Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.”

Sometimes we encounter people who complain when we do something good. They criticize our actions or our motives. They grumble about how we do something. We might even be in the middle of helping them when they start complaining about how we are helping them. This attitude of ingratitude can turn us off to helping others, especially those who are criticizing us. However, we are not doing the right and good thing to be praised by those whom we help. Our consolation should not be in the response of those whom we are helping or those who are around to witness our acts of charity, but rather our consolation should be found in the knowledge that we are doing God’s Will. We might want to be recognized and thanked, but we should not expect or demand it and if persecution comes our way because of a good deed, then we should embrace the suffering that comes from it and unite it with the cross of Christ, which was carried for ungracious sinners. We should view such trials as an opportunity to imitate Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Have we ever complained about or misinterpreted someone’s good actions? Have others done the same to us? Are we willing to perform our good deeds even if it means others might persecute us?

O Lord, give us the grace to perform mighty deeds in your name.

Amen.

Fourteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Every day of our lives we are “handed over” in little ways. We might not suffer the threat of physical harm or death, but there are other types of persecution that attack our minds and our hearts. When we are undergoing these attacks from modern culture, family, friends, or neighbors, we must remember to keep silent and not to worry about what they say. Instead we should suffer patiently and wait for God to inspire our words so that they might have the greatest effect. When we feel unfairly (and sometimes fairly) criticized or persecuted, there is the temptation to respond without placing ourselves into God's presence and letting Him craft our response. We can rush into speaking, and before we can stop ourselves, we say something we wish we hadn’t. We lie, berate, belittle, and say so many foolish things when we don’t take the time to center our responses on God.

How do we react to being fairly or unfairly criticized? Do we really trust God to speak through us? How can we cultivate the patience we need to be able to allow God to craft our response to the criticisms of others?

O Lord, speak through us.

Amen.