FIRST READING
“What is your life? You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills. ’”
A reading from the Letter of Saint James (James 4: 13-17)
Beloved: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain”; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
The word of the Lord
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 49:2-3.6-7.8-10.11 (R/. Matthew 5:3)
R/. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Hear this, all you peoples, give ear,
all who dwell in the world,
people both high and low,
rich and poor alike! R/.
Why should I fear in evil days
the malice of the foes who surround me,
those who trust in their wealth,
and boast of the vastness of their riches? R/.
R/. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
No man can ransom a brother,
nor pay a price to God for his life.
How high is the price of his soul!
The ransom can never be enough!
No one can buy life unending,
nor avoid coming to the grave. R/.
Anyone sees that the wise will die;
the foolish will perish with the senseless,
and leave their wealth to others. R/.
ALLELUIA John 14:6
Alleluia. I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father, but by me. Alleluia
GOSPEL
“He that is not against us is for us.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 9:38-40)
At that time: John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.”
The Gospel of the Lord
TODAY’S REFLECTION
There is a saying that ‘Getting the job done is more important than who gets the glory.’ This saying Jesus confirms when he rebukes his disciples for trying to prevent the man who is driving out demons in his name, though the man is not a member of their group, he has faith in the name of Jesus to the point that he is using it to drive demons away. Indeed, the name of Jesus is powerful: ‘At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Today’s Reflection form wonders through his name but not to prevent others from using his name to drive out demons. We must realize that faith is all that is necessary for the name of Jesus to work wonders in and through us. What is important therefore is not who belongs to us or who does not. What is important is that we love God and have faith in him