Tuesday, October 2, 2018

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 30, 2018

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle B
September 30, 2018
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville       4:00pm
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore             11:00am
            

Hopkins Buildings 


One day several years ago, I was leaving Johns Hopkins Hospital after visiting a person who had major cardiac surgery.
                                                                                                 
I noticed something at Hopkins that really caught my attention. I was leaving the Sheikh Zarad building.

This building is for patients who are in critical care, including heart surgery. It is named after Sheikh Zarad who was the major donor.

He is a Muslim and is from the United Arab Emirates. What caught my eye is that the ground floor hallway connects the Sheikh Zarad building to the Weinberg building. 

This building is a cancer center and the major donors are Harry and Jeannette Weinberg. They were a Jewish couple from Baltimore. 

And then, not far from these buildings is the Anne Pinkard School of Nursing. Anne Pinkard was a Catholic, a member of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Baltimore. 

She and her husband Walt – an Episcopalean – were major donors to this building. Well, today’s gospel triggers my memory of these buildings at Hopkins.

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”


And this is why I say that.

The apostles are upset because someone, who is not part of their group, is helping others and invoking the name of Jesus. So, the apostles try to stop this man for just one reason: he is not part of their group. 

But Jesus says: “Let him alone. Whoever is not against us is for us.”

Jesus’ point is that he wants us to recognize good by whomever it is done. He doesn’t want us to be exclusivist and think that only those who are part of our group are good and can do good.

He doesn’t want us to think that only Christians or only Catholic Christians or only those who agree with us on everything can do good. He wants us, as I said, to accept good by whomever it is done.

Jesus is calling us to embrace this open attitude and mindset. And if we do, there will be good results.

The Effects in General  

This is why I am remembering those buildings at Hopkins.

Muslims, Jews, Catholics, other Christians and probably persons of other faiths or of no faith tradition are all cooperating in the mission of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The results are excellent. 

Hopkins is one of the finest hospitals in the world. This happens because of openness to the good that everyone can do – even though there are major differences among those involved.    

This openness to the good that others can do and collaborating with them in doing it also brings people closer together. It prevents differences from becoming divisions and it helps to melt some of the divisions that we have allowed differences to create. 

The Effects for Our Church

Jesus’ words today – “Whoever is not against us is for us” – are good guidance for our Church.

We as a Catholic Church and any religious group can easily slide into the attitude of the apostles. In fact, we have done this at times.

In the name of God and of what we believe to be true, we can slide into a kind of exclusivist mindset. We can fail to see the good in those who are not part of our group – our Church.

Sometimes we have done this because of disagreements – maybe on issues of faith or morality. At times, there seems to be a fear of watering down our faith – I have heard that expression used – the fear of watering down our faith if we recognize the good and cooperate with others with whom we disagree.

In truth, we water down our faith when we fail to do this. We are not living the gospel. 

The truth is that Jesus calls us to recognize the good that others do regardless of who they are. If we do that, a lot more good will be done.

If we do that, we will not be allowing differences to become a source of division. In fact, we will be melting some of the divisions in our relationships, our community, our country and our world that we have allowed differences to create.

We will be building up the kingdom of God. That’s my take on this gospel passage today.