The 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 26, 2021

Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

The Gospel reading for today’s Mass consists of four sayings of Jesus that St. Mark has joined together.  The first is prompted by St. John telling the Lord: “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”  To this, Jesus replies: “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”  John and the others saw someone attempting to drive out demons using the name of Jesus, and while this person might not be successful because he is neither authorized nor given power to exorcise, he is harmless to Lord and his Apostles and may indeed prove helpful in that the name of Jesus as having power is being spread.  As St. Paul said many years later: “Some indeed [preach], even out of envy and contention: but some also for good will preach Christ. Some [preach] out of charity, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel. And some out of contention preach Christ not sincerely: supposing that they raise affliction to my chains. But what then? So that by all means, whether by occasion or by truth, Christ be preached: in this also I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1, 15-18).  So we who strive to make the Lord’s name known ought simply to concentrate on the work given to us and leave alone what others do.

The second saying: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.”  Those who support the work of spreading the Gospel will share in the missionary’s reward.  And we are all to be missionaries for Christ, according to the Lord’s command (cf. Matthew 28, 19-20).

The third saying: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”  We “cause” people to sin through bad example, misleading with words, coercion, negligence in preventing the sin, and promising to participate with another in their sin.  Sin abounds and is even glorified in our society today and we may feel overwhelmed in trying to do anything about it, but we must take care that we do nothing to encourage it and to give good example to show that there is a different way to live — in Christ.  We must never do or say anything that seems to approve of sin.  The “little ones” of whom Jesus speaks are our neighbors for whom the Lord also died.  By his calling them “little ones” we recollect that we are “little ones” too, before the Lord of all the world.

The fourth saying: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire, etc.”  The Lord uses a figure of speech to teach the seriousness of sin and also the means to prevent further sin.  In speaking of a hand or foot “causing” sin, the Lord means the motivation of the sin for which the hand or foot is used.  Therefore, we cause, so to speak, our hands and feet to sin.  But what we are told to do is to take stock in our meditations of the gravity of sin which can cut us members off from the Body of Christ, so that we flee temptation when we cannot fight it.  “Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”  That is, the soul and body of a person are corrupted on earth by sin, and worms feed on this corruption in the grave.  The corruption of the wicked will endure into eternity and worms will not cease to consume it.  The “worm” here can also be understood as feelings of guilt and remorse which only serve to torment the wicked once their time on earth is over.  The “fire” is the exterior punishment that those who do evil in the world suffer.  It is a physical fire that will burn the resurrected bodies of sinners after the last judgment, and a spiritual fire that burns their souls even now.