ARE YOU JEALOUS…

Numbers 11:25-29

25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did so no more.
26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested upon them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.
27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!”

James 5:1-6

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.6 You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you.

Mark 9:38-43; 45,47-48

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” 39 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.40 For he that is not against us is for us.41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.  

MEDITATION

THE FIRST READING describe Gods charity when He took some of the Spirit that was showered upon Moses and shared it with the seventy elders. Most of these elders left the camp and began to prophecy, but alas they soon stopped receiving God’s revelation. Conversely Eldad and Medad who were part of the seventy elders remained in the camp and belatedly they began to prophecy to the surprise of Moses’ minister who wished to silence these men. Moses recognized the prevailing jealousy of Nun and those who denounced these two men and quickly put a stop to their intentions to cancel God’s work in and through these two elders! 

St JAMES ADDRESS the rich folks in the community who accumulate and stored up their riches with no regard for the suffering endured by their workers. James condemn the rich folks for defrauding their labourers by not paying them what was due to them!

THE GOSPEL OF MARK: John the Apostle makes a confession on behalf of the twelve hoping that Jesus would agree with their response when they forbade a fellow disciple of Jesus who were not part of their inner circle from performing public exorcisms. 

Catec 1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: “Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Strictly speaking, an elevated mean kind of jealousy can be said to be a cancerous disorder that we must guard against. It is especially most prominent in the workplace and public discourse which have seen the emergence of the ‘cancel culture!’ Jesus address the Apostles biased and distorted view about the grace and gifts that was bestowed on all God’s people and call them to be alive in recognizing works of charity that is being performed by the laity who have in fact been graced by His teaching and public witness! To the contrary those in leadership who do not execute their call to serve motivated by jealousy is put on notice that they will be harshly dealt with, especially if they spend their days in greed, sin and avarice at the expense of those whom they are supposed to give witness to and serve!

LET US PRAY: Psalms 19:8,10,12-14

8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

12 But who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast.