26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - To Belong to Jesus & “Be Thou My Vision”
This Sunday’s Gospel begins with a scene that recalls a similar moment in the history of Israel from the First Reading (Num. 11:25-29). The seventy elders who receive God’s Spirit through Moses prefigure the ministry of the Apostles. Like Joshua in the First Reading, John in the Gospel (Mk. 9:38-48) makes the mistake of presuming that only a select few are inspired and entrusted to carry out God’s plans. The Spirit blows where it wills, and God desires to bestow His Spirit on all the people of God in every nation under heaven.
God can and will work mighty deeds through the most unexpected and unlikely people. All of us are called to perform even our most humble tasks, such as giving a cup of water, for the sake of His name and the cause of His kingdom. John believes he is protecting the purity of the Lord’s name. But, really, he’s only guarding his own privilege and status. It’s quite telling that the Apostles want to shut down the ministry of people working miracles in Jesus’ name. Authority to drive out demons and unclean spirits was one of the specific powers entrusted to the Twelve.
Cleanse me from my unknown faults, we pray in this Sunday’s Psalm (Ps. 18). Perhaps without noticing it, we cloak our failings and fears under the guise of our desire to defend Christ or the Church. But as Jesus says, instead of worrying about who is a real Christian and who is not, we should make sure that we ourselves are leading lives worthy of our calling as disciples. Does the advice we give, or the example of our actions, give scandal—causing others to doubt or lose faith? Are we living, as this Sunday’s Epistle (Jms. 5:1-6) warns, for our own luxury and pleasure while neglecting our neighbors? We need to keep meditating on His Law and pray for the grace to detect our failings and to overcome them.
In honor of this Sunday’s readings, we present our latest video, “Be Thou My Vision”, a traditional Christian hymn of Irish origin. The words are based on a Middle Irish poem with the best-known English version translated in 1905 by Mary Elizabeth Byrne and commonly sung to an Irish folk tune, called "SLANE" in church hymnals (including our own!).
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
