Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - Wednesday in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 4:13-17 and 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." [John]
These words of Jesus should be a reminder to us that no one has a monopoly on God's grace. There are many people of faith who can do wonderful things in Jesus' name but who may not be Catholic. Some of them may belong to that amorphous group called "Nones" who are not involved with any denomination of Christianity. We can have confidence in God's grace through sacramental encounters with Christ but we can have confidence in God's grace outside those encounters as well. Does that mean we Catholics can do without sacraments? NO! To be Catholic in the true sense is to embrace the sacramental expression of our faith. But Jesus warns us against "preventing" those who do not embrace our sacramental faith from doing "mighty deeds in his name." Indeed our sacramental witness may attract some to our way of faith - that, in itself, is a mighty deed. But we cannot claim they are outside God's mercy and grace.
The power that is invested in priests and religious is meant for service, not for exclusion. We are all called to reach out in faith. On this date, May 22nd, 1971, I was ordained to the priesthood. My idea of it is to share that priesthood in whatever way I can. Some come to me who are not Catholic but who clearly show faith. I try to give them what I appropriately can and challenge them to share the faith it expresses with others like them. Jesus' warning to the disciples is to follow him, but not to get in the way of others who come in a different way - like the Syro-Phoenician woman or Zaccheus the tax collector! We can praise anyone who does a mighty deed in Jesus' name and also invite them to join our efforts as a Church to proclaim Jesus and do even greater things in his name. AMEN.