Wednesday, May 23, 2018
1st Reading: Jas 4:1-17
Gospel: Mark 9:38-40
John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.” Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon after speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”
D@iGITAL EXPERIENCE
DAILY GOSPEL IN THE ASSIMILATED LIFE EXPERIENCE:
Today’s Gospel reading unveils the mind of Jesus about competition. Where the good of souls is concerned, all efforts are encouraged and all workers are welcome. Competition divides, and where there is division, unity is wanting. And we know that God is Trinity, is unity, and therefore, is not division!
Unhealthy competition is found in almost all sectors in society. At the family level, couples play different games of competition. They compete for almost anything ranging from career, salary level, and even for the attention of their children. In the end both are losers, for competition shake the family down to its foundations.
Priests and religious people are not exempt from this malady that eat up communities. A hilarious anecdote comes to mind. A Jesuit, a Salesian priest and a Benedictine monk were arguing about which congregation is the greatest. The Salesian was proud about his congregation established to save the souls of young people – the future of the Church. The Benedictine insisted that their prayer life is the secret behind the success of all forms of apostolate in the Church. The Jesuit was just quite, until a letter fell down from heaven which read: “My dear religious men: stop arguing about which congregation is the greatest; he who is not against us is with us. Sincerely yours, Jesus Christ, S.J.
There is just too much to do in the vineyard that there is no room for competition, only complementarity and cooperation. Were we to divide ourselves, the Church would be spreading itself thin as the forces of darkness are uniting for sustainable temptation strategy that will perpetuate evil in the world. If it is true that one’s weakness could be the strength of another, then we really need to work together to level off the lights and shadows of the work of building the kingdom of God.
At the personal level we can swim against the tide of competition. Let’s be part of our parish today. Let’s not say we don’t have the talent. The parish may need our weakness to complement some strength in the pool of talents in the parish.
The little we can do for the sake of unity, God will bless and turn into formidable grace to prosper everyone in the Church community. —(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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