We Are The Body of Christ On Earth

Homily for Twenty-Sixth Sunday, Year B – 26 September 2021

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, sums up what we are to do as followers of Christ: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

In a meeting with fellow Jesuits in 2013, Pope Francis gives us the reason why we do good. He said, “I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. Even if the life of person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else – God is in this person’s life.” Stop for a moment and consider the meaning of “dogmatic certainty.” With this statement, Pope Francis is asserting this truth with utter interior conviction. Consider too what this means in terms of hope for every human being and their infinite dignity. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that God is in very person’s life. God is at work in your life, in my life, and in the life of every human person without exception.

Despite the presence of God in the life of every human person, so often we don’t match up to this truth. Both the reading from the book of Numbers and the Gospel reading for this Sunday depict a small-mindedness in terms of wanting to limit the work of God to those who are in the “in-group.” Both readings also show large-heartedness - in the first reading on the part of Moses; and in the Gospel on the part of Jesus.

The context of the first reading from the book of Numbers is that Moses asked God for help because he was overwhelmed by the responsibilities of leading the people of Israel. And God took some of the spirit that was on Moses and gave it to the seventy elders in an ordination-type liturgy. Eldad and Medad, were among those who were on the list to be ‘ordained’ but they weren’t present for the ritual, and yet despite this they also received the spirit and started prophesying.

It was at this point that Joshua appealed to Moses to stop Eldad and Medad prophesying since they were not at the ordination ritual. Then follows this large-hearted response of Moses, as he asks Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake? Moses then says: “If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all.” Joshua appears jealous and as if he wants to hold onto power. He is more interested in protecting the authority of Moses than in promoting the word of God. In his small- mindedness he seeks to limit the action of God. It is as if Joshua was telling God how and when, and on whom God can act.

The parallels with the Gospel are obvious. John reports to Jesus that he and the other apostles saw a man casting out demons in Jesus’ name and that they tried to stop him, because he was not one of Jesus’ named followers. We see that John comes with the same narrow-minded view as Joshua in the first reading. The apostles seem to have been very preoccupied with privilege. We saw it last in Sunday’s Gospel when they were arguing about whom was the greatest among them. Their line of thinking continues in today’s Gospel where they want to keep all aspects of ministry exclusive to their little group.

To this narrow-minded position, Jesus responds with the same large- heartedness as Moses in being open to those who are on the outside, acting in his name. Jesus’s inclusivity is especially seen in his saying that, “For he who is not against us is for us.” This is such a generous, freeing way to think. Jesus could have said, “He who is not for us is against us,” but rather he is more inclusive and generous. Jesus did not want the healing work of this unknown man in the Gospel to be stopped.

You see, doing good and sharing in the good works of God is not limited to those who consider themselves to be exclusively belonging to Jesus, nor is it to be limited to any one group within the Church. Jesus is not concerned with taking all the credit for himself or for his particular group of disciples.

His main concern is to heal and to love, and he will not be an obstacle to whoever is doing that in the world.

All that is good comes from God. We cannot limit, nor claim to know, the many ways by which God shares his goodness with all humankind. And it is obvious that where there is goodness in the world. God is present. God is at work in millions of ways. It would be presumptuous for us to claim that God communicates his goodness only through us, or through our particular Christian community. We should be open to others, those not of our Christian community, people of other denominations and faiths, and even those of no faith, showing God’s goodness. We should be attentive to the surprising ways in which God directs others to act, even if different from our way of acting. God is at work in every person’s life.

There is often a smallness and exclusivity about the human heart. And this is perhaps the most significant distinction between unredeemed human nature and the nature of God. The 18th century French writer, Voltaire, said that God created human beings in his own image, and human beings have been trying to repay the favour ever since. We often transpose the stinginess of human hearts into a misconception of God. Rather than admit to large-hearted goodness of God, we may at times try to recreate God in our own image.

The prayer wish of Moses in response to Joshua, in which he wishes that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them, is answered in the new covenant in Jesus Christ. We all participate in this new covenant through baptism. We are all given the Holy Spirit. We are a royal priesthood, set apart for the worship of God and called to participate in the mission of Jesus.

In this covenantal relationship with God, we carry serious responsibilities. In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks very strongly about the importance of not being a source of scandal to others, especially the little ones in our society. This sobering teaching calls us to think about our words and actions and how they could be a source of scandal to others, either leading them into sin or preventing them from coming to Christ.

Then we see that Jesus gives strong teaching on the seriousness of sin and what we need to do to avoid it. Using strong imagery, he speaks of the consequences of sin and that we should be prepared to take harsh measures to cut out sin in our lives.

Finally, being disciples of Jesus means that we are called to act in the name of Jesus, being the compassion of Jesus to others. We are to offer the cup of water to others in Jesus’s name. St Teresa of Avila, the 16th century saint and doctor of the Church, famously wrote: “Christ has no body on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours!”

Many years ago, in the Southern Cross Catholic newspaper there was a photo of a ruined church in former Yugoslavia. The church had been bombed and the crucifix had been badly damaged, and the arms and legs of Jesus were missing. The community kept the crucifix as it was when the church was repaired, as a reminder of the war and more importantly that as Christ’s disciples we are called to be the arms and legs of Christ.

If anyone needs a glass of water, it is us who must offer it. Jesus will be reaching that person through our hands. If anyone needs a visit, we must go. Then Christ will be using our legs. God is at work in us and in every single human person. Every human person is of inestimable value because God is in every person.