GOSPEL

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”

From the Gospel according to Mark 9:38-40

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.”

The Gospel of the Lord

What a Fence

We have the bad habit of creating isolated Catholic communities, movements, or associations that build fences to keep people from leaving. This happened even in Jesus’ time, and it was Christ Himself who did not stop them and encouraged them to continue. He was always open to letting anyone who wanted to leave freely do so… What matters is Christ. We are saved in Him, and everything else is not as important.

Now, we all follow the same Christ. We say we love all parishes, we love Opus Dei, no better or worse than the Neocatechumenal Way, and we have such high regard for Alpha Groups, the Charismatic Renewal, Emmaus, and so many wonderful religious institutes…

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for so many great inspirations that help people come to the Lord. The cornerstone, the Alpha and the Omega.

Applied to Married Life:

Louis: There is a couple from our movement who has started the Project for Conjugal Love in their parish to deepen their understanding of their vocation.

Martha: How wonderful. That enriches both our movement and their parish. And you know what I found out?

Louis: What?

Martha: That several people who started the Project for Conjugal Love and then joined our movement. And lots of others, who were previously away from church are coming back to the parishes.

Louis: Blessed be God. I’ve heard that they say the groups following the marriage itinerary are not theirs; they are parish groups following that method. They don’t even know how many couples there are.

Martha: I love the unity, richness, and openness of our Holy Mother Church.

Mother,

May we not take ownership of Your children. And if You have a better path for someone, we pray they find it soon. Blessed be the Holy Mother Church that makes us one and whose heart nourishes our spirit.