STIFLE NOT THE SPIRIT
Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Some years ago, during Cricket Australia’s tour of India, Matthew Hayden was to return home after the test series. But he performed brilliantly in the tests and the selectors added him to the ODI squad. Some argued that he shouldn’t have been included because he wasn’t in the original squad. That didn’t matter for Cricket Australia; what mattered was Hayden was a good player in good form. They didn’t stifle Hayden, and it paid off.
This episode gives a sound principle to build the “God Squad”. It shouldn’t matter whether one was part of the original team or not; all that matters: is God’s Spirit in him/her?
The liturgy invites to recognize that God’s Spirit works in all people of good will and to co-operate with it.
In the First Reading, Joshua asks Moses to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they were not part of the “in-group”. In the Gospel, Jesus’ disciples stop a man driving out demons in his name because he was not one of them. Moses’ and Jesus’ responses are instructive! They taught their followers to recognize God’s work inside and outside the immediate community; kingdom work is not reserved to a few chosen ones; it is for all people of good will. To refuse to recognize that people of other faiths are doing the work of God or to stop them is to deny the working of the Spirit in these people.
The world is saturated with the Spirit of God.
Can I open my eyes to the good that others do, recognize God’s spirit working in them, and co-operate with them?
May I cooperate with (and not stifle) the Spirit and believe that there is place for every person of goodwill in “God’s Squad”!
No comments:
Post a Comment