Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; Jas. 5:1-6; Mk. 9:38-43, 47-48
They Are Not One
of Us
1. Today is exactly 100 years and a day since the first Mass was celebrated on this ground. On the 28th day of September 1924, the congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorist religious priests, started a mission here in Becknel Street to provide pastoral care to a small Christian community of about 160 people made up of farmers and railroad workers. The chief celebrant at the Mass was Reverend Cornelius Warren, C.Ss.R., rector of St. Mary’s Annapolis. Reverend Augustine Smith, C.Ss.R., delivered the homily. It is humbling to note that none of those who attended or celebrated the Mass on that day is alive today. William Shakespeare was right indeed when he observed: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and the entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” (‘As You Like It.’ Act 11, Scene V11). Our forebears, men, women and children, priests, religious men, and women, deacons, and nuns, worked in St. Joseph parish; they played their parts and left the scene; it is our turn to run the race for the next hundred years. The distance of our journey depends on God. However, we must do our part and leave a legacy of faith, commitment, spirituality, love, mercy, compassion, generosity, and the gift of diversity to the next generation.
2. In the first reading, we read of Eldad and Medad, two of the 70 elders appointed to assist Moses. They were not at the ceremony but received the spirit and prophesied. Joshua wanted to stop them, but Moses asked, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!” In the gospel, John approached Jesus and reported, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus said to him, “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.” This brings a powerful dimension to how we receive people of other faiths.
3. We often prevent people from doing good deeds because they are not one of us. We frequently put people in boxes and divide them into groups of those who belong to us and those who do not. We see people as foreigners, strangers, or immigrants. We see their color as brown, black, or white, but of course ours is better. They are Asians, Europeans, Caucasians, or Latin Americans, but we are Americans. They have an accent and do not talk like us. They are Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. They don’t like us, and we don’t want them because we are better than them. This perception and way of thinking is sinful and scandalous. It is wrong! It makes it hard to accept people for who they are: sons and daughters of God, created in the image and likeness of God.
4. St. James referred to this way of thinking and perception in his epistle. We rely on our self-importance, arrogance, and pride. He said, “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire.” This is because we see ourselves as deserving while others are undeserving. We are the ones who will go to heaven, while others are hell-bound. Or, like our protestant brothers and sisters would see us Catholics as those who worship idols and Mary; therefore, they are convinced that we are heading to hell. Their one mission is to make us born-again Christians so that they may save us from damnation. Christ made it clear that all good deeds come from God. We cannot, on our own, do any good without the grace of God. Therefore, we should avoid scandal by how we live and treat others.
5. We sometimes bring this perception and way of thinking to our ministries in the Church. We will not do anything that another person did for fear that we are doing their work. God has endowed us with the gift of talent, time, and treasure; we must invest our gift in building God’s kingdom on earth. No one is better than the other. St. Paul captured it well in his letter to the Ephesians: “And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy one for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-12). We are called, gifted, and equipped for ministry. Our gift is not for us but to be used for others and to build up the kingdom and God’s holy people. Let us look down on no one or think they are not worthy of God’s call.
6. As we begin the new phase, let us promise and commit ourselves today to contribute our quotas to building St. Joseph’s parish for the next 100 years. May we be humbled enough to accept that many of us will not be around to celebrate the next centennial of our parish. Therefore, the future of the next celebration depends on our contribution today. I pray that our commitment may not be like a hen contributing an egg for the feast but a pig that made a total life commitment by giving ham, the gift of its life, for the celebration. That is the type of legacy we are to leave to children today. Stop no one from participating in ministry, no matter where the person comes from. Our diversity should be our strength. And so, we pray that we may rather die than sin against God and our neighbors and that we may never scandalize the young ones with our way of life and our perception of others. Amen.
Rev. Augustine
Etemma Inwang, MSP
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