The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 27, 2015

Click here to listen to this homily (mp3 file)

     Pope Francis has been much on our minds during these momentous days of his visit to our country so it’s probably not surprising that he was on my mind as I sat down to prepare this homily. Two of today’s readings triggered memories of something Pope Francis wrote early in his pontificate in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) – a document a good number of us in the parish spent time reading and discussing a year or more ago. “The Word of God,” the Pope wrote, “is unpredictable in its power, and the Church has to accept the unruly freedom of that Word which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our ways of thinking.

     Today’s readings from the Book of Numbers and from Mark’s gospel were all about the “unpredictable power and unruly freedom of God’s Word.”  They were stories about God’s Spirit working ‘outside the box,’ if you will, in unpredictable and unruly ways.  First, we had those two fellows with the funny names, Eldad and Medad, presuming to prophesy publicly even though they hadn’t been present with the 70 elders at the moment when God’s Spirit had come upon them.  I think of Eldad and Medad as ‘prophets without portfolio’ – presumptuous prophets because they presumed - they dared - to speak in God’s name without proper authorization.

     Joshua was a law and order man.  He wanted to shut them down.  He wanted order in the community and clear lines of authority.  But not Moses.  Moses was more concerned that God’s Word be spoken than he was in placing restrictions upon who spoke it.  “Would that all God’s people were prophets, Moses said. “Would that the Lord’s Spirit would be given to them all!”

     I hear clear echoes there of what Pope Francis said about the “unruly freedom of (God’s) Word.”  And I hear similar echoes in the story from Mark’s gospel.  There, instead of the two prophets without portfolio, we have someone who presumes to cast out demons in Jesus’ name – someone who was not even among Jesus’ disciples.  Not surprisingly, Jesus’ disciples took exception and reported this to Jesus.  Jesus’ response sounded a lot to me like Moses in the story form the Book of Numbers, “Do not stop him. Whoever is not against us is for us!”

     In reflecting on this, I found myself thinking about another Pope, the open-minded and open-hearted John XXIII, who, like Pope Francis, was a promoter of dialogue, an apostle of religious tolerance. These are some memorable words of his, “Let us look at each other without mistrust, meet each other without fear, talk to each other without surrendering principle.”  

     For me, that leads right into what Pope Francis said to the bishops of this country when he spoke to them in St. Matthew’s Cathedral, warning them against closing in on themselves and telling them, instead, to go out to their people – “to visit the marketplace,” as he put it – and engage people in genuine dialogue. And why would he promote dialogue unless there is something to be learned from it, some truth to be discovered?

     And then there was the Pope’s historic address to the joint meeting of Congress when he spoke repeatedly and passionately about the importance of dialogue. The Pope drove home his point by singling out four great (and, for some, I’m sure, unlikely) Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton – people whom he found, in their very diversity, to be perfect channels for entering into a dialogue with the Congress and the American people. I also see them as perfect illustrations that truth can come from surprising sources.  Thomas Merton, after all, was effectively silenced by his superior and Dorothy Day, pacifist and social activist that she was, was regarded by many as a trouble-maker and an embarrassment.   

     Of course, those four were not only great Americans who epitomize what is great about this country: they were also prophets whose commitment to core Christian values: freedom for all, equality among the races, social justice, and peace, are powerful examples and guiding lights not only for our lawmakers but for each of us. And did you notice how, at one point of his address, the Pope gestured toward a representation of Moses that is emblazoned high on the wall of that great chamber?  How fitting to remind the Congress and us of Moses the leader, Moses the lawgiver, Moses the liberator, Moses the prophet who wanted all God’s people to be prophets!

     My friends, recently when I spoke from this pulpit about Pope Francis (it was with reference to his encyclical on care for creation), I received a scathing letter – an anonymous one - from someone who wanted no talk here about social justice, no talk about dialogue, no talk about economic disparity, no talk, either, about prophets, ancient or modern. Well, with all due respect for my critic, I’m going to side with Moses here and with Pope Francis.  And I’m going to side, too, with our great Catholic and Christian theological tradition that tells us that we are all, by virtue of our baptism into Christ, prophets, priests, and servant-leaders.  Which is another way of saying that we are the realization of Moses’ great dream of old, “Would that all God’s people were prophets!”

     This and every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are sent forth to live out that high and holy calling!

     Father Michael G. Ryan