“‘The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD!'” … “Incline your ear to me and hear My Word.” … “‘Whoever receives this child in My Name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the one who sent Me.'”
MASS READINGS 9.26.16 – FIRST READING: Job 1:6-22 – PSALM 17:1BCD, 2-3, 6-7 – GOSPEL: Luke 9:46-50 – FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – FIND A MASS: TheCatholicDirectory.com
DAILY TV MASS: Catholic TV – Boston
HOMILY: Faith of Job
FIRST READING
God observes that Job is God-fearing, upright and blameless, avoiding evil. But Satan accuses Job of being that way only because Job also is prosperous and is Blessed with a large family. Apparently for Job to be put to the test, God allows Satan to attack Job’s family and undermine his prosperity. After his children are killed and portions of his wealth are lost, Job reacts with sadness but also with humility. He still Blesses God, professing that God is the Source of all he has, anyhow, and he avoids sin.
…. Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair.
He cast himself prostrate upon the ground ….
‘Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!’In all this Job did not sin,
nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Incline your ear to me and hear My Word.
GOSPEL
Even when Blessed with Jesus’ visible Presence among them, the Disciples, in their human frailty , still become distracted by arrogant notions of trying to argue about which of them is greatest.
Focusing on their hearts, and using a child as an example, Jesus exhorts them to humility, and reminds them that what matters is whether someone acts in His Name, just what matters is that He Himself has been sent by God the Father.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by His Side and said to them,
‘Whoever receives this child in My Name receives Me,
and whoever receives Me receives the one who sent Me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.’
Apparently in response, John relates how the Disciples saw a third party casting out demons in Jesus’ Name and tried to stop him because they were not aware of him being part of their group. Jesus instructs them not to stop the third party, because if he was not against them, he was for them.
Jesus said to him,
‘Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.’
We see that Discipleship is not a clique, and that all are called to act as instruments of Christ. We also see how we are to organize how we appraise human activity, by whether or not we are acting in concert and agreement with God.
[Scripture passages excerpted or adapted from the NABRE, available online from the USCCB, which provides the following rights statement:
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.]
