The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, October 1, 2006
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Numbers 11:25-29
Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

So Moses needed help! That’s what we hear in the Book of Numbers. No wonder! The Israelites in the desert constantly grumbled at his leadership. Occasionally there was outright rebellion. So Moses, tired and discouraged, begged the Lord for help. God heard his prayer and poured out the Spirit of prophecy on seventy elders. Two of the elders were not present at the ceremony, but received the Spirit anyway. When they began prophesying on their own, Moses’ young assistant, Joshua, became envious. “Moses, stop them!” he cried. Instead of stopping them, Moses praised the two, and told Joshua he wished everyone had that gift.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, teaches the same lesson. When some of His disciples complained to Jesus that some, not of their company, were driving out demons, Jesus, like Moses, rebukes his followers for being so exclusive; “Whoever is not against us, is for us” became Jesus’ rule for his Church.

Years ago, pastors often did not welcome help from the laity. They did not see this as necessary, or even desirable. How different is our experience today! We have literally hundreds of commissioned lay ministers in our diocese, to say nothing of many Catholics who take their baptismal consecration seriously, and become trained in various ministries in our parishes. Today’s pastor welcomes these people with open arms, urging even more laypeople to become involved in visiting the sick and shut-ins, teaching religion to children, and becoming youth leaders.

Critics and other pessimists tell us the Catholic Church is dying! Nonsense! The ever-vibrant energy of our youth and young adults, with your encouragement, will become the committed, informed, and courageous leaders of the Church of the 21st century. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it!

Msgr. Paul Whitmore
(pwhitmore29 at yahoo dot com)