September 26th 2021. Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL Mark 9:38-43, 47-48

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL Mark 9:38-43, 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.'"

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. The Kingdom is inherently open to all, not just to an exclusive elite.

In the first reading, Joshua demands that Moses not allow unauthorized persons to utter prophecies. Moses replies, “Are you jealous on my account? How I wish that all were prophets in Israel!” The zeal of Joshua failed to see that which really counted. In the Gospel, we have a similar zealous reaction of the disciples, who wish to impede someone who is not part of their group, but is casting out demons. In reply, Jesus gives a lesson on a fundamental aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven: if God did not have an inclusive mentality, none of us would be saved. If the Kingdom of Heaven did not have an inherent openness to everyone who wished to enter, then we would all be in trouble!

2. Jesus uses very strong language to emphasize what counts

Jesus first demands this inclusivity, then he goes on to speak about the good which this man is doing. If anyone carries a cup of water in Jesus name, he will not lose his reward! Following this, Jesus’ discourse become very serious and challenging: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” He says similar things about the eye and the foot. Why these harsh sayings? Because it would be better to lose a hand than to exclude a brother or sister, to forbid access to a little one who just might enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That which really counts is communion with our brothers and sisters, not etiquette or party membership. If we place reasons, principles or abstract ideas above communion then we have gone astray. Our association arises from something cold and dry, not from life itself.

3. Communion requires circumcision of the heart, a cutting away of self-absorption

Jesus then says that it is better to enter into life without an eye, a hand or a foot, than not to enter at all. The Jewish people practiced circumcision, the removal of a piece of flesh, in order to enter into the Covenant with the Lord.  Similarly, for us to enter into life, we need to undergo a circumcision. Part of our heart, part of our actions (the hand), part of our way of seeing things (the eye), part of the way of life that we follow (the foot), that are not compatible with communion must be cut off. In a certain sense, one always enters life lame, blind or without hands. And this form of renunciation is essential if we are to avoid the delirium of being part of an exclusive set. The elitist group cuts off those who are not part of the group, but Jesus is asking us to make the cut within ourselves, to stop thinking in terms of superior/inferior, us/them. We are Catholic, and the word means “universal”. It is in our DNA to be inclusive, in truth and in love. Communion, the reaching out to others, is always more important than abstract principles.

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY . . . The disciples are upset because someone is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. But they ignore the fact that this person is doing good and instead object to the fact that he does not belong to their special “club”. Exclusivity is a common problem in religious circles. We insist that people conform to certain conditions before they can belong to our elite group. People get a sense of belonging and a sense of identity by membership in groups that exclude others. Adolescents sometimes do terrible things in order to belong to a certain group or to show public conformity to a certain ethos. Jesus condemns this behaviour in very strong terms. The language he uses is paradoxical because that is how the Semites communicate things. The Bible is a complex work that requires a refined level of interpretation. It is not to be read in simplistic, superficial or fundamentalist terms. Jesus does not want us to pluck out our eyes, cut off our hands or chop off our feet. But he wants to tell us that it would be preferable to lose a limb or an eye rather than lose one of our brothers or sisters. The Holy Spirit leads to communion, not to exclusion. In fact, Jesus not only lost a hand, foot or eye but had his whole body nailed to the cross in order to bring all people into loving communion with his heavenly Father.