Ordinary Time

Pause

“We belong in a bundle of life. We say, ‘A person is a person through other persons.’ It is not, ‘I think therefore I am.’ It says rather, ‘I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.’”

from No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu (1999)

Listen

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. Whoever isn’t against us is for us.”

Mark 9:38-40

Think

Being on a team is hard, and so is leading one. Jesus had a choice in this moment with his disciples. He could have said, “It’s my way or the highway!” But he didn’t. He recognized that anyone doing good works in his name was doing a good thing. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Guys, there is more than one way to show the love of God.”

Is there only one right way to do things? Sometimes we think so. And sometimes we think the only right way is our way. But if we can take a step back and look at someone else’s perspective, there can be another way. Perhaps even a better way.

Listen to all your classmates, your co-workers, your teammates: hear their stories, their perspectives. You might even learn something in the process.

Kim Crowley

Pray

God, help me to see different points of view and different perspectives. May I learn something new in the process. Amen.

Go

Go and remember: you belong to the body of Christ. The body needs you in order to work as it should.

Go out and share your gifts, so that the body of Christ may be the healing love of God to the world.