We Are Not in Control

May 22: Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In some sense, everyone comes to God in a different way, by their own life and circumstances. But in a deeper sense, it’s always the same—we are called by the Word, Jesus. He suits that calling to us, not the other way around.

Reading 1

Jas 4:13-17

Beloved: 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.

“Man plans, God laughs,” as the saying goes. Anything and everything we do depends on God’s will, whether his permissive or active will. In His permissive will, God allows us to spend a year in such and such a town to make a profit.

What are we going to do with that profit? For that, we should follow His active will.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 49:2-3, 6-7, 8-10, 11

R. (Mt 5:3) Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Hear this, all you peoples;
hearken, all who dwell in the world,
Of lowly birth or high degree,
rich and poor alike.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Why should I fear in evil days
when my wicked ensnarers ring me round?
They trust in their wealth;
the abundance of their riches is their boast.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Yet in no way can a man redeem himself,
or pay his own ransom to God;
Too high is the price to redeem one's life; he would never have enough
to remain alive always and not see destruction.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
For he can see that wise men die,
and likewise the senseless and the stupid pass away,
leaving to others their wealth.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!

There’s no such thing as a “self-made man.” All our talents and circumstances, wisdom and riches, are given to us by God. He allows us to choose what to do with those. We can be poor in spirit by recognizing all of those things, even our lives, truly belong to God.

Alleluia

Jn 14:6

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

As the Psalmist said, no one can redeem themselves; the price is too high. Only Jesus Christ Himself could pay it. And He did! So it’s through Him we can come to the Father.

Gospel

Mk 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."

John mistakenly believes that, by accepting Jesus’ call, he should be in charge of who else gets called. Jesus corrects him—you’re not the arbiter of discipleship, I am.

Instead of trying to prevent this exorcist from doing God’s work, he should have accepted that very exorcism as proof that this other person is somehow a disciple.