A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[343] Sir 4:11-19 Ps 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175 Mark 9:38-40

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

“But Jesus said, ‘you must not stop him; no one who works a miracle in my name could soon afterwards speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”           – Mark 39-40

When I think about what Jesus said to John in this Gospel reading after John saw a non-Christian performing miracles in Jesus’ name, I think about the goodness of people around the world, whatever their religion or faith may be. This was evident when the bombing of the Boston Marathon occurred last month . Instead of running away from the first bomb, numerous videos showed people running back to help their fellow peers and the hurting individuals around them, subjecting themselves to the second bomb. That is absolutely incredible to me.

“Anyone who is not against us is for us.” I searched this phrase on the Internet while I was reflecting on what to write about today and found that Father Jim Kirstein’s words explained my thoughts on this matter much better than I ever could.
 
“The real challenge of the gospel is whether we accept that the Spirit of God works wherever he wishes and through whomsoever he wishes. It is necessary to remember that the truth is always bigger than anyone’s understanding of it…we simply must be open to the Spirit’s working in our world.” – Father Jim Kirstein, SMA 
(read it here )

We were put on this earth and became Christians to love one another and to do Christ’s work in his holy name. I pray that I can live more fully for him and let my actions speak louder than my words.