. Jesus declared that any kindness shown and any help given to those in need would not lose its reward. Jesus never refused to give to anyone in need who asked for his help. As his disciples we are called to be kind and generous as he is. Are you grateful for God’s mercy and kindness towards you and are you ready to show that same kindness and generosity towards your neighbor?

Gregory of Nyssa, an early church father (330-395 AD), comments on this passage: “God never asks his servants to do what is impossible. The love and goodness of his Godhead is revealed as richly available. It is poured out like water upon all. God furnished to each person according to his will the ability to do something good. None of those seeking to be saved will be lacking in this ability, given by the one who said: ‘whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward’” (Mark 9:41). Ask the Lord Jesus to increase your generosity in doing good for others.

"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may radiate the joy of the gospel to others. May your light and truth shine through me that others may find new life and freedom from sin and the corruption of evil."

www.dailyscripture.net

The Zeal of Charity

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Father Edward Hopkins, LC Mark 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.” Introductory Prayer:Lord Jesus, I believe in you and in all the expressions of your goodness and love in my life. I believe in your Eucharist, where you have made yourself my bread and a prisoner of love to teach me goodness of heart. I trust that you can train my heart to react more as you do, with forgiveness and blessing. I love you, Lord; I wish to love you with my prayer and increased charity. Mary, teach me to love with the heart of your son. Petition: Make my heart more like yours, Lord. 1. A Son of Thunder: The young apostle says with uncontrolled fervor, “We tried to prevent him.” They obviously acted first and consulted Jesus only afterwards. What moved them? What so often moves us––a sense of righteous zeal! We know or think we know what is right. “Let no one step out of line, or we will let him know!” Moreover, this person “does not follow us,” so he should not be able to act in your name! What is this “Son of Thunder” missing? Is not the mightiest deed an act of charity? How often do I make rash judgments without really knowing the full picture and without consulting Jesus first? 2. Judgments of Gospel Charity: Jesus does not hesitate to offer a positive judgment. Mighty deeds in his name can be found only in one speaking well of him. Moreover, beyond logic, Jesus possesses a deeper insight. He reads all actions with a heart of charity. His judgments will always be colored by his looking to find the very best in each person. His every action will be interpreted by love. In such manner he interprets well the actions of the woman who wipes his feet with her tears and hair, of the paralytic lowered from the roof, of the tax collector who climbed a tree to see him. Do I judge others with a heart filled with gospel charity, or am I very quick to spot faults? Are my impulses modified by my experience of Christ’s love for me? 3. For or Against Him? Jesus presents a simple principle for judging. Unless a person shows himself to be against us, consider him for us. We should fight to help others be “for us.” “Believe all the good you hear and only believe the evil you see.” This supposition of goodness runs contrary to our tendency to judge and speak evil of others with a minimum of evidence while demanding disproportionate proofs to credit them for good. Is it my job to find deformities in a member of the Body of Christ? A good person sees with eyes of goodness. Why can I not find excuses for the weakness and failings I see in others? Why is it so easy to speak poorly of others, to point out their defects and to fall into slander or gossip? Would the answer be found in the narrow or stingy dimensions of my own heart? Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, grant me a heart overflowing with your love. Make charity my first reaction, my constant hope and my irresistible tendency. Open my eyes in faith to see you working in people of all backgrounds and faiths. Help me to dismiss all personal, unnecessary judgments with an assumption of charity. May I win souls with my goodness and never be without charity in my fight for your Kingdom. Resolution: I will counter every thought against charity with two thoughts of charity. I will counter every word against charity with two words of sincere charity for the one maligned.

www.regnumchristi.org

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, MARK 9:38-40
(James 4:13-17; Psalm 49)

KEY VERSE: "There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me" (v 39).
READING: Jesus warned his disciples about problems they would face as they led the Church after his death and resurrection. He admonished them about worldly ambition (v 33-37), and petty intolerance. Seeming not to hear him, his disciples arrogantly suggested that some exorcists, who did not belong to their company, should be prevented from expelling demons in Jesus' name. Jesus challenged their closed-mindedness, and encouraged them to affirm good wherever they found it. They must imitate God's tolerance toward all people of good will. No one could do the mighty deeds of God and at the same time speak ill of Jesus. All who acted in the power of Jesus' name were contributing to building up the kingdom. Even the simplest acts of charity would be rewarded.
REFLECTING: Am I judgmental toward those who are not of my faith?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to be open-minded toward all who do your work.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

Love in the Ordinary

What is important is not great deeds, but to do everyday tasks with great love for God and neighbor.

— from Christ Our Compass 

Happy the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs

Happy the poor in spirit: the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
To be asked to be poor in spirit is not a negative message but a challenge to aim for a quality of spirit where we are drawn to humility and truth. We know that our every breath is a gift of God’s providence, just as all our days are governed by his love. Dear Jesus, your life teaches us the importance of being attuned to God’s will and to trust in his goodness. May our thinking be tempered by confidence in your Holy Spirit rather than a blind self‑confidence. Heavenly Father, may our prayer be ever more open to your divine guidance, and our decisions dependent on your will as you reveal it to us. 

www.pray.com.au

February 26
St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin
(1888-1922)

If anyone knew rejection, ridicule and disappointment, it was today’s saint. But such trials only brought Maria Bertilla Boscardin closer to God and more determined to serve him.

Born in Italy in 1888, the young girl lived in fear of her father, a violent man prone to jealousy and drunkenness. Her schooling was limited so that she could spend more time helping at home and working in the fields. She showed few talents and was often the butt of jokes.

In 1904 she joined the Sisters of St. Dorothy and was assigned to work in the kitchen, bakery and laundry. After some time Maria received nurses’ training and began working in a hospital with children suffering from diphtheria. There the young nun seemed to find her true vocation: nursing very ill and disturbed children. Later, when the hospital was taken over by the military in World War I, Sister Maria Bertilla fearlessly cared for patients amidst the threat of constant air raids and bombings.

She died in 1922 after suffering for many years from a painful tumor. Some of the patients she had nursed many years before were present at her canonization in 1961.

www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO DIVINA: MARK 9,38-40

Lectio: 

 Wednesday, February 26, 2014  

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Father,
keep before us the wisdom and love
you have revealed in your Son.
Help us to be like him
in word and deed,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Mark 9,38-40

John said to Jesus, 'Master, we saw someone who is not one of us driving out devils in your name, and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.' But Jesus said, 'You must not stop him; no one who works a miracle in my name could soon afterwards speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.

3) Reflection

• Today’s Gospel narrates quite a beautiful and actual example of the pedagogy of Jesus. It shows us how he helped his disciples to perceive and to overcome the “yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod”.

• Mark 9, 38-40: A closed mentality: He was not one of ours” Someone who did not belong to the community used the name of Jesus to drive out the devils. John, the disciple, sees this and forbids it: We have stopped him because he was not one of us. In the name of the community he forbids that the other one can do a good deed! He thinks that being a disciple, he can have the monopoly on Jesus and, because of this, he wants to forbid that others to use the name of Jesus to do good. This was the closed and ancient mentality of the “chosen People, a separated People!” Jesus responds: “You must not stop him; no one who works a miracle in my name could soon afterwards speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.” (Mk 9, 40). It would be very difficult to find a more ecumenical affirmation than this affirmation of Jesus. For Jesus, what is important is not if the person forms part of the community or not, but rather if the person does or not the good which the community should do.

• A picture of Jesus, formator of his disciples. Jesus, the Master, is the axis, the centre and the model of formation given to the disciples. By his attitudes he is an example of the Kingdom; he embodies the love of God and reveals it (Mk 6, 31; Mt 10, 30; Lk 15, 11-32). Many small gestures show this witness of life with which Jesus marked his presence in the life of the disciples, preparing them for life and for the mission. This was his way of giving a human form to the experience which he himself had of God, the Father. The following is a picture of Jesus, the Formator of his disciples:

- he involves them in the mission (Mk 6, 7; Lk 9,1-2; 10, 1),
- when they return he reviews with them all that they have lived (Lk 10, 17-20)
- he corrects them when they fail and want to be the first ones (Mk 9, 33-35; 10, 14-15
- he waits for the opportune moment to correct them (Lk 9, 46-48; Mk 10, 14-15)
- he helps them to discern (Mk 9, 18-19)
- he challenges them when they are slow (Mk 4, 13; 8, 14-21)
- he prepares them to face the conflict (Jn 16, 33; Mt 10, 17-25)
- he orders them to observe reality (Mk 8, 27-29; Jn 4, 35; Mt 16, 1-3)
- he reflects with them on questions of the moment (Lk 13, 1-5)
- he confronts them with the needs of the people (Jn 6, 5)
- he teaches them that the needs of the people are above the ritual prescriptions (Mt12, 7-12)
- he meets alone with them so as to be able to instruct them (Mk 4, 34; 7, 17; 9, 30-31; 10, 10; 13, 3)
- he knows how to listen even if the dialogue is difficult (Jn 4, 7-42)
- he helps them to accept themselves (Lk 22, 32)
- he is demanding and asks them to leave everything out of love for him (Mk 10, 17-31)
- he is severe concerning hypocrisy (Lk 11, 37-53
- he asks more questions than gives responses (Mk 8, 17-21
- he is firm and does not allow himself to be deviated from the right path (Mk 8, 33; Lk 9, 54)
- he prepares them for conflict and persecution (Mt 10, 16-25).

• Formation was not, in the first place, the transmission of truths to be remembered, but the communication of the new experience of God and of the life which radiates from Jesus for the disciples. The community itself which was forming around Jesus was the expression of this new experience. Formation led persons to have a different way of looking, to have different attitudes. It gave them a new conscience concerning the mission and concerning themselves. It helped them to place themselves at the side of the excluded. And soon afterwards, it produced “conversion” as a consequence of the acceptance of the Good News (Mk 1, 15).

4) Personal questions

• What does it mean for me, today, in the XXI century, the affirmation of Jesus who says: “Anyone who is not against us is for us?”
• How does the formation of Jesus take place in my life?

5) Concluding Prayer

Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, his holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness. (Ps 103,1-2)

www.ocarm.org