Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48

John spoke up, saying to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just
giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

“If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

Gospel Reflection

To believe in Jesus is a great gift from God. Anyone that does a good act to another in His name are certainly blessed. Also, if someone gives you just a cup of water because you believe in the Lord, they too will receive a reward. On the other hand, if we should block others from believing in the Lord, Jesus tells us in very descriptive language that there will be a price to pay. How we deal with each other reminds us of our responsibility vis-à-vis the examples, either good or bad, that we portray in our way of living.

Recall in your own life those to whom you are deeply indebted for the good advice and example you received from them. They may not even know of their effects on you: you never know when you are being watched.