Liturgy of the Sunday

Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Memorial of the Saint Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates St. Michael as her protector.

First Reading

Numbers 11,25-29

Yahweh descended in the cloud. He spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the spirit came on them they prophesied -- but only once. Two men had stayed back in the camp; one was called Eldad and the other Medad. The spirit came down on them; though they had not gone to the Tent, their names were enrolled among the rest. These began to prophesy in the camp. A young man ran to tell Moses this. 'Look,' he said, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses since he was a boy, spoke up and said, 'My lord Moses, stop them!' Moses replied, 'Are you jealous on my account? If only all Yahweh's people were prophets, and Yahweh had given them his spirit!'

Second Reading

James 5,1-6

Well now, you rich! Lament, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your wealth is rotting, your clothes are all moth-eaten. All your gold and your silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be a witness against you and eat into your body. It is like a fire which you have stored up for the final days. Can you hear crying out against you the wages which you kept back from the labourers mowing your fields? The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Sabaoth. On earth you have had a life of comfort and luxury; in the time of slaughter you went on eating to your heart's content. It was you who condemned the upright and killed them; they offered you no resistance.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 9,38-43.45.47-48

John said to him, '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. 'If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not lose his reward. 'But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck. And if your hand should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire thatnever be put out. And if your foot should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm will never die nor their fire be put out.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

"Would that all the Lord's people were prophets!" Today we make this invocation of Moses our own. Who is the prophet? A prophet is one who does not speak for himself and allows himself to be guided by the word and the Spirit of God. The prophet does not limit himself to the narrow horizon of his present, he does not resign himself to the selfish and material mentality of people, he looks at men and women as one people, with the hope of one who does not think only of himself, but of one who looks at life and the world with the eyes of God. And so would that all were prophets in this world, so divided and torn; yes, there is a need for prophets who seek what unites and put aside what divides. And Jesus teaches us to look differently at the world around us to have an open gaze free of prejudice because it is full of love for every human being. So when the disciples realise that there is one who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus, but it was not of them, they want to stop him. Jesus says something else: "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us." Good is contagious and is the only true force that overcomes evil. And the fight against evil is important, it demands that we find allies and not isolate ourselves. And those who use the name of Jesus, become prophets and do not work personal signs but indicate that good only comes from the Lord. We should always remember that everything we do in reality is always and only in his name and not in ours, and how much care, wisdom, intelligence we must use, knowing that we bear the name of Jesus, to be Christians. Jesus uses harsh words towards those who scandalise "one of these little ones" who believe in him! And the little ones believe in him because they have no one else in this world that discards them. Jesus then proposes to begin with oneself. Love for others always demands some pruning, always demands some renunciation. It is obviously not a question of mutilations to be made, but of changes to be implemented in attitudes and in the heart. In fact, we often have our eyes directed only on ourselves, our hands working only for our own purposes, and our feet moving us in the direction of our own business. Let us take at least one eye off of ourselves and we will certainly be happier. Let us use at least one hand to help someone who is suffering and we will taste Jesus' same joy. Let us walk along the path of the Gospel and we will be witnesses to God's love. In this way, we will understand what Jesus is telling us, "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for the sake of the Gospel will find it."