Temptations to sin

It is now the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time and today’s gospel reading comes from Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48. In this gospel our Lord Jesus teaches his disciples certain basic characteristics that we must possess so that when we are truly blessed to enter eternal life in heaven, we can do so without regrets.

“John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

“And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.”

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Today’s gospel story tells us about a man that the disciples encountered. He was driving out demons in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So who was this man who was not considered a disciple of the Messiah? Naturally, the disciples of Jesus tried to stop him for he did not belong to the group of the Lord. But the Lord Jesus told them, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.”

There is no doubt that the strange man was doing exorcism. Now, even in the Catholic Church, exorcists are not many and there are those called “official exorcists” and there are those who say they have the blessing of exorcism.

This talk reminds me of what I read in John 10:16 during the discourse of the Good Shepherd. When Jesus told his disciples: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Just imagine that a bunch of twelve apostles grew into what is Christianity today, which is divided into different sects. While the Catholic Church may claim direct history with the risen Christ, other Christian sects do follow the words of our Lord and therefore can claim to be his followers.

This is not to say that all Catholics are assured of eternal life because this largely depends upon the person to be able to get this heavenly reward. Hence, it is imperative that in your life, you must not only pray for yourself, but pray for others as well. But remember, praying maybe helpful, but it is far more important to help those who have less in life because doing so will certainly assure you of a heavenly reward.

Finally, it is important to realize what our Lord Jesus meant when he said, “If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” This is really true to enter heaven with one hand rather than enter hell with your full body to burn!

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