JAMES 4:1-17

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy"? But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit"-- you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that." But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.

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."

Today’s story opens wide the doors and windows of the community of the faithful. The Spirit of God blows where it chooses. The Catholic Church has no monopoly of the good things that are done in this world. Just as within the Church people can do bad things contrary to the Gospel, so it is possible that people outside the Church can do good and evangelical actions.

It is not whether or not we are members of the Church that guarantee that our actions are good. Our deeds are to be judged for what they are worth in themselves. We have to become tolerant, open-minded and learn to cooperate with people who want to do good deeds. We have to rejoice over the good that happens anywhere, whether it was accomplished by people from the Church or by those outside the Church.

There are some Catholics who are jealous of the good done by non-Catholics. We should respect and recognize that all good comes from God wherever, and in whatever way, even independently from the Church. God is free to give his Spirit to whomever he wants.

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Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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